Is it advisable to leave one's present job and prepare for the UPSC full-time?

Managing Preparation and Job Responsibilities: Balancing Act

The question of managing preparation for an exam, such as UPSC, alongside a job is a common concern. In order to provide an honest account of my own experience, I will address the following questions:

Q1: Is it advisable to leave one's present job and prepare for the exam full-time?

A: There is no definite answer to this question, as both options have their pros and cons. The decision should be based on personal circumstances. In my case, I chose to prepare for the exam while continuing with my job initially, as I was not entirely certain about pursuing UPSC. I appeared for the 2019 and 2020 prelims while working. However, when I felt confident about clearing the 2020 prelims (though I ultimately failed), I made the decision to leave my job and focused on preparing full time for mains, for which I didn't have enough time previously.

It is important to note that candidates who are employed may have less time to prepare for both the prelims and mains simultaneously. Consequently, it may take longer for working candidates to become fully prepared for both stages compared to those who are preparing full-time.

Personally, I was willing to accept this trade-off due to the inherent uncertainty in the UPSC examination process.