FROM GATE RANK 4281 TO ESE 2015 AIR 38 - SUCCESS STORY OF ANKIT SHUKLA

 My struggle for Success (By Ankit Shukla)

After passing out in May 2014 from MNNIT Allahabad, I joined a Private MNC (in which I was campus placed)  in July and while working there I realised that if I continued working here may be I will get a chance to go to Thailand or some other company location, but I will surely not be able to get into any government Group A service. I used to talk to my colleagues in company and everyone would suggest me to leave the job and prepare for ESE. One of my friend (Mr. X ) who wrote the ESE 2014 very well also suggested the same and more than anyone else I myself was gradually getting disenchanted with my present job and started planning a way out.

I resigned in mid-September and came back home. My family members except my father were surprised and critical of my decision. My mother said “ Log sunege to kya kahenge ”. It was my father who had unlimited faith in my decision. I ensured my family that I will definitely clear the ESE 2015 anyhow. Now my family suggested me to join some reputed Coaching in Delhi to avoid taking any risk. But having a bad Kota experience in pre-engineering days and at the same time Mr. X writing the exam so well without any coaching just after passing out, were the two reasons I was reluctant to go to Delhi. I thought if he can do it without coaching why can’t I.

One month passed in getting settled to the home environment at Allahabad and gradually I realised that I have no strategy what to read and how to read. I also sometimes felt guilty for not going to Delhi. My another college friend (Mr. Y ) suggested me to come to Delhi and take at least the photocopy of some coaching classroom notes. It seemed a good idea, I brought a reputed coaching’s classroom notes & printed materials to Allahabad but seeing the voluminous material, wondered,  if I would be able to complete them. I also decided to take a separate room for study near my home so that it was free of any kind of family disturbance.

The time was flying by fast. November had started and I began reading some books and printed notes. Till December I finished printed notes of some subjects while for some subjects I relied on standard books like Sadiku for EMT, Antenna and Microwave. At the same time I was giving online GATE test series in which I was struggling hard to score even 50 out of 100. In January I started reading class notes of communication systems, Digital Electronics and then realised the worth of these class notes which were especially designed for ESE pattern. On GATE exam day was I was feeling confident without much preparation because it was not my aim to top GATE exam. My GATE exam went average. A couple of days later when answer keys were uploaded I started tallying my answer, and I felt let down at my dismal score. I was feeling down for some days. I started writing some motivational article (in which I presented a comparative analogy between human life and atomic structure) on my blog to feel myself motivated, you can even read that article at http://successamplifier.blogspot.in/2015/02/why-only-few-people-are-rich.html .

On 22 February, I went to Lucknow to give IB ACIO exam. I again switched to class notes of other subjects and felt guilty of reading the class notes so late. I knew that there was not enough time I wouldn’t be able to complete all class notes (which at last came true) so I decided to read those subjects from class notes which were time-taking and read them regularly and repeatedly because that time I had only one option read, learn and practice. In March I started practicing previous years ESE questions. I solved them, and marked the difficult ones with star symbol, so that I would take a look back at them at the time of revision. On 14^th March GATE result was announced and guess what ? Yes, I failed miserably, GATE rank 4281. Though I was disheartened but somehow prepared myself to give BARC exam.

In those days I couldn’t sleep properly because the exam date was approaching fast and only 2 months were left. On 20^th March I gave BARC exam. In April started revising my notes and made a revision strategy keeping in mind the last days before the exam, because revision is the most important part of any long term exam. On 20^th April, BARC result was declared and again I failed. This failure shook me off from within. It was a time I had every right to break down but I thought this is the perfect time to rise up and fight, for it is the weak who kneels down and weeps but I was not one of them. I became much stronger after that failure for it is said “When you lose everything, you are free to do anything” and I decided to try my level best after that.  I followed on my strategy diligently and always kept myself on a mission mode. I wrote motivational quotes on sheets of paper and pasted it on walls of my room. Some sheets I always kept in my pocket, for they were a constant reminder and instant source of motivation to me.

Few days before the exam, Mr. X called me and enquired about my preparations. I told him I have done everything possible for this exam but I am even prepared to face the worst. And at last, the day came. I kept calm and patiently gave my exam. During those 3 days I was in strict discipline in terms of food and sleep. After writing the exam I was feeling satisfied and when I calculated my objective paper marks, I was thrilled with joy for it was extremely high with respect to my expectations.

