Is it hard work that gets one through the Civil Services or is it smart work? Successful candidates, who cracked the toughest exam of the country this year, however, argued that a combination of both actually matters.
At an orientation session organised by The Hindu Civils Aspirants’ Forum in association with Dr. Lakshmaiah’s IAS Study Circle here, successful candidates – P. Abhishek (IAS), Snehalatha (IAS) and Murali (IRS) – shared some of their preparation styles with the aspirants.
They said what matters finally is how well one writes the exam in those three hours rather than the years of preparation. Murali and Abhishek stood among toppers in the written exam in the country while Snehalatha cracked the exam in her first attempt.
Poor handwriting
How can one overcome poor handwriting? They felt candidates should use flow charts and diagrams to impress the examiner with good content. Many candidates get stuck with one or two questions losing out on time for other questions. Don’t leave any question as that may actually leave a negative impact on the examiner.
Some candidates lose hope in the middle of the exam due to some tough questions and lose interest. But these successful candidates argued that since there is no definition for a good preparation, one should make the best use of the present attempt.
“Whatever you write, ensure it is of good quality. Write in the way the examiner expects you to,” they said.
Senior faculty at Dr. Lakshmaiah’s Study Circle Balakrishna, also spoke on the preparation of the toppers like Abhishek, Murali and Snehalatha from their institute. Academy’s director Padmaja Rani also felicitated the speakers on the occasion.
In 2016 Civil Services, 23 aspirants qualified from this institution of whom 17 were from Anthropology.
Dr. Lakshmaiah is well versed with Anthropology and has written about 14 books along with Dr. A. Ashok, Commissioner, Board of Intermediate Examination.
