Strategized learning helped software engineer get 6th rank in third UPSC attempt

Her two failed attempts did not deter 26-year-old Vishakha Yadav, a software engineer and daughter of a Delhi Police personnel, from attempting the Civil Service examination for the third time. In the results announced on Tuesday, she is the sixth all-India rank holder. Yadav, daughter of Rajkumar Yadav, who is currently posted as Assistant Sub-Inspector in Delhi Police in Dwarka, said she appeared for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) twice before in 2017 and 2018, but couldn''t qualify the preliminary exams both the times, leaving her disappointed.  But her two previous failures did not stop her from achieving her goal.

"This was my third attempt and it still hasn't sunk in that I'm the sixth rank holder," she told PTI.

Yadav did her software engineering from Delhi College of Engineering in 2014 and took up a job in a firm in Bangalore. After almost 2.5 years, she decided to quit her job and started preparing for the civil service examination.  Soon after leaving her job, she attempted for UPSC in 2017 which she said was a "big failure". She attempted a second time the next year but couldn't qualify for the prelims because of just 1.3 marks.  When asked how she kept herself motivated during her third attempt, she said she learnt from her mistakes and tried to plan and strategize the preparation. 

"With two failures, it is very difficult to move on after that especially psychologically. You feel like going back to the job and think about the opportunities you are missing out on. But I tried to give my third attempt as my last attempt and worked for it whole-heartedly," she said.

Yadav said her mother, a homemaker, is her true inspiration.

"My mom was there for me all the time, to pull me up from all the low moments. She was the biggest support and force in motivating me. I think I drew a lot from her." Since her father works in the public sector, his direct connect with people has taught her a lot, she said.

Yadav was not active on any social media platform for almost two years, which she says gave her a "sense of peace" while studying. To de-stress, she would solve a lot of sudoko puzzles, sketch and paint. She also watched TV series, engaging documentaries, interviews and Ted talks.  Elaborating on her preparations, Yadav said consistency is what worked for her.

"In my previous attempts, I was not able to maintain consistency. If you have set your daily targets, then you should not miss them and put them to another day. You should complete them. Follow the schedule religiously. If you try to break it, then it gets piled up and you will be falling back on schedule. This time, I ensured to set daily, weekly and monthly targets, I will finish them and revise. I kept track of my progress." 

To UPSC aspirants, she strongly recommends that they focus on targets and quality based studying rather than investing long hours.