Bisheshwar Khumukcham (MCS)
What is a competitive examination? By basic definition, a competitive examination is an examination where candidates are ranked according to the marks scored by them. In a competitive examination, there is generally no concept of a passing mark. In case an examination is held for ‘n’ seats, the first ‘n’ persons in the rank are adjudged to have passed while the remaining fails the exam. So, it is quite different from a normal exam that we generally give during our school or college days.
Because of this different nature, a competitive examination needs to be viewed ‘differently’. The yardstick for these examinations has to be a floating one and you should never be too happy with your level of preparedness until it’s all over. The right approach will be to compare your today with your yesterday and in this way, try and improve yourself continuously.
So, what needs to be done so that you are able to crack a competitive examination with ease? As usual, you have to work pretty hard. A concerted and unwavering effort is needed for you to succeed. This is known to all and there is no need to greatly emphasize on this.
Now, any exam needs a well determined attitude and one never-say-die approach too. Before we talk on this, let us first talk on another very important component, collection of reading materials. Though the words like attitude, unwavering effort seems fancier, reading material is one really important component. I would say your positive attitude and efforts will work when you have some good reading materials to prop you up. While, collecting conventional reading materials will be easier, keeping yourself well informed of the current happenings around the world will need a more concerted approach. Here, you can either find out a good source of reading material on the internet (Mrunal, Vision IAS, Half Mentor IAS, Insight to India, etc.) or you can subscribe to a good and comprehensive magazine (Yojana-good for essay, Kurukshetra-good for essay, CS Times, the Chronicle, etc.). Keeping yourself up to date and informed through newspaper reading is also one indispensable component. But you are advised that you do not take other’s opinion as it is but try and form your own opinion on various topics.
For any exam, understanding the basics of what you are reading is a must. Be it a subjective paper or an objective one, the main objective is testing your level of understanding of the subject. I would suggest a read through of the subject matter first. After that, a thorough approach can be adopted where you can plan chapter wise or topic wise. As you have already skimmed through the matter once, you will be having a rough sketch in your head of how the topics are spread out and which ones are linked. Trying to co-relate and reading sticks and it helps a lot. When you are done for the day and are lying down, just pick up one random topic and try to recollect what you learned. If it appears blank, get up and try to fill in the blanks immediately.
In order to achieve success in a competitive examination, you will need to have a winning attitude. No one can be forced to succeed, at least I believe that. You need to have that willingness in you to succeed. This applies to all, exam or no exam. So, when you sit down to read, it should not be a struggle but it should be in such a way that you actually look forward to it. Whatever you are reading should have your full attention and your concentration should not falter. That is the kind of resolve you should have. You do not need to keep on studying at a stretch. But when you do, make it count. You should have the strength to forget everything else. Only then will you be able to make it to the top flight of your journey.
Never feel shy in approaching anyone for clearing a doubt, be it someone junior to you. That is one winning attitude and it will take you a long way ahead. Humility is an asset and you should develop that in you if you do not have that in you.
Never be too happy or too contented of what you have done until you have performed in the examination for which you are preparing. You are not supposed to let your guard down too early. Callousness and overconfidence are some characters that you need to throw away in order to help yourself succeed. While too much undermining yourself is harmful, always have an open mind and do not be too confident. You need to be careful because the moment you start feeling overconfident, an unknown weight has been added to your baggage which will hamper your climb to the top.
Another important thing to be kept in mind while preparing for any examination is that your goal should be clear-cut. As far as I understand, you cannot run more than one race at the same time. So, mixing preparations for different exams is not advisable. If the exams have common courses or similarities, it is fine. Else, it is better to focus on just one examination.
Well, there is not much left to say now. Cracking a competitive examination needs meticulous planning, unfaltering resolve and more importantly a positive mindset and approach. You should have the decency to admit your weaknesses and try to work on that. You should always remember that as long as you are able to identify the fault in yourself, you are in control. Once a person starts blaming others for his blunders, that person has given away his fate in the hands of some other people and he would never be in control anymore. Keeping all these in mind, and working diligently, any competitive examination can be easily cracked.