I cracked written exam and during interview my performance was average I got expectedly 108 marks. But fortunately my written marks were high enough to land me to a decent All India rank of 38. That is all about my struggle for becoming IES.

All the best to you for your attempt at ESE. Try to make it your last attempt at ESE by first of all believing that this exam is nothing but a game for you. You just need to follow the rules of the game. There will be failures in the journey but don’t get afraid of them, instead, use them as stepping stones for the next opportunity. Failure in one event doesn’t mean failure in life. Set yours eyes on the next opportunity. The stage is all yours, go and get your dream come true.  

Mr. X and Y are my best friends since college time.

Mr. X = Harshit Mittal(who is managing this blog), the person who actually made me believe that clearing IES is possible. He cleared ESE-2014, just after passing out from college with Rank 42 and is currently undergoing training at Indian Railways, Secunderabad.

Mr. Y = DHANANJAY SINGH(Ex-Design Engineer at Freescale Semiconductors). He is like my big brother. He cleared ESE-2015 along with me, with Rank 12. He did it in his first attempt. Currently he is Asst. Manager at DMRC, New Delhi

PREPARATION STRATEGY FOLLOWED BY DHANANJAY SINGH ESE15 AIR 12

With whom do you want to share the credit for your achievement?

I owe my success to my parents. They have always supported me. During my preparation they kept me motivated. Without them , this success cannot be imagined.

Why did you choose Engineering Services ?

Engineering services offer us a diversified job. It has both technical and managerial aspects. We have an opportunity to explore various systems at different places. You can play an important role in operation of mammoth organization like Indian Railway or you can be a part of policy framing in Telecomm dept. You can feel proud in being a part of the process of building the nation. No other job would provide you such opportunity. It is a complete package in itself.

How much preparation time is required to get through ESE? How did you manage the preparation?

As such there is no fixed preparation time for ESE , it varies from individual to individual. It may vary from 4 months to 1 year. It depends on person if he has already built up a nice base during his B.Tech. study, he may crack in 5-6 months.  As I am a working guy , I really had to push it hard to save time out of my job. Though I was having good command over some subjects from my college days but for the remaining subjects, I had to take out some time on weekdays to cover up them.

Did you take coaching from any institute for the preparation ?

Yes, I joined a weekend batch in one of the reputed coaching institute from July 2014 onwards. But soon I realized that apart from coaching, self study is most important. People tend to depend heavily on coaching material during their preparation but I seriously advise the aspirants to focus more on self study because on the final day, it is you who will be writing the exam and not your coaching mentor. Coaching is meant for guiding you. In your preparation its 30% coaching and rest is your self study. I decided to quit the coaching from November itself as I was losing a lot of time on weekends in coaching. From there on I used to study on my own in weekends.

Can you share your ESE Interview experience?

My interview was scheduled on 2nd Dec 2015 in forenoon shift. I was the third candidate to be interviewed that morning.

Board : Mr. Chattar Singh (Chairman) and 3 Technical Advisors

After wishing the panel and taking seat...

CH: (showing me my photograph) So this is Dhananjay, Right?

Me: Yes Sir.

CH: (Reading my DAF) You are from Aligarh. You are working in DMRC and you have worked at Freescale Semiconductor for 1 year and you are fond of cooking!

Me: Yes Sir.

CH: So Have you ever cooked for your mother?

Me: Yes Sir, Whenever I visit my hometown Aligarh, I always cooked for my family and they love the food prepared by me.

CH: Good. So What do you cook?

Me: Sambhar vada... (stopped me in between)

CH: What are the ingredients of Sambhar?

I told the answer.

CH: What else do you cook?

Me: Dosa, Utthampam , Upma... (again stopped me)

CH: You are telling the name of South Indian Dishes. Nothing in North Indian ?

Me: Yes Sir, I can cook North Indian food as well. I can cook Poha, Chhola Bhatura... (stopped me)

CH: How do you prepare Bhatura?

I told him whole recipe as well as the quantities of various ingredients.He listened to the whole recipe and kept on asking the quantitiy and ratio of every ingredient.

CH: I am impressed that you can cook for yourself. Its good

CH: You have worked in Freescale Semiconductor. What was the job about?

