[CAPF Topper] Sumit Sharma Rank 290: B.Com, Probationary officer in Overseas bank, Chandigarh

1. CAPF Topper Profile
2. Education
3. Introduction
4. Electronic Vs Paper material
5. Tempo and style
6. Working professional
7. GS and Aptitude paper
8. Descriptive paper
9. Four Essays
10. Argument For-Against
11. Report writing?
12. CAPF Physical Efficiency Test
13. Interview by UPSC Panel
14. UPSC Interview Transcript
15. After the interview
16. CAPF Marksheet
17. Service preference
18. UPSC CSE-2013 experience
19. Wisdom
20. Credit: Friends/family
21. Bogus Marketing Propaganda

CAPF Topper Profile

Detail	Input
Name	Sumit Sharma
Rank in CAPF-2013	290
Roll No.	217836
Age	25
No. of previous attempts in CAPF	This is first and last chance
Home town/city	Chandigarh, Punjab
Work-experience if any	Assistant Manager (PO) with Indian Overseas Bank Currently Working as Assistant with Punjab State Government.
other competitive examsincluding success & failures	IOB PO Exam (Pass) IDBI Assistant Manager Grade-A exam (Pass) Punjab State Government exams (Pass)
coaching/postal material (if used)	Coaching just for banking examsPlease suggest me also a good coaching institute for CIVILS
Hobbies Extra-Curricular Activities	Cricket and Football
Do you have NCC certificate?	No

Education

% in class 10	60
% in class 12	84
Schooling (Medium)	English
Graduation course & %	B-com & 68
College & batch-year	Government College, Sector-11, Chandigarh2006-09
Post-graduation	MBA(Finance) (Off-Campus)
Any professional courses	—

Introduction

Q. Tell us something about yourself and your family. When and why did you enter in the competitive exam field?

One of my friend cleared bank clerical exam which gave me inferiority complex as I was working in an international BPO which as per my  parents is inferior to government sector job, no matter I was earning more than him So I decide to quit my job and try my hands on competitive exams. I joined bank coaching and I have cleared almost all the exams I appeared for .First I joined Indian Overseas Bank as PO, During training only I came to know about these UPSC exams as some of my batch mates already appeared for UPSC exams and after they used up all their chances, finally they ended up in banking sector so from that time only I always want to get a taste of UPSC exams but in bank I was not getting enough time to study and also luckily that time only I received a offer letter from Punjab Government  clerical job so I quit bank after paying 1,00,000 as bond amount and started preparing.

Electronic Vs Paper material

What is your style of preparation (e.g. I continue making notes no matter what I’m reading, I just read multiple times but don’t maintain notes, I make mindmaps on computer …or xyz style)

A. I continue making notes no matter what I’m reading. I relied mostly on paper material only.

Tempo and style

Q. People know what books and syllabus topics are to be prepared. But most of them lack consistency in their preparation. So, how did you keep study momentum going on? How do you fight against the mood swings and distractions?

A. I always enter my office from back doors where cars are parked of our IAS and PCS officers studded with beacon. That thing always fascinate me, always keep my morale high and when u start following something madly, there is no distraction and only attraction of reaching inches towards your goal.

Working professional

If you’re a working, share some tips on how to manage studies with job

There is no shortcut to success, you have to put your efforts, after my office I used to go to library daily in evening for 4-5 hours and on weekends night study at university library.

GS and Aptitude paper

Q1. Please share the list of resources you used, your strategy and other tips for benefit of future aspirants.

I have only followed one book and that is TATA McGraw –General Studies Paper-I (1300+pages). I think they have covered every subject but that only can help in CAPF (AC) not for CIVILS.

Topic	input
History Ancient
History Medieval
History Modern (Freedom Struggle)
Culture society
Polity (theory + current)
Economy (theory + current)
Science (theory + current)
Environment (theory + current)
geography physical
geography India
geography world
other national/international current affairs
Schemes, Policy & Filler Stuff
Maths
Data interpretation
Reasoning

Q. What’s your overall experience with GS paper? (E.g. it was on expected lines as per my preparation, it was quite tougher than earlier years etc.)

This is my first ever attempt so there was nothing which I was expecting. I was appearing for this exam just to know pattern of UPSC exams and also to check how good I am in subjective papers.

Descriptive paper

Q. How did you prepare the Essay, grammar, précis and report writing?

A. I have not prepared something special for it, I have read articles of CIVIL SERVICE TIMES MAGAZINE which helped a lot in essay writing but for grammar, précis and report writing there is nothing special I prepared.

Four Essays

This time, UPSC required the candidates to write 4 out of 6 essays. Which of the following did you attempt? And what were your key points in them?

Topic	your key points
doctor-pharma nexus	Harmful to universal health coverage,recommendation of whole lot of costly medicines and lab tests by doctors  to fetch commission from pharma,supported with examples, avoid giving generic medicine to patients, giving outdated medicines or banned drugs
interstate water dispute	scarce resource, water as state subject, inter state water dispute act, dispute tribunals, stress on interlinking of rivers.
social reformers in freedom struggle	principles of humanism, rationalism ,individualism, gave examples of various stalwarts like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Vidya Sagar etc, wrote about their respective contributions
falling rupee & Indian economy	Reason for falling rupee, crude imports, gold imports,its consequence on indian economy,rising CAD, imports costlier its cascading effect on Indian economy,cost push inflation, less demand,unemploymentBoost to export but bcoz of global recession no demands for indian exportSteps to be taken by the RBI and govt.
China’s aggressive policy
media publicity on terrorism

Argument For-Against

This time, UPSC required candidates to write both arguments for and against the given statements. so what were your keypoint in it?

