Meet IAS officer Aparajita Sharma who cracked UPSC exam and secured AIR 40

Aparajita Sharma, who is a resident of Banaras did not even know who an IAS officer is. She had no idea about how to clear this exam but still she had a dream of becoming an IAS officer since she was a child. Actually, the reason behind her dream was her maternal grandfather. Her nana ji always used to tell her that my daughter will become an officer one day. Aparajita, as a kid, did not know what it was like to be an officer. But when she started growing up, Aparajita took it seriously and chose it as a career. 

According to Aparajita, this post not only gives prestige but also satisfaction. Aparajita cleared the exam in the year 2017 with an All India rank of 40. With this, her childhood dream came true.

Aparajita did her schooling from Banaras, after which she got admitted to Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi for her graduation. Her father is retired as an IRS officer and her mother is a professor. 

After graduation, Aparajita got a job in a big company. She was the only girl in her department. There was no girl apart from her even in other departments. Some incidents that happened there in her company inspired Aparajita and she then decided to give the civil services exam a try and work at the ground level.  Her nana ji also wanted her to become an officer since her childhood. 

Aparajita says that you have to make different strategies to prepare for all three exams. First of all, go through the syllabus and collect the books according to your interest. Along with this, she also says not to have multiple sources. She advises to keep your books limited but revising them, again and again, is more important. Make your strategy according to your strengths and weakness because everyone is different. Set daily goals and fulfil them. 

Aparajita gives great importance to NCERT books for basics. She read books on maximum subjects of NCERT from class 6 to 12, especially Geography. After this, she focused on the newspapers. She read three entire newspapers during her preparation.

The next important thing Aparajita advises is to never lie during the interview. People who are sitting there are more intelligent than you, they will catch your lie in seconds. Apologize if there is no answer. Aparajita also does not believe in giving too many mock tests. She says this will confuse you and give rote answers. It would be better to speak what is in your heart because here your honesty is being tested, not your knowledge.