Heartiest congratulation on your brilliant success.

Thanks

What is secret of your success in civil service examination ?

Hard work, dedication, honesty, support of family and friends, belief in myself and faith in God.

How much time do you think one requires for effective preparation for this examination ?

One year of serious preparation after graduation is sufficient to crack this examination.

What prompted you to choose civil services as your career ? Do you remembers any significant incident of your life that motivated you to go for a career in the civil services ?

It was my desire to be a part of the development of the nation and to do something for the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden which kept me motivated  towards civil services.

What is your impression of the interview Board ?

I felt the Board was friendly and cordial. The members and the chairman listened patiently to my viewpoints. This facilitated me to present myself better before them.

How did your parents, other family members and friends contribute to your success ?

The contribution of parents and family was invaluable my friends always stood by me in thick and thin. Such a support provided me strength to focus on my goal.

Had you not been selected in the Civil Services Examination, what other career would you have opted for?

I closed all career options for myself and concentrated only on civil services preparation with a ‘do or die’ attitude.

How would you visualize your success ?

The journey to success was long and arduous. Hence I visualize it as a “hard fought” success.

What were your optional for the civil service examination ? What were criteria for their selection ?

My optional were history and geography. Interest in the subject and availability of guidance were the criteria for their selection.

What do you think about implementation of negative marking in ICS exam ? Has this made regular question practice inevitable ?

Negative marking scheme will prevent the candidates from making uneducated guesses. The scheme is a blessing for serious aspirants. Hence it is necessary to study well, practice regular and avoid guesses.

Do you feel that there should be no restriction on the number of attempts allowed in ICS ?

ICS exam is the most prestigious and reputed examination of the country. It is considered to be the 'mother of all exams.' Hence the restriction on the number of attempts promotes its sanctity and maintains its competency.

What is your message for the future aspirants ?

Aspirants should work hard in the right direction, with complete dedication and motivation. The journey may be long and ardous, but the destination is beautiful. It is exactly the point where you embark upon a meaningful life.

What was your Biggest mistake during preparation of these exams.

I left out certain portions in general studies, but found a few questions from those areas in the exam.

To whom would you live to give the credit for your success ?

First of all to the Almighty God without whose blessings this would have not been possible. And my family and friends supported me too through the thick and thin.

Your success strategy for -

1. Prelims-

Concentrated more on my optional subject (history) since it carries 300 marks. For general studies I concentrated more on four areas-history, geography, polity and current affairs.

2. Mains-

It is necessary to score high its mains to ensure a top rank in the final list. Hence I paid equal attention to general studies as well as both the optionals.

3. Personality test-

Personality cannot be developed overnight. Hence it is necessary to present yourself well before the board. One needs to be calm, composed, humble and confident before the interviewers.

Were you confident of your success. How did you react to the success news ?

I was confident of getting selected. But the news of 2nd rank was a pleasant surprise.

Before knowing your result, what was your perception about toppers ?

I was completely in awe of them, but knew that they are not made up of a different stuff. It is their smart study, consistency, effective planning and efficient plan implementation that distinguishes them from others.

In how many attempts have you achieved this success ? How do you visualize your performance in previous attempts. What were you service preferences.

It was my first attempt. Service preferences-Deputy Collector (SDM), Assistant Commissioner. Trade Tax, Trade Tax Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) etc.

What was your strategy for time management during preparation as well as during examination.

I devoted 35% of time for general studies and remaining 65% for both my optionals-In the examination hall, it is necessary to its weightage. Ex-15 minutes for a question of 30 marks.

Please list resources you utilized for C. S. preparation ?

For my optionals I referred to only standard textbooks.

For General Studies-The Hindu (news paper), Civil Services Chronicle (magazine), India Year Book, NCERT textbooks (Class IX to XII) for history, geography, polity, ICSE class X text book for biology, spectrum series; class notes.

What is importance of medium of expression in these exams.

Medium is only a means to communicate your ideas and thoughts effectively to the examiner. Hence only that medium should be chose in which you are able to express yourself well.

In your opinion, what is value of regular self evaluation as an important ingredient of any strategic plan for success in civil services ?

Self-evaluation is a means to discover our strong and weak points in a better way. After knowing this, we can formulate our future plan for success in an effective way.

How do you visualize the role of www.nceiindia.com as a platform of Evaluation and Interaction ?

Through the platform of NCEI, we can interact with successful candidates and get valuable suggestions and guidance to enable us chalk out for future plan of action.