If I held a gun to your head and said, “Run for your life before I pull the trigger!” what would you do? You certainly wouldn’t just stand there, even though you know very well that your chances of escaping a bullet by running would be barely 1%! You’d give it everything you have, making that last desperate attempt to survive, hoping the shot might miss and you’d somehow miraculously make it! This is how humans live—giving 100% effort for just a 1% chance of survival! It’s better to hold on believing in miracles than to give up entirely.
Let’s assume your chances of getting the job in the 36th BCS are only 1%. You’re going to take the exam anyway, aren’t you? If you must take the exam, what’s the point of taking it without proper preparation? I can say with confidence that in every BCS, 70% of people get jobs with just a 1% probability. If they can get it, why can’t you? Start studying with 100% effort—right from this moment!
I’m offering some advice in my own way. Use it as you see fit.
1. Stop leaving home except for absolute necessities.
2. Study at least 16 hours daily; if that’s impossible due to work, then at least 7 hours. During this period, sleeping more than 5 hours is a kind of luxury. Believe me, every minute less you sleep compared to your competitors increases your chances of getting the job by that many percentage points.
3. When you get tired of reading one subject, switch to your favorite easy subject.
4. Reduce phone calls, Facebook browsing, and socializing. Keep your mobile phone away from your study table.
5. Practice translation, math, grammar, and mental ability every single day.
6. Set targets to finish specific subjects/topics by certain dates, no matter how difficult it may be.
7. While studying, there’s no great need to write everything down; instead, read repeatedly. Questions won’t be that predictable—you’ll have to write creatively anyway.
8. Decide how much time to spend on each question based on marks and importance.
9. Look at all suggestions, but don’t follow any blindly. Go through previous years’ questions and a few suggestions to create your own study plan.
10. Read more guidebooks than reference books. It’s better to thoroughly go through one new guidebook than to read five reference books.
11. In written exams, you’ll need to write extensively with relevant quotations and data. You can follow this rule: on average, one page every 3 minutes in Bengali, one page every 5 minutes in English.
12. Answer in whichever language allows you to write fastest. I answered in Bengali.
13. Pray daily and treat everyone with courtesy. This will help you prepare better.
14. Stop trying too hard to memorize things that just won’t stick. Just because someone else knows it doesn’t mean you must know it too. There are alternative questions in exams. Focus on mastering what you do know well.
15. Control the natural urge to read everything. It’s not about reading more, but reading necessary topics more thoroughly.
16. Don’t blindly follow anyone’s study style. Results will tell who was right and who was wrong. Until results are announced, you’re no less than anyone else. You can become a ‘best achiever,’ but there’s no such thing as a ‘best candidate.’
17. Read answers from at least 3-4 guidebooks. While reading, mark confusing and important parts so you can read only the marked sections during revision.
18. Taking 10-15 minute power naps at different times during the day has two benefits: First, you can manage with less sleep at night. Second, you can make the best use of your waking hours. Such brief, effective sleep is called a ‘power nap.’
19. When reading 4-5 newspapers online, read only what’s relevant for BCS preparation. Not reading the entertainment section for these few days won’t turn your life into a barren desert.
20. BCS is primarily about written exams. Scoring high in Bengali, English, Math, Mental Ability, and Science means getting significantly ahead of others. During this period, keep yourself away from hearing, thinking, or researching all the pointless topics like BCS corruption, nepotism in vivas, and various negative aspects of civil service.
You should expect to go through tremendous mental and physical hardship during these days. If that’s happening, I’d say you’re on the right track. My experience tells me that those who stay comfortable before exams suffer proportionally more after results come out. No one dies from hard work. If they did, we’d see that all successful people in the world were dead.
This piece was first published in the ‘Chakribakrih’ section of Prothom Alo newspaper on May 27, 2016. The link:
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