Push Yourself to Perform at Your Best; says Jeydev C S (AIR 5; CSE 2019)

A Law graduate from NLS, Bangalore Jeydev C S has achieved 5^th rank in Civil Services Examination 2019.

By setting goal and assessing his strengths and weaknesses at the beginning of preparation Jeydev accomplished the goal with some serious planning and hard work.

It was his second attempt and he had shown faith in his own subject Law that he picked up as optional subject.

When you plan to take a plunge in to Civil Services Examination, intrinsic challenge you are going to face will check your ability to address it with your intelligence and overcome it with smart work.

One can easily make out the complexity surrounding the Civil Services Examination makes it special and it is the prime cause why its craze is intensifying day by day.

To counter stiff competition, you need little bit of planning; sketching out a preparation-strategy that guides you throughout the journey.

As you advance, if you get a mentor, things become manageable as you are able to eliminate or minimize unproductive things and a sincere feedback keeps you motivated.

Precisely this is what happened with Jeydev C S who did not hesitate to seek competent advice that really worked for him.

Putting in plain words the reason for choosing career in civil service Jeydev said, “It offers an opportunity for national service, working in both policy formulation and implementation, along with law enforcement.”

Sharing details about groundwork and his preparation-plan Jeydev said, “I was guided by Mr. Vinay Kumar (of Insights IAS fame) through the entire process - his team had prepared timetables, mock tests and most crucially, feedback for written answers.”

“I supplemented this with a few popular free online portals/initiatives by some credible and reputed institutions”, he added.

When it comes to resources, I had nothing unique; I followed the default standard booklist that has been curated by countless prior candidates and easily available online.

 

Candidly sharing his beginner’s mindset Jeydev said, “When I faced first attempt, I was ill informed and misguided about the examination, and had unrealistic expectations.”

It is a common observable fact associated with Civil Services Examination as in most of the cases the beginning is with lots of enthusiasm and reality check show you the mirror.

Jeydev was no exception and as the luck would have it, he faced a negative outcome in the first attempt.

However, learning from his mistakes Jeydev reworked his strategy for the second attempt with CSE 2019 and tried to remove all the distractions that got in the way of his success.

He set proper priorities for each of his activities; with planning and sincere advice, his endeavor proved to be more productive and his final result says it all.

Success in Civil Services Examination with Rank 5 is no small feat.

 When asked to pinpoint the factors that contributed the most in getting top ranks in this attempt Jeydev said, “Not taking any particular stage of this examination for granted and working in a goal-oriented manner vis-a-vis each individual stage of the exam."

My family & their contribution

My family has been extremely supportive and crucial, without their carte blanche, I doubt I could have cleared the examination.

Secret of Success

Discipline; I looked at this exam as my full time (unpaid) job; so I would treat my daily/weekly targets as non-negotiable.

 

Credit for Success

Family and friends deserves the most of the credit; they were really supportive as well as offered a sounding board when motivation was low. My guides, Messers Vinay and Sudeep at Insights in Bangalore, who made time for me even as I would repeatedly harass them for feedback.

A word of Advice to motivate future aspirants

Beyond a point, it is not what you know; but what you can show that earns dividends in this exam.

In my experience, reading more beyond the required threshold is less useful than practice and analysis.