How to Prepare for Government Exams and Jobs while Working?

Financially, it may not be feasible for you to dedicate full time to government exams. You may be working in the industry. You may be on 24×7 support. Preparing for government exams and jobs while working is the hardest part. But it is not an impossible task. You have to compromise on certain unnecessary aspects of your life. If you manage your time properly and efficiently you would become a topper.

Special Study Plan

A Special Study Plan saves your preparation time to score more. Assuming your work timings are from 12 PM to 9 PM, the following plan is prepared. You can tweak it to suit your needs. It may not possible to study when you return from work. You have exhausted your energy. Concentration levels are very low. So go to bed so that you can wake up early in the morning.

This plan gives you around 6 hours of preparation during workdays. You need to study for 10 hours during the holidays. So on average, you will get 6*5= 30 hours during workdays and 20 hours during holidays. That gives 50 hours of time for a week for your studies. These 50 hours are more than sufficient for your success.

You should also plan to utilise holidays, festivals, earned leaves, sick leaves that will give you two more months of time. Now, the ultimate question – do you still think you have no time for studies?

A Few Suggestions to Save More Time

NCERT Books: It is advisable to read all NCERT books. However, due to the paucity of time, you have to choose the most fruitful list. Such a list is provided on Our Website. You can safely read the list provided and ignore the remaining books.

Standard Books: Choose only one standard book and stick to it. Revise many times.

Current Affairs: Instead of reading the full paper, read Only Editorials. Then read any standard monthly current affairs magazine. Though it is not advisable, cost-benefit analysis favours it. Listen to any audio/videos such as AIR spotlight, RS Big Picture while eating and, traveling. This saves 30 minutes of time per day that ultimately saves 150 hours annually.

Revision: It may not be feasible for you to write notes. Highlight the important things in PDFs or in Textbooks. This saves notes-making time. However this has one disadvantage – Related content is in different places of textbooks. So your brain needs to organise automatically and retrieve it during the exam. But don’t worry. Our brain has that capability. Your brain needs practice.

Things to Do at Work: Since you are taking a salary from the Organisation, work should not be compromised. Ensure you train at least one person in your team who is capable of completing your tasks in your absence. The backup should be able to manage with very minimal phone support from you. He/she should be trustworthy. If the management thinks that they can manage the work without you, well, you will be fired for many holidays that you are taking. So you have to balance here.

Do Not Inform Your Organisation (Private) that you are preparing for competitive exams. They support you initially but when the time comes up, they torture you. They make more hurdles during the exams. So keep it as a private affair until you succeed.