IAS में स्थिरता जरूरी | Yaksh Choudhary AIR 6 UPSC CSE 2021

Well, this was my third attempt. I could not clear prelims in my first attempt which embarrassed me. After that in the second attempt, I reached till interview stage but I was left behind because of a few mistakes I committed in Mains. But after that in my third attempt, I have secured rank 6 and I think, consistency is essential for this.

IAS में स्थिरता जरूरी | Yaksh Choudhary AIR 6 UPSC CSE 2021

Please tell us about your UPSC journey.

Well, this was my third attempt. I could not clear prelims in my first attempt which embarrassed me. After that in the second attempt, I reached till interview stage but I was left behind because of a few mistakes I committed in Mains. But after that in my third attempt, I have secured rank 6 and I think, consistency is essential for this. 

In challenging times, how did you keep yourself motivated?

I think the most important thing is your internal motivation as to why you want to become an IAS officer or IPS, why civil services? External motivation works only for a short span of time but ultimately it is the internal motivation that helps you. It is your internal motivation due to which consistency and perseverance come in you. And second, we should see the reality of the exam that we fail sometimes because competition is high. There are three stages and after that, if we miss something, it causes our removal from the list so we should see the reality as well. It is not like that if we are failing then we are not deserving but we should see the nature of the exam and second is your internal motivation.   

How did you analyze your mistakes made in your previous attempts and how did your strategy change over each successive attempt?

Everyone knows the standard resources and books one needs to study such as NCERT textbooks. What matters is how you study that.

In my first attempt, I could not clear my prelims but I did not change my strategy very much, I continued to study like I used to study later too. As far as mains is concerned so the attempt in which I have been selected in 2021, I focused more on data and diagrams. Answer writing is very important for this.

Would you like to share your experience with respect to the interview process? 

In the interview process, I could score around 140 and 152 in both of my interviews. So, I cannot tell what to do and what not to do but one thing that I can talk about is what did I not do and what will I do if I appear in this exam again. 

So, first of all, We prepare for personality tests after mains which is not the right approach. Throughout our preparation, we should keep in mind the interview phase and should work on the personality traits because personality develops after a long span of time. Your DAF is important. So, prepare it well and prepare your answers in a structured way for the questions and the domains that you mentioned in your DAF.   

What was the role of KSG in your preparation journey?

I was associated with KSG for mock interviews. I took it last year and this year too. And this was very helpful, especially the personal guidance that Khan sir gave me. Even, at last, Khan sir used to tell me what was good in me and what were the areas where I could improve. So, it was very helpful, Khan sir boosted my overall confidence on a personal level.