12/14/2017 Civil Services and a Job Chasing your dreams while working: Mittali Sethi AIR 56, UPSC

Sethi AIR 56, UPSC CSE 2016

Civil Services and a Job Chasing your dreams while

working: Mittali Sethi AIR 56, UPSC CSE 2016
www.insightsonindia.com/2017/06/19/civil-services-job-chasing-dreams-working-mittali-sethi-air-56-upsc-cse-2016/

INSIGHTS

Civil Services and a Job Chasing your dreams while working

Mittali Sethi AIR 56, UPSC CSE 2016

To read Mittali Sethis Previous Article, click here

I work from 9 to 5 in my office. I have to work to be financially independent. I have to work to

support my family. I am too old to study anyway. So many people are sitting at home and
studying, it is not even possible for me to do this.

I work from 9 to 5 in my office. So actually I value my time so much more. I should have less
anxiety, less insecurity since I am financially independent. I have people around who I can talk to
when I need to. I am old, and therefore, I comprehend and understand a perspective in a much
mature way. I know other people are sitting at home, but I have my strong points, and I must focus
on them.

If there was to be a short version of this article, the difference between the thought processes
above is all one needs to observe, understand and adopt if one is preparing for the Civil
Service Examination(CSE) with a job.

In the last few days, every third query email that I read asks me the same question Can it be
done with a job? So I thought this is a very pertinent question, especially since the age limit is
increased now, and many working professionals want to write the exam. Since I cleared the
exam while in a job, here are a few things I want to put across:

1. The first thing that I need everyone to understand is that with Civil services, each persons
starting point, motivation and journey is different. Please dont compare yourself to
anyone else.You have to stop looking for a perfect strategy because there is none.
Someone might be really bad in Geography, what purpose would it solve if that person
follows someone and over-reads Art and Culture? While you listen to anyone including
me dont ever forget the uniqueness of your own journey. And have faith in that
uniqueness.
2. Handling the family is another issue that is very important. This is especially true for those
who are married, those who live with families or are in a joint family and those who are a
bit on the higher side in terms of age. A lot of times it is not the immediate family, but the
12/14/2017 Civil Services and a Job Chasing your dreams while working: Mittali Sethi AIR 56, UPSC CSE 2016

relatives who play games with our mindset please avoid them. You need to keep your
own immediate family on the right side of this if you are a husband or a wife, make sure
your significant other understands your central beliefs, and your larger purpose in life.
Make sure your parents dont feel left out on your time with them, but refuse to attend or
take part in useless and pretentious ceremonies. You will have to be okay with offending a
few people for your own principles. I faced a lot of flak for coming out of my own family
group of WhatsApp, for not attending the very important weddings, but I did not
budge. It is important to have less people around you who love and support you
unconditionally. Those are the ones who will keep you grounded if you fly high and pull
you up if you fall. Less is more, here.
3. A special note to the ladies, here. Being a female myself, I can understand that females
have a unique set of challenges in front of them when they decide to take up the exam
and if you are married or working it is a double challenge. There is always an additional
pressure of having a child if you dont have one already. Based on the emails I received
both ends of the problem exist. Housewives are equally anxious and insecure about taking
the exam. If you fall in these categories please dont let anyone around you tell you that
you cannot do this. You deserve a chance and dont quit without having yours. Read
Suruchis deeply inspiring story on Insights she cleared the CSE 2016 exam with two
children! Nothing else will make you believe that it is all in the mind.
4. If you are working, you dont have a few luxuries and you need to have this in mind
before you even begin this. Shut off social media completely if you can. As a student of
Psychology, I can tell you for sure that there are huge sub-conscious implications of social
media. In Facebook and even in WhatsApp groups, you have to compulsorily, by virtue of
being a part of them, witness a social life. It is generally said that if you are fat, dont
believe yourself that you will not eat a packet of chips instead dont buy one! It is the
same here. If you have to be in these things for your job or any other practical reasons,
then set strict timings. Use Apps which help you to switch phone off for a certain time.
And please DONT keep commenting needlessly in Disqus comments or Forum
discussions. You not only waste your own time but also make finding meaningful stuff
difficult for others. Bottomline is if your preparation is compromised due to your job or
family, dont introduce one more distraction. Delayed gratifications, please.
5. Many people who are working by virtue of their anxiety are always looking for some
motivation. I myself used to watch so many TED talks and get inspired so to say. Then
one day, my husband asked me if I actually work on what I learn from one video before I
watch the next video. And since I stopped watching them, I realised the difference. The
lessons are all out there you know what you have to do! All you have to do is as one of
my teachers said Shut up and actually do it. This is something I have said on my blog,
and I repeat Have the discipline the habit will sustain you, motivation alone is useless.
Adrenaline is the peak, what you need is a plateau. This is a long haul, my dear, build your
plateaus.
6. Know your strengths and I cannot stress this enough. Look at yourself objectively without
personal attachment. Your age is your strength if you are older, you have a perspective
that is much more mature than a youngster. And no matter what anyone says that is
true if it works for you. You are in a job, it is your strength you have a back up. Use that
to calm your mind. You have taken the plunge now dont let stereotypes about the exam
back you down. Understand your strengths. I knew that I am a teacher and if I could break
down things for my students, I could extrapolate it to my own studies. I generally write, so
I did not do a lot of writing practice before my exams (and this was when everyone
around kept saying writing is very, very important no matter how much you know)- I used
12/14/2017 Civil Services and a Job Chasing your dreams while working: Mittali Sethi AIR 56, UPSC CSE 2016

