We thank Mr. Abrajyoti Pal:l for sharing this details.
WBCSMadeEasy: When and how did the inspiration and idea of joining civil service come in your mind?
Mr. Abrajyoti Pal: I .read an interview of jawhar sircar in ananda bazar in the year 1999(he was chief electoral officer at that time) regarding civil service which motivated me towards administrative service.but during college days, i got puzzled regarding career selection, inclined towards defence force.joined indian coast guard & was undergoing training at Indian Naval Academy.then i realized it was not the service I was looking for.so prepare my mind totally for administrative service and left that job.
WBCSMadeEasy: Tell something about yourself? Educational Qualification, Marks/Division/Class, schooling…..
Mr. Abrajyoti Pal:madhyamik in the year 2002 from siliguri boys' high school with 91% marks HS in 2004 from Ramakrishna Misssion vidyamandir, Belur Math with 81.5% marks.B.Sc (Zoology Hons) in the year 2007 from presidency college, kolkata with 55% marks
WBCSMadeEasy: What factors did you consider before selecting your optionals? What were they?
Mr. Abrajyoti Pal: I had confusion regarding optional selection & change it several times during my preparation.finally i chose zoology & history in 2012 wbcs exam.though i got poor marks in graduation, I chose zoology because i saw direct questions are asked in this paper & good marks can be fetched as it is a science paper.I chose history because it can be prepared easily.if previous years' question are followed,anybody can guess question.
WBCSMadeEasy: How did you sustain the study-momentum throughout the year?
Mr. Abrajyoti Pal:I was not employed when i wrote mains exam.so i got ample of time.truly speaking, i did not maintain any stringent routine.
WBCSMadeEasy: How many hours did you study per day? How many months did it take you to complete the core syllabus of Compulsory and optional subjects?
Mr. Abrajyoti Pal:As i wrote, i didn't follow any routine, some day i studied for 13-14 hrs, some day i didn't even touch books.finishing core syllabus was not difficult for me because i started preparing for CDS exam in 2008.i managed to finish history within 2 months as i read only four books of jiban mukhopadhay.finishing zoology was cumbersome for me as i didnot touch it after 2007.it took 60% time of my preparation.
WBCSMadeEasy: Did u use internet, was it effective?
Mr. Abrajyoti Pal: i used internet extensively. mrunal.org is my favourite site.besides i read the hindu from internet as it was easier to make notes while reading paper online.
WBCSMadeEasy: Which newspapers & magazines you went through?
Mr. Krishnendu Talukdar:read the hindu and anandabazar regularly & made notes.follow the special issue of protijogita poriprekhhit(for mains current affairs).i avoided remembering objective type current affairs.which i prepared few days before exam from freejobalert.com.this site is sufficient for objective current affairs.
WBCSMadeEasy: Did u took coaching? How was the experience?
Mr. Abrajyoti Pal:joined halder college of further education after my graduation.left it after few months as i found it was not much helpful.took postal coaching from crackias.com for ias preparation.quite good materials but not better than mrunal.org. i contacted your institute (WBCSMadeEasy/SUCCESS) before my interview but could not join as i got only 10days EL so running out of time.
WBCSMadeEasy: What about Interview in WBCS? Was the board cordial? What should be a proper preparation?
Mr. Abrajyoti Pal:interview board was very cordial.they started with english translation,then english vocabulary.then asked me reasons for leaving indian coast guard,question reagarding my present job(defence auditor).asked a lot of GK questions & i managed to answer few of them.still i would say my interview was good.as they only examine personality & honesty.
WBCSMadeEasy: Plz suggest some good books for pre, comp, optional.
Mr. Abrajyoti Pal:.prelims: arihant gk, lucent gk.9-10 history, geography, physical science & life science books.for current affairs follow freejobalert.com.
compulsory: bamandeb for bengali, arihant english, anadi kumar mahapatra,tojammel hossain,mrunal.org
history: four books of jibon mukhopadhhay( graduation level).zoology: mostly college notes.besides kotpal for vertebrate & non vetebrate veer bala rastogi for genetics, ecology & developmental biology
WBCSMadeEasy: What should be the strategy for cracking this exam?What message you want to give to all aspirants?
Mr. Abrajyoti Pal:i would like to say few points to aspirants: read few books several times instead of several books few times. dont follow PHD level or Master degree level books for preparing compulsory papers.try to read 9-10 level books diligently along with 1 or 2 good newspaper.
last but not the least: read toppers story but dont follow it totally,see previous years question,analyze them,make your own study plan and stick to it.
WBCSMadeEasy: Anything else u want to share?
Mr. Abrajyoti Pal:No
WBCSMadeEasy: it was my third attempt.
1st attempt 2008: could not clear prelims.
2nd attempt 2011: got interview call for C group,could not make ti final list
3rd attempt 2012: got 13th rank in wbcs (exe)
didnot appear in 2009,2010 as i was preparing for defence service
Mr. Abrajyoti Pal: for new patterns i would suggest to follow:
ramesh singh economics (tata mc grhill)
mrunal.org (for science, economics, current affairs)
anadikumar mahapatra/laxmikanth: follow only one
downtoearth can be followed for science but i think mrunal.org is sufficient.
optional: if any 1 is confident enough,then choosing graduation paper is best decision.atleast any one knows what to read if own subject is chosen.all subjects can fetch good marks.