IES 2013 Topper Interview ECE

Dear friends and all IES2014 aspirants,

All the best for ESE2014.
I am sharing my experience and preparation strategy and I wish it would be helpful for you.
IES is one of the topmost exam conducted by UPSC andcompeition is getting tougher and tougher so if you want to make a difference you really need to have something different from all others…..
I started to prepare seriously from sept 2013 and almost 9 months to get a perfect grip . I prepared all gate subjects before gate exam and practised them very extensively so that after gate they just needed revision and practise ..no theory part after that.
For every single subj of gate,my plan was to cover each and everything and that may be a reason that I was not able to secure a very good rank in gate as it was not the need of this exam. But I was really not concerned with gate as my final plan was IES. So I continued with my preps after gate without thinking twice about what had happened in gate.i never cared as my days were valuable for me more than useless regrets.
I started with class room notes then I went for workbook question,then previous year questions then ques from instrumentation and electrical branch then question from standard books I have reffered during my semesters. For standard books I want to make one point clear that I relied more on books Ireffered in semesters rather than going for any new one that I have never read. Yes,for unsolved questions and derivations that were not covered, I impatiently read new books but only that part , because the moment we get a new book we madly start turning pages and reading it all ,that is totally waste of time.
by gate I think we need to gain a good grip over those all 8 subjects. aftergate,it was serious time for gs and English section.so from march I started reading almost everything I got to read related with gs. For GS I was quite concerned from very beginning so I felt veryintresting to read it.i read all madeeasybooklets,made notes from newspapers and I gave mppsc,ssc exams because they were really helpful for gssections.for geography I read oxford atlas and notes simultaneously.i photocopied maps of india and fixed them at various places on wall.it was a fulltime reading of maps. Even when I was reading newspaper I read it with atlas so any news of india or other country was marked in mind with its location.polity I read from classnotes and current affairs from monthly magzines ,you can pick anyone you feel good.revision is very important for gs part and it really takes time to have a command over it.
For English I took barrons and made it a ritual to memorize at least 10 words daily and I did it by a method called ridiculous thinking in which we associate something odd with meaning of word and then we keep it in our memory ,initially it takes time but friends it is really very helpful…grammerportion I did from the booklet and classnotes nothing else.
For subjects like measurements and instrumentation I relied on classes and then I solved all question from all possible resources. I want to mention one thing that always be open for discussion ,it makes you to think dynamically and your logical connection with subject grows as you share ideas about it in group. Select some classmates(YES,ONLY FEW) and religiously give some time for discussion ,it is very helpful.
For microwave I read liao and kulkarni,though latter is not precise but really it is good to read it once. For optical and satellite I covered extra things from net. I read k. d. Prasad for antenna .for all those subj in which shaums outline was available I bought and solved itonce. Then for network sadiku is one book from which I solved almost all unsolved question and it was really helpful. And for once,do solve kanodia,it is not standard book but in beginning it is really helpful,later on raise your level high and don’t refer it again.
If you are done with good no. of revisions you really need not worry much for conv marks.(good no. of revisions means AT LEAST 3 TIMES.).to score good in conv. You need to put your answers precisely ,to the point,presentable in format,no need to use different colour pens really. Cleanliness is enough to have a good impression. And don’t just try answers if you cant solve themfully,it makes a bad impression. Rather than practicing previous question by writing them try to get the logical sequence of answer .be ready with all important points and never write anything extra.you can attempt theory questions with priority if they are with some diag. or schematics. But always try to go for numericals first.booklist I don’t think I need to mention as they have been posted many times and are almost same.
My interview was all about my work profile at BARC and too many questions from practicle implementation of electronics. All it needed was presence of mind, confidence in words, respect in persona, hard work in words and dedication in answers. If they get convinced that you have really worked hard and you respect the positin you want to achieve they never keep you away from this.rest part you can leave on your luck and your day(1%).
So it was something I could share about my preparations butthe very important part is your own will power and desire to cross the hurdle and be in elite group.coaching is not a panacea and it is not a must have thing.but if you can afford and give time ,better to join classes. They never cover entire syllabus but they help you to cover it on your own .and how much you cover apart from classes always gives you edge specially in conv.
You don’t need to count how many hours you studied ,but how many minutes you were focussed is important. If you had dreamt it ,then definitely you have the potential to do it and this is something you have to believe in.never decide about how far you can go ,just start walking and be ready to take risks.because limits are not there ,they appear only when you let them to. Invade your comfort zone and live your fears. If I can do it ,I think everyone can.
Please feel free to put yourquerries and I will try to answer them whenever I will get time and if I will be able to answer them.
All the best.
SurabhiGautam
AIR 1 ESE 2013
BRANCH ECE