I told him about my work profile.

CH: Its good that you are from hardware industry background but why it is so that people are more in software or IT industry rather than hardware? Why hardware industries are not developed in India

I told him about the cost factor in setting up a fabrication lab in India but he was never convinced with my answer. He kept on asking about various other semiconductor firms.

CH: What do Intel manufacture?

Me: Processors.

CH: Are they manufactured in India?

Me: No sir, they are designed in India but fabricated in Taiwan or Malaysia

Then, chairman kept on discussing with other technical advisors that core of the whole process is done in abroad and in India we are only designing the chip.

He then passed on to TA1

TA1: Why it is so that people are going abroad for studying and starting their company and then do not come back to India but in China or Japan, they come back to their country ?

I tried answering this but my answer could not satisfy him

TA1: What is the amount of power dissipated from a chip used in smart phones? Which technology node are we using? What are the other advancements in this technology? What is the size of a die used in chip of smart phone? Draw the characteristic of CMOS inverter with active and passive load?

I was able to answer almost 80% of the questions

TA2: Dhananjay you have worked in Freescale, you said it manufacture chips, What kind of chip it manufactures? What is their functionality? How do you take care of safety of a chip? How can you increase the life of a chip? What are their key areas of focus? On what projects it is working now? What are the projects coming up in Future?

I told him about the automotive business, Internet of Things and various other key areas. He was satisfied.

TA3: What are the various ways through which you can access the internet today? How a broadband works? What are the various devices used in setting up a broadband? How can you separate the data and voice when you are using your landline phone for a broadband connection? Tell me about the type of telecomm network used in DMRC? what type of data travels through optical fiber? What are the various sub-systems involved in telecomm system of DMRC? How do you monitor speed of a metro train? How does train cab receives target speed? How data travels through rails?

I could answer around 70% of the questions.

After this Chairman told me that my interview is over and I can go.

Overall the interview went well. It took around 30min

Please share some tips to crack ESE interview.

UPSC Board is very cordial. They will make you feel comfortable by asking about your hobbies , your family etc. They are very learned persons. So do not try to deceive them by providing wrong information in your DAF. No need to give yourself airs and graces. Only mention those things which are true.

What are the qualities an ESE aspirant must have?

Focused Approach and Dedication.

Some words of wisdom for the students who are aspiring to crack the ESE exam.

Take it as a game and as Sachin Tendulkar says “Enjoy the game and chase your dreams. Dreams do come true.”

More about your preparation

When did you start preparing?

My preparation started from August 2014 after I had joined a coaching.

What was your preparation strategy?

Start from your favorite subject. Read it thoroughly and keep looking at previous year question in between so that you have an idea about the relative importance of different topics. Solve previous year questions of GATE and IES. Move on to the next subject. Remember you can never finish a subject completely in one go. So do not waste your time on one subject rather move onto another one after completing the previous year questions. Its an iterative process, you will get hold in 2nd or 3rd round of your revision. Keep revising and solving previous year question.

What was your preparation strategy in last two months?

In last two months, I decided to focus on previous year questions and aligned my revision plan according to them. The topics ,which were asked more in previous years, were given more emphasis during revision.For General Study, listen to the current affair lectures by Kalyan Sir, they were of great help to me. Most of the topics were covered during discussion of current affairs in his lecture. Make it a hobby to watch his lectures and listen to news bulletin on FM.

Anything else to be kept in mind during preparation?

Do not underestimate your competitors. You know nothing about them. Always try to improve yourself.

PREPARATION STRATEGY BY UTKARSH AGARWAL ESE2015 RANK 17

Hii friends ,first look at my objective marks of ESE 2015:

General Ability Test 95.55 Engineering - I 109.45 Engineering - II 131.67

With 336 marks in objective can you imagine the selection of candidate with 700 as cutoff..(just to motivate everything can happen).When I started preparing for ESE 2015, I first analyzed my weaknesses and strengths. In ESE 2014, I got 307 marks in obj with 82 marks in GA paper. So GA was my biggest weakness, but my strong point was conventionals. As,I am gold medalist in B.E., I knew how to get good marks in written exams. So, I decided to prepare well and score maximum marks in conventionals. I first saw conventional papers of 2013 and 2014 and analysed which all books UPSC is following to make the papers. I purchased some, some books were with me. I tried to solve all the solved examples of all those books.I used to self conduct test for myself and then evaluate, it helped me a lot to improve accuracy and speed. During ESE 2015 ,when I saw the  conventional question papers I was very happy most of the questions were similar to what I had practiced, It gave me confidence and speed. I was able to attempt 175 marks in paper 1 within 3 hours and I got time to recheck my answers also. (remaining 25 marks  I was not able to answer) and 180 marks in paper2 .(unable to solve more because of lack of time)

