Saikiran Nandala AIR 27 - A brief about my journey:

A brief about my journey:

1. I did my graduation in ECE from NIT Warangal (2018 graduated). Post that I have been working as Hardware systems engineer in Qualcomm.

2. I have done my entire preparation along with full time job.Started my preparation in Jan-Feb 2021( though I applied for 2021 attempt, I didn't go for the exam . My aim was to prepare full-fledged for 2022 attempt)

3. So, From March 2021 to Feb 2022 my preparation was completely in Mains perspective where I read entire syllabus,made my own notes, learned answer writing, wrote full length tests for optional, attempted few essay and practiced ethics as well. I did this religiously before prelims itself knowing the fact that I won't get much time between prelims and Mains ( as I have to manage job as well)

4. Feb 2022- May 2022: Full prelims preparation.( I have cleared 2022 prelims by just 0.5 marks above the cut-off)

5. June 2022- Sep 2022: Mains mode again. I took leave for 1 month for 2022 Mains. I enrolled for Vision FLT for GS and Sociology.

6. Post 2022 Mains: I'm not quite satisfied with my Mains 2022 performance. I know that I will be +/-20 marks around the cut-off. So, I took around 15-20 days break and started working on my GS. I have analysed my knowledge gaps and added value-addition for all 4 GS papers before Mains result could come.

7. Dec 2022- May 2023: I have cleared Mains that year and my interview was scheduled in 3rd phase on May1st. During this time, I prepared for interview while keeping an eye on prelims as well during this time( as prelims scheduled for May 28th)

8. Result of 2022: As predicted My mains marks are just above cut -off and I missed the final list by 19 marks. This was coming all along after my below par performance in Mains 2022.

9. Prelims 2023: This time I did not get much time to prepare for prelims as my interview was on May1st and prelims on May28th. But the outlook I got over the year and current affairs I have prepared for interview have helped a lot. I scored 98 in prelims ( 22 marks above the cut-off this time)

10. Mains 2023 preparation: This was the most toughest part( i got only 2 weeks of leave this time that too during Mains days) but I enjoyed chasing the targets I set.Most of my GS improvement work I have done post 2022 Mains( looking back this is the best decision I made to read and improve just after 2022 Mains without waiting for the results), so I utilised this time for improving Sociology scores and Essay. With hardwork and bit of luck, I have improved Mains scores exactly by 100( 43 in Socio, 48 in GS, 9 in Essay).

11. Post-Mains and Interview: I did not prepare much after this for interview, but I worked on few aspects in the way I deliver and structure my answers. I utilised most of time to work on some hobbies, travel in free time to get the energy back which was exhausted by this UPSC process. Also, I had no energy or intentions to give one more attempt if I didn't do well this time as in my view I did what I could do to best of my abilities. If still I couldn't get through then it's time to move on. Luckily, my name is in the 1st page of this holy pdf!!