Punjab Girl Turns Down Job Offer By JP Morgan To Become IAS Officer, Bags UPSC Rank 3

Gamini Singla, an alumnus of Punjab Engineering College (PEC) Chandigarh, secured the third rank in the civil services examination 2021, the results of which were announced recently.

The 23-year-old had also appeared for the UPSC in 2020, but she couldn't go past the prelims. However, Singla didn't give up on her dream to become an IAS officer and attempted the exam again last year.

Despite getting a job offer from reputed investment banking company JP Morgan, she turned it down to fulfil her dream of cracking the civil services exam. A student of BTech in Computer Science Engineering (CSE), Singla was selected for a five-month internship by JP Morgan during her college placement.

Singla and her family are natives of Sunam in Punjab's Sangrur district, but they later moved to Anandpur Sahib, News18 reported.

Love For Civil Services

After completing her graduation, she did her internship at the company and was offered a job post completion of her training, but she chose to turn it down for the love of civil services.

"I felt that satisfaction is essential when choosing a career. I have always felt contended when I do something for people. In civil services, one can work in multiple areas. I felt that it would help me bring out my full potential and always help other people," she said.

After completing her BTech, she started preparing for the UPSC CSE in 2019.

Relied On Self Study

She prepared at her home from 2020 onwards and relied on self-study. "My family, especially my father, has helped me emotionally and in my studies," she said, adding that he used to read the newspaper for her to save her time.

"We used to discuss studies and he knew what was important for me. That has been a great help for me," she said, according to Hindustan Times.

Both her father and mother, Dr Alok Singla and Dr Neeraj Singla, are medical officers in the Himachal Pradesh government, while her brother is a graduate of IIT Kharagpur.

For the prelims, there are two portions, static and current affairs. For the static part, she studied Indian Polity by M Laxmikant, 10th to 12th NCERT books for geography, classes 6 to 12 NCERT books for ancient and medieval history, and Spectrum for modern history.

"I chose to revise these same books repeatedly rather than opting for new resources. Revision is a vital part of the preparations. The questions in the static section are direct and hence anyone who studies thoroughly from these books will get marks easily," Singla said.

Appeared For Mock Tests

"For current affairs, reading the newspapers daily covers that portion of the exam. I also appeared for many mock interviews as it helped me figure out my strengths and weaknesses. It is a good strategy for UPSC," she pointed out.

Singla explained that one should be thorough with the syllabus of UPSC-prelims and mains. She claimed that she used to go to a nearby government school and give her mock tests, without electricity sometimes, so her body gets accustomed to the environment. "I do not feel that it is a new atmosphere I'm entering into," she told News18.

For mains too, she took many mock tests. Singla believes that self-evaluation of these mock exams is critical as it helps candidates know their loopholes. "Every weekend, I visited the school and took the three-hour mock tests from there for both mains and prelims," she said.

Between her first and second attempts, Singla explained that she lacked strategy. Although she studied hard during the first attempt, her proper approach helped her with the second one.

"I studied the previous years' question papers and took more mock tests. I did not have enough time to take mock exams on the first attempt and could not get through the prelims. I did not do enough answer during the first time," she explained.

Singla said that it is one's knowledge that is reflected in the personality test, which helps one crack the interview round. "Just a few days before the examinations, I had gone through my Detailed Application Form (DAF) to be through with what I have written, and the newspapers were enough for the current affairs part," she said.

The interview questions were multi-dimensional, Singla said. "I was asked about the relevance of the United Nations in the current scenario as I was the director-general of the PEC Model UN in my college, where I participated in a few community-building processes and led the team when it hosted in our college," said Singla.

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