My conventional marks:

paper1: 161 (one of the highest scores in ESE in ece).

paper2: 129 (less marks than expected, I felt checking was hard, as paper was too simple)

I concluded the following from the marks I got:

1. They do good step marking, its not like that if your answer is wrong, you will loose about 50% marks.(In paper 1 there was question to find resistance, I did mistake in that question and got wrong answer,if they  have just given me 3-4 marks i wont be able to get 161 as I did some  more mistakes in other questions also)

2. Attempt as much as possible. But dont write anything irrelevant, it may annoy the checker.

3.Be neat and precise, one of the reason for less marks in paper2 was this, In few answers, I initially did mistakes and then my work became little untidy.

4.Try to write the used formulae. 

5. Draw a line with pencil and scale after every question.

6. Cross the leftover pages.

7. Keep 5 mins to fill front page details. Dont do mistake in that.

Books followed by me for conventionals:

Material Science:  S.P.Seth( read it Wiedemann law is there!!! )

EDC: S. Salivahanan, few chapters of Neamen

Measurements: Sahani (I did only few chapters of it CRO,transducers, errors,bridges) mostly they ask these topics.

Networks: Network analysis and synthesis by gosh  and chakraborty (very gud book)

Signals: Schaum series +Singh and sapre (random variable+ fourier transform)

EMT: Schaum series+ Sadiku ( I have not prepared much for this subject)

Analog: Halkias and Sedra Smith( few chapters)

Digital: Morris Mano 

Communication: Singh and Sapre(best book for ESE communication),Kennedy.

Microwave: Liao, Kulkarni.

Contol: jairath( lot of examples)

8085: gaonkar( not prepared Computer part…..time nhi bacha tha)

You will see I followed mostly Indian writers book instead of reputed foreign writers. Reason is UPSC follows these types of book only, like last year(ESE 2014) question on graph theory came it is given nowhere but in Gosh book.

Books followed by UPSC in ESE 2015(may b followed in 2016)

Measurements: GATE instrumentation papers ( there is special subject of transducers for them )

Digital: digital electronics by Tocci

Control :jairath

Microwave: liao+kulkarni

Communication: Kennedy+Senior for optical communication

Analog:Some questions from Millman Halkias

Signals: first question from Singh and Sapre.

8085: Gaonkar

Networks: gosh  and chakraborty

solve only solved examples of the chapters given in syllabus.

Some suggestions:

1.Buy Ace conventional papers not madeeasy (they are topic wise you  can identify the weight age of each topic, they cover more years than madeeasy).

2.Join Madeeasy test series, you will feel the real competition, give every test seriously.

3. 4- 5 months are enough if you are not preparing for first time.

4. Make a time table and follow it seriously. Keep some empty gaps in timetable to complete the pending work.

5. Do practice conventional questions, It will increase your speed. I find people who can get answer of the question easily, but don’t know how to write /present it to fetch maximum marks.

See hard work always pay. You have to aim for 600+in written exam. Your selection depends on your written, rank is decided by interview.(in maximum cases)

About my Interview: I got 116 marks (average marks in ESE interview)

Though I prepared a lot for interview, but I could not fetch good marks. The problem with my preparation was I focused more on current affairs , hobbies, DAF related questions and not a single question was asked from all these topics.

Interview date: 2nd December 2015

My Back ground: I am currently doing M.tech in optoelectronics and optical  Communication from IIT Delhi.

Board: Mr.Chattar Singh

Questions asked:

Chairman: What do you like more electronics or  communication? What is HAM radio? What was earliest form of communication?Have you seen a satellite phone? Why Ambani don’t have satellite phone?

