Hello everybody.
My name is Lavanya Gupta. I have secured AIR 298 in Civil Services 2017.
This was my last attempt (6th) and hence all the more nerve wrecking. I managed to write Mains for the first time only in my 3rd attempt, which again was very disappointing as I could not finish my papers. In 2015, I reached the interview stage, but I missed the final list by 12-15 marks (fault in my own preparation strategy of course). In 2016, I skipped an attempt as I was not in the right mind to take the final attempt. I used that year to identify my mistakes and carve out a strategy that could help me in my last attempt. Here I would like to point out that the most important thing needed to become successful is to accept one’s own mistakes. I was reluctant to do it when in my 2015 attempt I scored poorly in interview, constantly blaming the interview panel for their “poor” judgement. But in my 6th attempt, I realised I cannot blame others for my own follies and therefore I decided to keep my prejudice aside and started opening up to more criticisms (from friends, family, teachers….. although it was difficult still… But I tried to do better).
My Background:
I was born and brought up in West Bengal. I did most of my schooling in Kolkata and then moved to Bengaluru to pursue B.E. in Biotechnology. My father (my primary motivation) is also a civil servant (which is also why I decided to pursue civil services). I managed to clear my state civil service in 2015 and am currently posted as Deputy Magistrate & Deputy Collector (on probation) in West Bengal.
My strategy:
Since I have qualified mains and faced interview stage twice, it will be more appropriate to give out my strategy in a comparative format.
PRELIMINARY
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MAINS
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INTERVIEW:
In my final attempt I gave 60 percent focus on my bio-data (DAF) and 40 percent on current affairs which was just the opposite in 2015. And fortunately my strategy worked and I managed to score quite a high score in interview this time (marks obtained have been mentioned below). Also, I got nearly two and half month gap after mains to prepare for the interview and I made sure I used most of this time to prepare my bio-data and current affairs. I also made a small notebook of relevant issues in news and wrote down my personal opinion for each (trust me you will be glad you wrote it down as in two months’ period you tend to forget many points)
MARKS OBTAINED:
Here I would like to make a special mention to the efforts of ForumIAS and its faculty for the guidance they gave me for my mains preparation which finally culminated to my success in civil services examination. To be more specific, I benefited immensely from the structure writing guidance given by the Institute.
Friends, I hope the strategy I have shared can help you in anyway. All the best and have confidence in yourself.
