I’m from Mussoorie, which is a small, beautiful town that every government worker hopes to reach one day. Since my father worked at LBSNAA and I did pretty well in school, I thought about becoming a government servant from a very young age. But I was never sure of my skills or if I would be able to pass this test and put in the hours it required. Well, I was scared when I heard horrible stories about students studying for 14 hours.
I got my bachelor’s degree in computer science from MNNIT Allahabad and my MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. I was happy with my job as a Product Manager at Microsoft. I began WFH during Covid in 2020 and made a good amount of money. Around the same time, I decided to start getting ready for civil service, which had been a dream of mine since I was a child. Probably a way to find out what life is all about.
I had to pick one of the choices. After talking to a few seniors and doing some simple study, I narrowed my choices down to two: maths and management.
I could have chosen mathematics because I was always good at it and liked it. But when I saw how much paper there was, I knew I would have to spend a lot of time on this.
I chose to study while I worked. I had just finished college, and my ideas were clear to me. When I looked at the Management paper, I understood that I could do it if I had to write it right here and right now. It might not meet UPSC standards, but it seemed like it could be done. Compared to Mathematics, it was easy and didn’t take as much time.
I also made it clear that I wouldn’t take any coaching, so the fact that I didn’t get any help in Management didn’t bother me. (Underestimation is a mistake.) At that time, I watched some videos from winners, like Manuj Jindal Sir’s, got out my IIMA books, and made notes for each of the 12 modules of Management. I read through the syllabus and used standard books to prepare for each topic word for word as it was written in the curriculum.
In the next 2.5 to 3 months, I had all of my notes ready, so all I had to do was read them and learn them.
On my first try (CSE-21), the prelims had to be moved because Covid was in its second wave. I used the extra time to learn my Management notes by heart, and then I was good to go.
Once the prelims were over, I spent 20–30% of my time on Management while putting most of my attention on GS. In January 2022, I wrote my first mains. I was very happy and satisfied with how I did in my Management class. I passed the mains, and then I had my interview.
The answer was supposed to come out in the last week of May, and I hadn’t even thought about failing the test. I wasn’t ready or ready to fail, to be honest. Every time I went to coaching, wrote a mock test, or did a fake interview, the feedback was always good. I used to do well on my mains practise tests, and my attitude was always praised in interviews. When it’s our first try and we pass both the preliminary and main exams in quick succession, we might start to think that we know how to pass this test. But this test is meant to make you feel small in more than one way.
On May 30, 2022, when I saw that my name wasn’t on the list, I fell flat on my face. Worse still, the main reason I didn’t pass the test was because of the optional I was most sure of. The main reason was because I got a 103 on Management I and a 142 on Management II. If you had asked me which of the 7 mains tests went best, I would have said Management I, but my scores didn’t reflect that.
On the day that the results came out, I met my guru Pratyush. His Phase-II training took place at LBSNAA. I remember that he said something to me that was very logical. He told you that you have 4-5 days until your next prelims. You can use those days to cry, or you can put off crying and probably save a year.
I took Prelims again with a sad heart and didn’t study much. I got lucky, and I knew I’d make it. At the time, though, I was confused because I didn’t know what to do about Management or how to get better grades there. There is enough information on the market to help GS. But I had no idea what to do when it came to Management.
I talked to a few top students who had passed the test with Management as an optional subject, and I tried to match my answers to theirs. I tried to look over my notes and plan and find as many holes as I could.
I worked a lot harder and was sad for the next few months, so I used the time between the Prelims and Mains to improve my answers in both General Studies and Management. Last but not least, the hit-and-try method worked, and I got a 150 in Management-1.
I’ve been mad at management for a long time, and when I was filling out the form for my third try, I thought about changing my optional, but chose not to. It’s a less common optional with less direction, but once the notes are ready, it’s very easy and not too hard. Everything works out in the end. The same extra credit that took me off the list last year also helped me get a good rank this year.
Strategy and sources for Management optional
Sources: Management I
1. DeCenzo, Agarwal, Bhattacharya, and Robbins’s “Fundamentals of Management”
2. Philip Kotler’s book Marketing Management
3. Anthony, Hawkins, and Merchant’s Cost and Management Accounting
4. Organisation Behaviour by Stephen Robbins, Judge, and Vohra
Management of Money by Brealey, Myers, and Allen
6. Management of Human Resources by K. Aswathappa
7. Searches on Google and Investopedia
1. Statistics for Management, by Levin and Rubin
2. Stevenson’s Operations Management
3. Hill and Jain’s International Business
4. Google search for “Government Business Interface”
5. Hill and Jones’ book Strategic Management
6. Either Laudon or O’Brien’s Management Information Systems
I did a few things for Management:
1. I used standard books to make two- to three-page notes on every subject on the course.
2. It goes without saying that I added cases and pictures where I could.
3. Try the maths questions; they are worth points and can get you full marks, and they are also very easy.
4. Do old tests. Most of the questions in Management I are the same. I worked hard to solve them.
5. Give examples to back up every point you make.
6. Took some case studies from IIMA case books and used them in the paper in a lot of places.
7. Worked on the work to finish it on time.
8. I looked at my replies and added more information from different sources.
9. Made up the names of most of the thinkers and used them in every answer, especially in Management I.
10. I’ve learned how to pick the right question, which is very important if I want to finish my work on time.
I know it’s a less popular option and there aren’t many sources or instructions for it, but once your notes are ready, it’s not hard at all. From my own experience, it is less difficult and can be done along with a job. Also, most of the questions are asked more than once. But it might not be very scoring. You’ll get good marks, but getting above 275 is hard, and you’ll have to make up for it by doing more work in GS and Essay.