Techincal Persons: How did communication took place at the time of cloudburst in kedarnath? What is iridium project? Why it failed? Explain function of transponder. Limitations of satellite communication. Size of VSAT antenna, value of attenuation constant at particular values of wavelength in optical fibers, Some questions on LASER,  modulation  schemes used in optical Communication

Coaching Taken: Joined Rank improvement batch of madeeasy.(but I was  able to attend only few classes due to my M.Tech exams and works)

Its upto you there are 5 papers you have to identify your strengths and plan accordingly to score 140+in at least any 2 papers then you will be in. Have faith in you and your hard work. This is the last chance for this pattern, grab the opportunity, give your best.

Best Wishes,

Utkarsh Agarwal

Rank 17,  ESE 2015 

Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering

SUCCESS STORY OF MY BATCH MATE DHANANJAY SINGH (ESE 2015 12th Rank)

Journey To Remember
 "That was the  evening  of  30th  December  2015    when I  was returning  from  my  office  ,  I was travelling in  Metro  when  one  of  my  friends rang  me  up  and  informed  me  about  the  result  of ESE  2015. Though we had  the  clue  that  result  might  be  out  by  the  end  of  the day  but  still I  could  not  believe  and thought  it as a  prank.  Immediately  I  get  down off  the  metro  at  Rajendra  Place  and  checked it  myself. I was  so  excited that  hardly  I was  able to  keep  myself  conscious.  I could  not  believe  that I  was  living the  moment  which  I  had  been  dreaming  since  my  college days.

 It all started  in final  year  of  my  B.Tech.  (2013-14)  when  companies  started visiting  our campus (MNNIT)  for placements,  I  had  made  my  mind  that  I  would  prepare for  GATE  2014  and  other  PSU exams and  in between I kept  on  appearing  for placement exams  of  core  companies. In  the  initial months after  getting  rejected from  interviews  of  Qualcomm  and  Brahmos   and  learning  about  the fact  that  I  was not  eligible  to  appear  in  ESE  2014,  I started  preparing  for GATE  intensively. But  in  last days  of  my  preparation, I got  to  know  that  in  Jan,  one  more  semiconductor  giant  firm  might  visit  our campus and  place  of posting  at  Noida!!  Now  it  was  time  to  steer  the boat  towards  freescale and soon  I was  through  the  recruitment  process  and  with  21st  Jan  2014  I  had  a  nice  job  in my  hand  and that too  at  Noida!! (  just  126km  from  my  hometown Aligarh)  . And  from  then onwards I had  lost  all rhythm  of  my  preparation  and  finally  I  managed  to  get  AIR 567  in GATE  2014  which was  not  at  all enough  to  enter  in  a  PSU.  After GATE  I  appeared for few  more  exams ,  expecting  nothing  out  of them.  Remaining  4  months  ,  how  they  went  like,last  months  of college  life,  still  miss them  hard.

In  June  2014,  it  was  the  time  to  join  Freescale  (now  NXP  Semiconductor)  as  Design  Engineer.  I was excited as it  was  the  first  time  that I  was  in  some  industry  and  having  an  opportunity  to  observe things  in  practical  that  were  part  of  our curriculum  in  B.Tech. But  ESE  was  still  there  in  my  mind. I decided  to  join  Made  Easy  Weekend  Batch for  IES.  Soon  life became  so  hectic  and  complex  for  me that I was getting  hardly  any  time  for  self study.  Suddenly  in  October  I got  the  news  of  my  selection in  SAIL  (took  this  exam  in  March  after  GATE)  from  the  same  friend  :p  . I  was  in  dilemma  whether  to join  this  PSU  or continue  in Freescale  and  preparation  for IES.  After  many  rounds  of  discussion  with family  and  friends, I decided  to  let  it  go  and  continued at  Noida.It  was  in Novemeber    beginning   when I decided to  quit the  coaching  and  go  for self  study  on  weekends. I  started saving  some  time from  weekdays as  well.    GATE  exam  arrived in  Jan  2015. By  this time  , I  was  aware  of  the  fact  that getting  a  job  through  GATE  is  not  that  easy. Result  was out  in  March and  I  managed to secure  AIR 384  ,  again  not  enough. In  the  mean time  I appeared  for exam  for recruitment  of  Assistant  Manager   in  Signalling  &  Telecomm.  Dept  of  DMRC. Though  there  were  only  4  vacancies  and  I had  little  faith in me  that I  would  succeed.  My  preparation  for  IES continued.  In  the  month of  May, I decided to  go  on leave.  There  were  several interviews  scheduled  in those  last  days  which  I decided  to  skip  as  this would  definitely  hamper  my  preparation  (  advantage  with  me:  I was always having  a  job  to  support during  my  preparation).  Just  before  10  days  of  exam,  I was  selected  as  AM  in  DMRC and  this is  very similar to  the job  which  IES  offers in Railways.

