Be ready with Plan B when you face hurdles, UPSC aspirants told

District Forest Officer emphasizes hard work and guidance for success in competitive exams during orientation meeting at Urumu Dhanalakshmi College.

Hard work and correct guidance are essential to getting good results in competitive examinations, T. Akhil Thampi, District Forest Officer, Thanjavur division, said on Tuesday.

Mr. Thampi, Indian Forest Service officer from the 2018 batch, was addressing students of Urumu Dhanalakshmi College (UDC) in Kattur at an orientation meeting organised by The Hindu Civil Services Aspirants’ Club in collaboration with Shankar IAS Academy on Tuesday.

In his address, the civil servant, a B.Tech Mechanical Engineering graduate, said that he had been inspired to attempt the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams by a senior in college. “I went to Delhi to prepare for the exams, but failed in my first two attempts. So I applied for other jobs and resumed my exam preparation. I was working in Kochi when I cleared UPSC in the third attempt,” Mr. Thampi said.

He advised students to be ready to work hard and seek guidance from more experienced people at the right time. “We must learn to identify and analyse our mistakes, and then work to rectify them in the next round. Initially, one’s attention may be taken up solely by the exams, but when one faces hurdles, one must have a Plan B,” Mr. Thampi said.

He said that learning modules and coaching facilities for civil services had become accessible and decentralised over the years, which could help more students sit for public service exams.

C. Prabakar, branch manager, Shankar IAS Academy, advised students to explore job opportunities in government service with the help of preparatory programmes.

UDC principal E.R. Ravichandran spoke.