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We have reached a point where nearly half of our friends have appeared for the Interview. About one half of the students are now still waiting for the interview.
If you are one of those whose interview is not yet done, here are some likely scenarios, and here is how to deal with them.
#1 You have probably wasted time
Add “a lot” to the above statement. When we have a BIG time gap, the gap often gets so big that we fall into it. More time does not mean that we will be able to make wise use of it.
I met a brilliant candidate yesterday. One of her key fears was that she had wasted a lot of time because her interview was in March third week. And now she was a little panicky. So if you are her, ( or a HIM in a similar circumstance ) , you are not alone.
The good news is you are not in a soup. Things are not as bad as you currently feel. So here is what you can do
#2 Make a List of Things you have to do.
Right now, the best way to proceed is to make a list of things that you plan to do. And then actually do them. Tick them off one by one. And so here is the thing. You know you have exactly two kinds of things to take care of. One, you have to take care of your DAF. And two, Current Events. So figure out a last moment plan for DAF prep and make a list of CA issues and get working on them. But wait there’s more
#3 MWF and TTS Strategy – Doing away with the hopping problem.
By now, you would be in a situation such that you are thinking of doing the DAF. But then you see the newspaper and you have O-God-I-need-to-do-current-affairs. And then you leave the DAF mid way and move on to CA. Halfway through the newspaper, you recall that Home-State-Question-asked-in-Samkalp-mock. And then you leave the newspaper, and hop on to finding the answer to that home state question.
If you keep hopping from one thing to another, you can’t get things done. Decide to do one thing at a time, and you’ll probably make a killing.
Actually, your situation is no worse than an average internet user. Let me illustrate.
Here is a meme I created[1]
So right now you can freeze that on M, W, F you work on DAF and TTS you work on Current Issues. Freeze it for once, and don’t change the plan.
#4 Don’t read and ocean of information. Prepare questions instead.
If you start reading on Benaras, and if you keep reading, you will end using a day. So here is the thing – while you read on Benaras, it is a good idea to think what questions can be asked from Benaras. Like what are the famous places/ what are the unique things about those special places / problems / how can you solve those problems and so on.
And then write down your answers. In 2-3 lines at maximum. This is because, while any question may be asked from it, we should at least not fumble and think over the most basic ones. And if you don’t prepare, you will anyway panic. Plus, I have also seen a LOT of candidates do better in subsequent mocks and actual exams once they have adopted this approach. It helps in developing a thinking pattern for answering any question.
You can begin by doing
#5 Join us/ some place nice from Group Mock 🙂 Yes!
Yes. I recommend three reasons for Group Mocks.
One, it is a good way to spend time before the interview.
Two, you actually interact with other people and can clearly see some people with clearer thought processes than you. You will sometimes see people very well prepared, and you can pick up things from them. No one is a better teacher than you peers, trust me!
In CSE 2017, I was pretty much excited about being offline and coming to Old Rajinder Nagar. The Interviews were declared early and it was February. We had an amazing time, sitting on the sun-lit rooftops doing group mocks. The building we used to run classes was nearly under construction. I remember a lot of ForumIAS community members drop by for group mocks. Some of them, I met after they made it to the final list. Sachin, Jyoti, Vijay – all of these people later joined the IAS, IPS, and IPS. It was also fun.
Last week, when we sat for a group mock, one of our group mock people Rishi even secured Rank 1 in IFoS.
So in case you are around New Delhi, do drop or or reach out to pravin.g@forumias.academy for scheduling a group Mock one of these days 🙂
#6 Download the latest Interview Transcripts
The Blog Team has taken some pains to compile the yet happened Interview Transcripts. So those of you who have Interview after March 15th and later, you can Interview Transcript 2019 Part 1 .
You can expect some repeat questions from it. Do look out for profile similar as yours.
#7 Personality Test is unpredictable
A lot of people will argue that just be confident and give it your best. The personality test can not be prepared for. So do not prepare for it. Just go in just like that. While 1 out of 20 people who just walk in without preparation actually get good marks, the majority do not. So while I will agree to a part of this argument, I have observed that people who prepare in the end are more confident than the ones who don’t. Moreover, I also think that when we prepare, we end up having happy days.
Also, at the end of your Civils journey, whatever be the consequences, If God / Life[2] were to ask you what you did for your preparation, there is no better answer than – “The best I could do.”
Until next time,
❤ Neyawn
[1] I did not create it. Someone sent it to me. But I did take the pains to download it, transfer it to a computer and put it here, after spending 20 minutes locating the image.
[2] For those who still do not believe in God.
