10 tips to crack government exam while working

No matter how many jobs private sectors might provide, government jobs would always be superior. Everyone wants a government job. It is mostly preferred by youths.

When you would go for appearing in a government exam, you would notice thousands of candidates between the ages 20 to 25 who would be already working on a job. So why do people with a job try to seek another one? Because government jobs have attractive pay and extremely good working conditions plus job security.

It is very hard for students to keep working and studying at the same time is a tough shell to crack. But as they say, nothing is impossible. If you are willing to achieve your goal and you have determination in your veins, nobody can keep you away from cracking a government exam.

Almost every Government exam follows the same pattern, and therefore a strategy to clear them out is almost the same as well.

By now, it would be clear to you that cracking a government exam is not at all easy. You can not crack a UPSC exam overnight. It demands dedication and smart work.

There would be a time when everyone would advise you to leave your job, or you might also feel the same way. But this all is a mere myth. You can also crack any sort of government exam while working on a job.

Scheduling Your day

Now that you have a job and you also have to crack a government exam at the same time. Is it even possible? You might ask. Without any doubt, yes. Because you already have a job, so it becomes very crucial for you to plan your day beforehand.  Find out what strategy works the best for you and stick to it.

Plan your schedule in such a way that you make the best use of each and every second of your day. When you have a good idea about your exam, and you have figured out the best strategy for yourself, then you would find yourself going close to your goal. In this article, we have covered a few strategies that might come out as beneficial for you.

Waking up

Waking up early is always beneficial for your mind as well as your body. Contrary to this, many candidates might prefer staying up late at night because waking up early is not easy. Waking up early in the morning is 10 times harder than staying up the whole night. But not getting proper sleep at night is very unhealthy.

The best strategy is to wake up early in the morning. Rising up around 5:30 is the best. When you start waking up early, it will be hard for you, but as time will pass by, it will become a habit of yours.  

Going to bed

If you are working a job already, then waking up early would be a good idea. Usually, your shift would start at 8 or 9 in the morning. So until then, you will have sufficient time to study as you already woke up early in the morning.

It is not hard, and it just requires discipline. Without being strict on yourself, you can not crack your exam. Make it a rule of your life that you have to study before going to work and before going to sleep.

If you sleep around 11 or 11:30, then you would be able to easily wake up at 5:30 in the morning.  

Practicing English

The time, while you are traveling from your house to your job, can be utilized as well. Even a single second of your day is precious.  You could make use of your traveling by preparing for English.

Even if you are good at English, you can not ignore the subject. Study English regularly, just like other subjects. Topics like one-word substitution, phrases, or idioms can be studied. Make sure that this becomes a habit of yours to study while traveling.

The English language

For some candidates who already have good knowledge of the English language, this section can be easy. But for others, it is definitely a nightmare.

For candidates who initially faced difficulties with the language or those who have graduated from the Hindi medium, it is difficult. This section does not contain any sort of shortcuts, concepts, or some kind of logical questions; after all, it is a Language subject. This is the reason that it could be hard for some candidates as compared to the other subjects.

'The Hindu' newspaper is recommended for you if you have issues with the subject. Reading this newspaper every day would help in gaining good knowledge and in good understanding about the language. It also proves to be helpful with grammar.

There is another good recommendation for students. The 'Wren and Martin' book is highly recommended and preferred by aspirants and professionals. It teaches you the rules and tricks of acing the grammar section.

Good study material is the key. You need to find more of them. In this way, you could get better at English vocabulary and topics like active/passive voice, direct and indirect speech, which students find hard to understand.

Topics such as Antonyms, Synonyms, Parts of speech, sentence correction, completion of sentence, and grammatical errors are extremely important from the aspect of competitive exams.

Current affairs

Studying current affairs is the basic need for qualifying for most government exams. If you spend at least an hour reading a newspaper or scrolling through websites, you will make yourself ready for your exam.

The key point is to be regular. You can not learn everything in one day itself. Start by reading it for 15 minutes a day. Slowly you will start making it a habit, and then you can increase your hours.

Mock Tests

No matter what kind of competitive exam you are going for, mock tests are very important. After revising your topics, go for a mock test.

It gives you an endnote about your preparation and learning ability.  There are thousands of Mock tests available online. So next time you surf through the web, make sure to take a mock test.

urExam (www.urexam.in) are also a better and smart choice. We have a wide variety of tests for almost every important government exam. The best part is that we have a wide variety of questions prepared by experts through which you can always assess your gaps anytime, anywhere.

Do not mix up your subjects.

Make a well-organized schedule. Next, try to cover a single subject at a time. If you try to go for 2 or more subjects at a time, then you will end up mixing everything.

If you are studying environmental studies, then you can not study mathematics simultaneously. Only study a subject at a time.

Another important point is to not study for long hours in a single round. At least take. 3 - 4 breaks for around 5 - 10 minutes.

Hard to crack topics

In your whole syllabus, there might be some topics that would be difficult for you to understand. Don't fear them; just stack up all those hard topics and start your preparation with them.

As you are a working professional, it is advisable to figure the most scoring subjects and topics, which help you in gaining maximum marks with the nominal efforts.

Alternatively, you can also go for scoring topics first. There might be certain topics that are very important according to the exam pattern. Go for them first.

This is vital because if you were somehow not able to complete the syllabus on time, then at least you would be relieved that you have already prepared the hard topics.  

On Weekends

Weekends might be a time where everyone relaxes, but it would be the time when you have to study more than the other days as your working hours would be off on weekends, so you need to utilize them to study for at least 9 hours.

In this way, you would be able to give 42 hours in total in a week. 24 hours on weekdays and 18 hours on weekends would sum up to make 42 productive hours.

If we have to talk about the standard then, studying for at least 6 hours a day is enough for a candidate to crack government exams.  If you are intended to prepare for SBI PO, IBPS PO, CGI, or SSC exams, then there are tons of coaching classes. These coaching classes are especially for weekdays. Therefore on weekdays, you can go to an institute that has a good reputation.  

Do not lose motivation.

Everywhere there are fancy things that could distract your mind and could make you divert from your actual path. Never ever fall for fascinating things or temporary pleasures.

Be strict on yourself and treat the goal of your life as a commitment. Use the precious time in your life to plan out things that are really worth your time. You can only achieve your goals if you are passionate about them. Make it an ambition of yours to make your life a dynamic and vibrant one, the one with permanent pleasure.

Another important point is that you should never let negative thoughts cross your mind. Try to be hopeful and optimistic. Sometimes having a positive attitude might actually make things turn out to be good for you.

Remember it is 'Now or Never.' With hard work and determination for a few years, you could spend a whole life filled with all of the fancy things that would be permanent.  Just work hard for this while, and you will see your life-changing drastically. Plan a schedule for yourself and work hard until you achieve your goal. Never ever stop. Keep going.

Restarting

There might be times when you lose hope and end studying, or maybe you don't have enough strength to make up your mind to study. This is totally fine. As human beings, we all have our highs and lows. All of us fall. The thing that matters is how we get up. It's okay for you to take some time away from your studies.

Once you have decided to get back after a break of a few days or maybe a month, then instead of going through your books, take Mock tests. You need some source that would make you remember everything that you have studied in a small amount of time. We suggest taking Online mock tests or referring to the previous year's question papers. There are a variety of quizzes available online, and it is good to invest in them as they help you in testing your knowledge.

Once you revisit all the stuff that you have studied, you would feel better. You would feel your mind being more and more familiar with the syllabus. Later on, you could make a new timetable or study plan for yourself. It is also fine if you follow the old study pattern that was once suitable for you.