What to do if I fail in competitive exams

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P. Prakash was an aspiring civil servant for last five years, however, after fourth failed attempt his dream is shattered away permanently. In 2017, it was his last chance for the IAS, and he failed in that too even though he was trying it from 2013 just after completing his engineering.



Abhinav Shukla was trying for bank PO and the same thing happened with him, and currently, after 4th attempt, he has nothing in hand, and he feels like he wasted four years of his life, and have to start again from the beginning.



These two guys currently don't have any hope in their lives, and in fact, they are struggling to decide what should be their next move as they don't have any professional and academic certification apart from their graduation. This is a story of most of the Indian job seekers who are preparing for the competitive exams however even after the tough preparation they fail to clear any of them and some of even end their life due to the depression.



The problem that no one is talking about

So where is the problem exactly? Some people used to blame the reservation system because 50 percent of seats are reserved for competitive exams, however, if you analyze it in a deep sense you will realize that this is just a small branch of a big tree.  Even if we take a hundred seats as an example, fifty are reserved, but in this category, not all job seekers are getting jobs and only who score good rank are getting the chance. Though they get some relaxation in compare to the general category people, however, that doesn't mean all reserved category students are getting placement. The same situation happens with the general category people, and here the competition is intense, and we can say these exams are survival of the fittest.

The first thing we have to remember that whether it's a public sector or government job, vacancies are very limited and the applicants are too large that ultimately make it tough to crack for the students coming from the institutes based on tier-2 and 3 cities. 

The second problem is job security that they don't find in the private sector, though the rise of startups helps a little bit to reduce the unemployment, however, it fails to convince this category of job seekers to join from the beginning instead of chasing an uncertain dream.

The third and most important problem is the inability to decide the future steps, and they waste their precious time by doing something that doesn't excite them, and they get inspire only due to the hype.

The fourth problem is they don't have any backup option, and neither they learn something new to enhance their professional skill instead they start their preparation just after the final year exam. In the list of applicants, technical students are more than the normal students, and gone are those days where students choose arts subject because of IAS aim. The current generation is preparing hopelessly without having any specific goal, and that's the biggest reason for their failure as they don't have any passion for this.



What should a student do after failed attempts

The important question what you should do after the failure as there is no other option apart from starting from the beginning. Though most of the people find it difficult to start everything again, however, it's not as difficult as it seems to be. Most of the thinkings are psychological and don't have any real connection, and it comes as they see other people around them have a growing career which they don't have.

If you are a person who completed all the chances and currently, thinking about other careers, still there are plenty of scopes to start again. As you were preparing for competitive, you should have a good understanding of literature, reasoning, and finance. You can join in a financial institution as a fresher, start your career in creative writing, Digital Marketing and in most of the non-technical sectors like recruitment, BPOs. Some banks are offering professional banking courses where you can enroll and start your banking career.  Even you can still go for higher studies and start your career in the education sector. There are countless options available you are unaware of, and in this case, you can take advice from known people who are already working in different sectors. Lots of short-term professional courses are available that will help you to start the career again.

In case you are a fresh graduate and planning to start preparing for competitive exams, first, you should acquire some professional experience or certification. Jumping without any back up would be risky, and you would have no idea about the next steps if unable to clear any exam. It is better to join a company for at least 2-3 years so that you won't be count as a fresher anymore in case you want to make a comeback. Getting a job in the finance sector would be a bonus if you are planning to prepare for banking as you will be eligible for their senior level exam. The objective is to gain some professional experience before you put the trigger of the competitive exam.

There is no dearth of startups where you can gain experience, and it doesn't matter whether you are a fresh graduate or completed college before years and still don't have jobs. All they want to see is potential and skills, and as long as you have both, getting a job is not difficult for you.

It is easy to become excited by seeing your friends and colleague working in high paying govt. jobs but before you start following their footstep, you should ask yourself whether you are interested or just inspire after seeing their success. Some people have childhood aim to become a civil servant, and they plan according to their goal. You are not one of them if you start thinking it about after your graduation or any of your friend in there. Whatever you do in life doesn't matter if you become successful or not, you should have a well-prepared backup plan.

Source:https://www.mintly.in/jobs/blog/2018/09/14/what-do-if-i-fail-competitive-exams