Articles of CIVIL SERVICE TIMES MAGAZINE and editorial page of English newspaper worked for me in this section.

Topic	Argument for	against
casteless society becomes distant through issues raised by reservation
women empowerment is urban phenomenon

Report writing?

Did you write report the same way you wrote essay? or did you apply any special format/structure here?

Topic	keypoints
Uttarakhand tsunami & Military	About the Uttarakhand flash flood, its causes, consequences, role of military,ITBP, NDRF etc
Ethics crisis in cricket	Recent spot fixing in IPL

Q. What is your overall experience with descriptive paper (e.g. too lengthy paper, grammar tougher than previous paper etc.)

It was lengthy but general topic was there so not a problem creator at all.

CAPF Physical Efficiency Test

Q1. To pass Physical Efficiency Tests (PET), what preparation did you do at home?

I am a regular cricket player so I found nothing difficult in PET. One should practice at least 10 days prior to PET

Q2. Where was your PET held?

ITBP office, Chandigarh

Interview by UPSC Panel

Q1. How did you prepare for the interview? Particularly college graduation subjects related questions?

As I have worked in an international Contact center so I was very much confident that I can answer anything without hesitation.

Q2. Where did you stay for the interview? (Hotel / friend’s home …) and what books/material did you bring for the ‘revision before interview’?

Afternoon session at 1300 and I have reached venue at 1100. I was just going through current affairs (but they have not asked anything out of it)

Q3. Who was the chairman of you interview board?

Dr. P. Kilemsungla

Q4. How long was the interview?

30 mins

Q5. Why do you want to become an Assistant commandant? Why don’t you continue in your graduation field? [Since I don’t know whether they asked you this question or not. But if they had asked- what will be your reply?]

I said it’s not my first priority actually I was preparing for CIVILS and when I came to know about this exam I applied for it and luckily I am through. After cleared written exams only I searched  about it and I told them whatever I know about the different services in CAPF

UPSC Interview Transcript

Q. Please narrate your entire interview- what questions did they ask and what did you reply and other pleasant or uncomfortable experiences during the interview. (Earlier some toppers only tell me their question but not their answer. I would appreciate if you give both Question + your original answers)

Answers I don’t remember exactly but I will share whatever I still remember.

Q 1.  As you were captain of your college cricket team so what qualities you developed that time which will help you as Assistant commandant?

a. Man power planning

b. Right person for right job

c.  Lead by example

and other blaw-blaw things..

Q 2.  We have read in newspapers about match fixing by Indian cricket players . As a cricket fan, What you think is it a blot on Indian cricket ?

A. It’s a serious blow to popularity of cricket in india as we are cricket crazy nation and we treat them like GOD and we can’t expect this.

Q3. Asked about Sam Manekshaw and Lord Curzon   ?

Q4.  As I am from Punjab so what are the social and economic problems Punjab id facing today ?

Drug Abuse

Sex Ratio

Cash Crunch state

Then they asked in detail about drug abuse and what steps need to be taken to get rid of it.

Q5. What are the different types of industries (Sector wise) in Punjab?

Q6. How will you motivate yourself and also your staff in different situation?

Q7.  Rest all questions is based on my current job profile (mainly related to Land Acquisition Policy)

After the interview

Q1. Was your interview on the expected lines of what you had prepared or did they ask you totally unexpected questions?  Was it a stress interview, did they ask any uncomfortable questions? If yes, how did you handle it?

It was a very normal conversation and there is nothing uncomfortable.

CAPF Marksheet

Mail me your prelim, essay and interview marks, when UPSC uploads.

Service preference

Q1. What is your service preference order BSF,CRPF, CISF, ITBP?

CISF,CRPF,ITBP,BSF

UPSC CSE-2013 experience

If you had appeared in UPSC civil service exam 2013, please reply following

1. Your marksheet for prelims and mains
2. Your overall experience and words of wisdom about CSAT, GS, Aptitude, optional and essay

I had not appeared

Wisdom

Q1. Through this journey and success, what wisdom did you gain about life and competitive exams?  What is your message to new aspirants?

In prelims, go with a open mind. Don’t get bogged down by fear of negative marking , cut offs etc. Many of the questions can be solved with some application of mind.

So keep cool and think

Q2. UPSC had cleared nearly 2500 candidates from CAPF-prelims. You’re selected but many others did not. They’re feeling dejected with this whole competitive exam business. What is your message to them?

Y es, everyone feels bad when his/her name is not in the merit list, that is natural but guys it does not mean the end of the world. Have faith in your self, if someone can do it ,you can also do it. I have seen some of the guys who did not clear this but have cleared CSE. Keep yourself motivated.

Credit: Friends/family

Q. Behind every topper are many people who stood by him/her during those uncertain times when he/she was merely an ‘aspirant’. Would you like to tell the world, who were those people in your case? Any specific incidence that you would like to share with the readers?

I have not informed anyone that I am preparing for UPSC exams so special thanks to myself only. I am highly motivated and dedicated towards what I want in my life and one should be.

Bogus Marketing Propaganda

Q. You are well aware for the sacred rule. The last question in topper interview,  must be about self-marketing. So, Did you use Mrunal.org for your preparation and if yes, how did it help you?  And you can even reply “No”. I’ll publish your answer without tempering.

I have not used as I only came to know about this on interview day at UPSC Bhawan but now I am following it and I really appreciate your efforts. Please keep doing good work. God bless you.