Common Mistakes Students make while preparing for ESE Exams
Engineering Services Examination (ESE) exam is one of the toughest exams in India. It is conducted annually by the Union Service Public Commission (UPSC) at a national level. The aim of this exam is to provide job opportunities for engineering graduates in various departments, ministry, Cadre, Organisations, PSU, etc. Hence, candidates who wish to appear for this exam need a lot of preparation. A particular ese preparation strategy should be followed by the candidates. As this exam provides a lot of opportunities, there are many aspirants each year. However, there are only a handful of vacancies so one needs to avoid silly mistakes while preparing for this exam.
In this article, we will discuss the detailed mistakes that majority of the students make while preparing for this exam and how to avoid them.
1) Not Aware of the Exam Pattern, Syllabus & Study Materials:
This one is the most common mistake that students make while preparing for the exam. Before actually starting to study, one needs to make a note of the exam pattern, syllabus and study materials. A lack of research will be harmful as the candidates won’t have any idea about the examination. One can refer to the syllabus and exam pattern from the online portal of the UPSC.
Also, it is important to refer to the previous years question papers as they will help the candidates to know the important questions. Sort out the easy and important topics that will help to score more marks easily. Talking about the study materials, candidates can take guidance from a reliable coaching/senior faculty. If one is referring to online sources make sure that the study materials are relevant and trustworthy to avoid gaining the wrong information.
Students who will opt for this exam next year, should refer to the entire ESE Exam 2021 overview to get a proper understanding of the entire examination.
2) No Study Plan/Strategy:
The ese preparation strategy/study plan is the one that most of the candidates fail to make. As the entire ese paper is divided into two main exams i.e. prelims and mains, a proper study plan should be made according to each of these papers. The prelim exam contains general awareness and engineering aptitude along with technical questions. Whereas the mains contains only technical-related questions.
The nature of these questions is different as the prelims contain objective type questions and the mains contain the conventional type questions. Only those candidates who qualify the prelims are allowed to appear for the mains. Hence, a proper study plan should be made by the candidates for both these papers. Give a particular amount of time to each topic and stick to the plan daily.
3) Choosing the Wrong Institute:
This is for the candidates who have opted for coaching for the ese preparation. Many institutes promise to help candidates get top scores in the exam but in reality, when they actually take admission in these coachings, no attention is given to them. To avoid this, one needs to take a look at the course manual, online reviews of the students learning in that institute, visit the institute personally and finally make sure that the institute is worth investing one’s money and time.
4) Giving insufficient time to General Studies:
Many candidates ignore the general studies section and revise it at the last moment. However, general studies & engineering aptitude contributes 200 marks in the entire paper 1 of the prelims exam. Sometimes it is also a deciding factor whether the candidate is eligible to appear for the mains paper or not. Hence, a proper amount of time should be given to GS section from day 1 itself.
5) No Time Management:
Time is very precious when preparing for this exam. Many candidates forget the importance of time and think that they have a lot of time to prepare for the exam. This is a very wrong approach looking at the level of this exam and the fewer vacancies. One should study every day while keeping their goal in mind. On the other hand, wasting unnecessary time preparing the unimportant questions which rarely show up in the exam is also one of the factors that one needs to remember.
6) No Self- Analyzation:
Self-Analyzation is the crucial aspect where candidates need to analyze themselves in terms of the overall preparation. Many candidates fail to realize this aspect. Identify the topics in which one is strong and in which one is weak. Work on the topics in which the candidates are weak or tough. Keep on improving and work effectively.
7) Insufficient Revision time:
The last aspect is the revision where candidates fail to revise on a regular basis. A proper study plan followed by a revision should be carried out daily. Neglecting the revision part and keeping it for the last moment won’t help as the candidates would be burdened by the same at the last minute.
The ese preparation strategy should be carried out by avoiding these mistakes. Candidates should study efficiently in this exam in order to secure their dream job in the various domains.