Are you Preparing for civil service examination? These are the top 10 common avoidable mistakes to clear this examination. Usually, candidates use to do whatever they think in their mind in their preparation. But, that’s not the way of preparing for this examination. You should so clear in your thoughts and ideas about the concepts and way you schedule yourself.
Let’s jump into the article.
Do you know your syllabus?
- Traveling without a destination always leads to the endless journey. As a civil service aspirant, we should know the syllabus.
- So that you come to know what you have to study and what you need not study and always try to carry a copy of syllabus with you.
- This will be highly useful while reading the newspaper, coaching classroom etc. Read the UPSC Prelims and Mains Syllabus from here.
Choosing the right Books
- Choosing the right books for your IAS preparation motivates and guides you on the right track. Ask your seniors or your coaching institute faculties for the prescribed book list.
- Always avoid asking bookshop owners, they may or may not have knowledge of the books which is going to decide your career.
- Even some shop owners (Not all) try to sell some new/bad books in the market to get high commissions from the publishers.
- We have selected the best books which are 100% useful for your preparation. You also see our book list for the civil service preparation from here
Touch with seniors
- Don’t restrict yourself with your surroundings. Have touch with your seniors.
- They have very good experience in the preparation comparing with you.
- Try to clarify your doubts with them. Don’t think if I ask silly questions, what they think about me, what about my prestige sort of things.
- Everyone in this world has some silly questions on their mind. Even rocket scientist doesn’t know something which you know.
Don’t be blind
- Planning and Strategy making is the core part of smart preparation. If you do hard work, there is a less chance to win the race. But if you do smart work, then you are the winner here.
- Smart work doesn’t mean you, the trick to clear this examination; it just deals with the right way of your preparation.
- No one can reject you from the race if you plan and execute it in the right way. Always plan and make deadlines for you to complete the topics.
What are the topics I have to cover for this week?
What topics have I to revise again?
How much time have I to spend on these particular topics? are the most basic questions which you have to ask yourself. So that, in your long run preparation you will not get saturated.
Notes Preparation
- Making quality notes for all subjects may look like a time-consuming process. But this will be your lifesaver.
- Just a month before the exam, you cannot refer all the books and materials which you have referred already.
- So in this instance making, relevant quality notes will save your time and revision much better.
Writing Mock Test
- Writing a mock test will tell you where you are? Writing a mock test will improve your quality as well as confident in attending the examination.
- With the results of your mock test analyze your weak and strong areas and try to put some effort to strengthen your weak section.
- Don’t forget to refer the previous year question papers to find out the important areas.
Choosing Optional
- Don’t choose your optional blindly just because of your friends, seniors, coaching center. First up all see the syllabus and decide.
- Some optional seems like scoring, so people usually use to refer that as your optional, but if you don’t have interest on that subject, then how it could be a scoring one for you.
- Before you choose the optional, once again confirm with the material source, successful aspirants guidance or good coaching institute.
- Choosing an optional without right guidance is the most dangerous than anything.
Must Read: Easy Guide to Choose your Optional Paper
Skipping NCERT’s
- Always read NCERT’s. NCERT’s are the important source for the questions in Preliminary. Most of the candidates directly go for the advance books, without reading the NCERT’s.
- This will not be a good choice. NCERT will help you to accumulate your basic knowledge which the reference book cannot.
You can download 6th to 12th standard NCERT from this here.
Daily Newspaper reading
- Skipping paper reading and relying on monthly or weekly magazines will not be a good decision. Because if you read the current affairs by monthly, you might get overloaded and so stressed.
- So always read the daily newspaper and make short and crisp notes for revision and you can also follow Yojana.
Completely Ignoring CSAT-II
- Even though marks you obtain in CSAT-II will not consider for your final list, you must remember that this is the qualifying paper.
- If you fail to qualify in this paper, then you will not be selected for mains examination. So it is important to show some responsibility on this paper.
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