After  taking  IES exam  ,  I quit Freescale and  joined DMRC. Freescale  job  profile  has always  been  a  booster for  me  and  I used it  well  in  interviews.  When result  of  ESE  2015  were  out,  it  was  time  to  put  the best  for  interviews,  I decided  to  go  for  10  days  of interview  guidance  program  by  Made  Easy  out  of  which  I attended only  6  days  due  to  shortage  of time.  On 2nd  Dec   I  was  interviewed by  Mr.  Chattar  Singh, Ex-IAS Board   of UPSC, it  was  around  30min  of interview  and  Mr.  Chattar Singh  was  impressed  to  know  about  my  skill  of  cooking  and  most  of the interview  was about  my  job  profile  in Freescale  ,  related  to  type  of  chips that  are  designed, problems that  we  face,  upcoming  projects  and  advancements  in  this  industry,  technical  details, current technology  node,  CMOS  and  a  bit  about  DMRC  telecomm  network and  train  borne equipments.  Overall  it  went  well. Now  with  IRSSE  as  my  first  choice,  waiting  for  its  allotment and enjoying  my  job  at  DMRC.

PS:  The  ‘friend’  who  had  always informed  me  first  about  my  selection  in  SAIL,  IES  is Mr.  Harshit Mittal  (IRSSE  probationer),  IES  2014  AIR  42,  currently  in  Secunderabad  . "

analog electronics (objective)

Analog electronics is a pretty large subject and 20-25 questions can be expected in objective paper. Questions are straight forward and mostly theoretical in nature.
Main topics to be covered-
1.rectifiers- pros and cons of different types. Which filter is used when.
2. Clippers and clampers- output waveforms
3. Voltage regulators- zener method(numericals are asked), ic regulators (ex-7805).
4. Bjt- simple biasing circuits.
5. Amplifiers- voltage,current types which has got higher input resistance and output resistance. Calcukation of gain is not aksed much is objective.
6.mosfet- simple biasing problems.
7.feedback amplifiers- refer to sedra or made easy notes.(type and effect of different feedbacks)
8. Power amplifiers- different classes their effeciency and harmonics.
9.op amp- refer to sedra
10. 555 timer and multivibrator - refer to sedra ( Schmidt trigger is most imp)

Books
1. Milman for diodes and bjt.
2. Sedra for mosfet ,op amp and multivibrators.
3. Go through made easy notes.

Digital electronics (conventional)

Digital electronics is a scoring subject from conventional point of view.
Main topics-
1. Minimisation  using k map and designing using nand or nor logic.
2. Adder , subtractor , multiplexer, decoder.
3. Counter designing using jk or d flip flop.
4. Finite state machine- jump counters, sequence detector (asked in 2014).
5. ADC- SAR is asked mostly.

You can study sequence detector from net

Conventional Guidelines

Conventional paper has been the nightmare for many ESE aspirants. I also used to worry about them but after clearing ESE I have drawn following conclusions.
1. Handwriting does not matter unless you have illegible handwriting.
2. It is not necessary to attempt questions serially , try to attempt first those questions in which you can answer maximum.
3. Subparts of questions should be in order.
4. Try attempting mostly numericals because almost full marks are awarded if it is correct.
5. Answer theoretical questions in points.
6. Strike off the question which you dont want to be checked.
7. Diagrams are necessary in derivations and in questions where you feel it is required.
8. Paper comprises of 7 questions in which first question is compulsory that contains questions from all 6 subjects , rest 6 questions are from 6 different subjects generally so prepare at least 4 subjects well.
9. Practice past year questions and it is not possible to attempt all questions in exam , so even if you are doing 60-70% do it properly, shortcuts in numericals should not be done.

My marks
Paper 1-
Attempted-125 marks
Wrong -15 marks
Final - 103

Paper 2-
Attempted - 125 marks
Wrong- 20
Final -89