Aparna Ramesh, a resident of Karnataka, has cleared the UPSC Civil Services Exam despite having a full-time job. This is in stark contrast to the general trend of IAS aspirants who often leave their jobs and study in isolation. The 28-year-old said managing time and balancing personal, professional and academic life was not easy and it required consistent efforts. Aparna has obtained 1004 marks including 825 in written test and 171 in personality test, obtaining an all India rank of 35. He believes that managing jobs and exam preparation has become more difficult due to the pandemic.
“We are working from home due to Covid-19. Since there is no strict routine and work often dragged on for hours, doing both studies and jobs could very easily have gone awry. Thus, I divided my day to be able to manage time better. I also used to do yoga to deal with stress. It helped me focus longer,” Aparna said. She has been living with her parents in Gurugram since the pandemic.
“Since I had limited time, my strategy was to focus on preparation. I studied only those components which were relevant for the exam. I didn’t let myself get distracted and unprepared by the limited material. My goal was to clarify the basics and then revise as much as possible instead of reading as many books as possible or mentioning more material,” Aparna told News18.com.
Aparna said that she decided to study from 4 am to 7 am every day before her office starts, and dedicate the rest of the day to her job. On her weekly off, she used to study for at least 8 to 10 hours. “I didn’t see any point in quitting my job to prepare for the exam, so I decided to balance the two. It was my decision to strategize my performance, focus but focus on the subjects I have studied.”
Her concentrated effort could have gone either way, but it worked out in Aparna’s second attempt. She appeared for UPSC CSE 2019 for the first time but could not even clear the preliminary stage then. Aparna said she lagged behind by a margin of just a few marks, her second and last attempt at UPSC CSE 2020 civil services. She would have continued her work as an architect cum urban planner as usual had she not cleared the exam this year.
Preparing for the exam in 2019 proved to be an advantage for Aparna as she had covered her NCERT syllabus earlier. Aparna said that school level books are the foundation of civil services. He then referred to the previous year papers and analyzed his mistakes to gain an edge in his second attempt. She also joined Amrita IAS Academy for preparation.
For History, Geography and Economics, Aparna referred only NCERT books of class 11th and 12th. For politics, he read books by M Laxmikant and for current affairs, he read VisionIAS notes and read online news stories. She also made notes on a daily basis while watching TV or reading newspapers to keep track of the latest happenings.
While the study material remained the same, his approach changed for each level of the exam.
For prelims, she said the idea is to eliminate the wrong options and choose the right one. For this, attempting as many mock tests as possible will improve one’s skills and help the candidates to prepare a variety of question pattern that can be asked in the exam.
For the main exam, she practiced answer writing. He prepared detailed notes and improved his presentation skills. Aparna said, the personality test or the interview round is a test of how a candidate can analyze difficult situations and one needs to be prepared and ready to think on the spot.
During their interview, they were asked about their profession – urban planning – and about smart cities, electric vehicles, data privacy and other urban problems. She believes that she can crack this exam as it is her current job as an urban planner that inspired her to take the IAS exam. “While working as an urban planner and even on the government’s smart city mission, I became aware of many problems faced by Indian cities. I also realized the power and authority that IAS officers had. I also wanted to be a part of the decision making process and started preparing for the exam.”
She credits her success to her parents, whom she said were “supportive” and would have been proud of regardless of the outcome, which gave her freedom and space rather than pressure. He also has a younger brother who is an entrepreneur and has founded a start-up that helps in offering career counseling to youth.
“Civil service is a long journey. To keep my motivation high, I went back to the moment that inspired me to become an IAS officer and I started preparing again. Aparna said it is natural to feel low but keep going.
Aparna also took inspiration from her father who worked in the Indian Revenue Service (IRS). Her father’s job allowed her to live in seven different states. “Living in different states, I had a unique experience. There is a lot to learn each time making new friends from different cultural backgrounds who speak different languages. It helped me understand the problems across the country and gave me the ability to connect with people in a better way.”
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