that time to read more. Your beliefs will make sense only to you and if they do trust
them, while you learn also from your mistakes.
7. By all means, take short cuts. I could never take the notes out of Hindu my job did not
allow me to do so. And Kumar Ashirwads article last year was a boon where he
mentioned how making notes out of newspaper is not worth it. And let me be honest here
there were many times when due to multiple reasons, I could not read newspaper
everyday. But there are compilations Insights makes an amazing collection of current
affairs. If you have someone who is curating current affairs for you, why waste time? I used
PT 365 of Vision freely to cover syllabus. I studied world history entirely from coaching
notes for a single question, you cannot have the luxury of reading Norman Lowe. Use
the resources, study smartly and focus on spreading a wider net rather than diving deep.
8. The most important thing is to believe that there is no difference between you and
anyone else studying for the exam without a job. All you need for the exam is a basic
knowledge and perspective of the issues surrounding you. Prelims is a factual exam, I
agree. But over a certain threshold, your marks dont matter as they arent counted
anyway. For Mains, if you read current affairs everyday and think about them make a
personal view on them that is enough. Factual Mains stuff can be read after Prelims. And
if you include a simultaneous writing practice, a daily (quality) reading of 5-6 hours is
enough. Use the weekends to compensate. Dont allow the hope to drift away, and
support it with disciplined hard work.
9. If you have a few attempts with you, dont be complacent, but also dont give up. It might
take some time for you to achieve what you want to but dont beat yourself up. Persist,
persist!
10. This is something that I dont really have to say as I am sure everybody must be following
it. Have a few leaves before the actual exam. It is important to be with yourself for a little
while when you are going out there to test yourself against so many people. I took around
two weeks before Prelims and a month before Mains. That was sufficient.
11. Using micro opportunities is very important. At no point of time in my day was I found
without some form of learning material. From my bathroom time to sometimes my dinner
time, I used even 5 minutes to watch or read something. Also, use smart methods I used
to have tools in my laptop to watch videos at twice the speed. (If you need to learn how to
do it, please drop a comment. Will let you know.)
12. Compartmentalisation and cross learning of subjects is again, essential if you are in a job.
As an orthodontist, my job and the syllabus had very little in common. But as a doctor, I
understood health sector and reading about polity and economy helped me to relate
health to them, and vice versa. I could think about transformational solutions in health
because I now had a 360 degree view. See how working can become your strength in a
given area? Use these strengths you can really use them in your exam.

The most important thing, I believe is to never lose the enthusiasm. When I used to think of
giving up, I would tell myself Anyway, what would you do after 5? Eat out, watch TV, be on
Facebook. This is better, at least you are learning something! That helped me always be
enthusiastic about this with the least expectations. Focus on making the journey better and
productive, and take this from someone who has gone through this the goal will take care of
itself. Oh, and by the way, your goal should not be UPSC or IAS. Your goal is to become a bit
better each day you are much larger than UPSC or any other organisation/institution. Your
purpose is too small if UPSC is able to defeat it. Dont allow that to happen millions of people
out there are counting on you!
12/14/2017 Civil Services and a Job Chasing your dreams while working: Mittali Sethi AIR 56, UPSC CSE 2016

P.S. I wrote the following article on my blog on how the battle of mind is the real battle here. I
am hoping that this can be of some
help.https://inklingsofaspecialcommonwoman.wordpress.com/2017/06/16/2-civil-services-and-
the-real-game-conquering-the-battle-in-the-mind/

If you need answers to anything else, please feel free to reach me at [emailprotected].