5/3/2019 Strategy for TNPSC Group I Preparation by P.

Maniraj , Topper, TNPSC Gr I 2017

Strategy for TNPSC Group I Preparation

by P.Maniraj , Topper, TNPSC Gr I 2017
My Desire for Group-1 services:
            Unlike most of the aspirants do, I entered into the battle of
competitive examinations setting my eyes exclusively on TNPSC
Group-1 Exams. The Desire to get into civil services was a
childhood dream which was given up when I got into CORE
companies post my graduation. And this decision was also
supported by the various allegations on the credibility of
recruitment in state civil services. But then by 2014 a close friend of
mine from college days cleared state services and that’s when I
myself believed that it’s all about the effort and hard work you
make that matters to get into civil services. I met the friend who
was then District Employment Officer (ERODE District, Tamil Nadu),
and his words “Don’t hesitate to pursue your dream. It’s all
happening in a transparent manner. You can achieve it “gave the
much needed courage to take daring decision. 2 hour talk with my
friend that fine night, gave the much needed impetus to resign
highly paid dream job in corporate and pursue preparation for civil services .I never looked back since
then.
            Never be afraid to take risks to achieve your dream. My salary when I decided to resign was
around 8Lakhs/annum, which was a good salary for a 23year old guy. Was it a risk ? yes…!! Is it worth?
Absolutely worthy …!!!

Brief Bio-data 

Name Maniraj.P
DOB 12/10/1991
Age   26
Hometown Salem, Tamil Nadu
Qualification: Electronics & Communication
engineering
College College of Engineering
Guindy(CEG), Chennai (Anna
university’s main campus)
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Work experience Design Engineer in ROTORK

Innovation Design and
Engineering Centre ( RIDEC)-
R&D unit of ROTORK Controls
Pvt Ltd (Aug 2012-July 2015)
No. of attempts in 0
TNPSC GROUP-1 exam
made previously:
General Approach:

Preparation has to be two pronged: one for preliminary examination and other one for Mains
Examination.

It is wise and smart to approach the exam topic by topic rather than going book by book. Reading
precise and staying up to the point is essential, and due to heavy syllabus you need clear understanding
of each concept, and you will definitely be pushed to develop answer from few points that you have
understood. At the same time, it is also required to get the conceptual clarity (if not in depth, at least a
basic clarity) as some questions will test the concept clarity for sure. Books are so many in the market for
every single subject. It is only by sticking to the syllabus that we can try conquering the subjects to the
best of our satisfaction. It is better to start the preliminary preparation with main exam in mind and
follow the same approach as main written examination. Take notes; keep developing it when you get
better understanding and when you find new points.

Role of Training Institutes:

Yes, academies play very good role in helping the student to clear civil service exam. But don’t forget not
all students who get into an academy clear the exam. Academies will guide you (maximum 20%), but
80% of the effort and uniqueness has to come from you. If you could develop Discipline and
perseverance, I would suggest you to do it all on your own.

Did I join Academy?

                      No!! That was the first and bold decision which I was pushed to take, because I had only 3
months for preparation for preliminary exam (until then I was purely into electronics only) and I was
completely new to all subjects after almost 8 years. So I sensed that going as per academy plan will not
work for me, and so I decided to do it on own. I will share my work plan going below. 

REMEMBER Academy is not the Door step to succeed. Something more is required.

  
Preliminary Examination and Detailed analysis:

I would like to recall again, the syllabus for exam is very huge and you need to be smart to accomplish
each subject and the syllabus. I’m not sure about the methodology adopted by various coaching centers,
but I will share with you how I approached each subject and how I was successful in covering all subjects
in a short span of 2.5 months good enough to secure State rank.

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The basic work I did was to take previous year question paper from website and worked on the
weightage given for each subject. Based on which I classified the subjects as scoring and non-scoring
subjects. Scoring subject questions would relatively be easy when the syllabus is covered and the hit rate
would be more than 80%. Non scoring subject would be relatively out of box, and your hit ratio reduces
down to 40-50%.

The below table gives to detail of subjects, nature, no. of .questions (approx) and how much is expected
to be answered correctly.

Books
Scoring Expected Hit Ratio
S.no Subject Recommended (for
Nature questions(approx) expected(approx)
Prelims)
Aptitude and
R.S.Agarwal,+1 CS
1 Information High 50 45+
book,10Th statistics
Technology
10 and 12th History
2 Modern History High 15 11+
Book
3 Ancient History Low 10 5+ 11th History Book
Indian Polity by
4 Indian Polity High 15 12+
Lakshmikanth
11 and 12th Physics
5 Physics Medium 8 5+
book
11 and 12th Chemistry
6 Chemistry Low 8 2+
book
11 and 12th Botany
7 Botany Medium 8 4+
book
11 and 12th Zoology
8 Zoology Low 8 2+
book
Indian Economy by
9 Economics Medium 8 4+ Shankar Ganesh,
Mrunal.org
10 Current Affairs High 35 27+
11 Geography Medium 10 5+ 6-10 std school books
TOTAL 175 122+
Approximate cutoff required would be around 125-130 (questions correct for BC category). The
remaining 25 questions would vary between the subjects. Since TNPSC don’t impose negative marking
for wrong questions, you will have liberty to answer all the questions, and that would help you very well
cross the cutoff mark.
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5/3/2019 Strategy for TNPSC Group I Preparation by P.Maniraj , Topper, TNPSC Gr I 2017

                                MY PRELIMS SCORE – 138/200

What Not to Study:

                Remember, the materials are enormous in the market and website, and one way or other some
academy or some aspirant will suggest every material as most appropriate. Don’t get confused or carried
away..!! Every material is appropriate and it’s all about the knowledge bank you develop. So “what not to
study!” becomes more pertinent than “What to study”.

            Cover only topics given in the syllabus. This is most important. Even in the syllabus heading,
covering entire content (like derivation, etc) doesn’t make sense. Before you start reading something, sit
and think can the contents you read be put into a question? Develop a character and understanding by
referring to previous year papers, on the approach followed by TNPSC in setting the questions.

Consider physics (which people feel difficult subject to cover):

What should be covered?  

Ø Principles
Ø  Examples
Ø Applications
Ø Laws
Ø Devices , techniques used in real-time ( eg: lightening conductor, microwave oven,
semiconductors etc)
Ø Reason behind certain natural phenomenon ( eg: Rainbow, Dispersion, spherical shape of
bubble, why ship floats? Etc)
Ø Recent sensations ( eg: Neutrinos, black hole, gravitational waves etc)

When you adhere to this, the contents you need to cover would reduce around 40% for sure.

What need not be covered?

Ø Derivations
Ø Final equations
Ø Contents specific to school examinations
Ø Contents too much irrelevant to real time events
Ø History of inventions
Ø In depth study of working details of various devices
Ø Proof of various laws and principles

Similarly you can analyze for each subject and establish a plan to cover the subjects quickly. If needed
mail me / make a request to mrunal, I can give the analysis for each subject on what to study and not to
study.

Prelims Mock tests ?:

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            “An Apple a day keeps doctor away” – write tests every day (at least one). There is no limit on
the tests that you can take. But create an environment similar to the actual exam. Fix a time clock and
strictly adhere to it. Track your marks in an excel sheet. Study your progress (do this when are feeling
bored or irritated). Take printout of OMR sheets, and even the practice tests do it in OMR.

            All question papers are best. Get question papers available every where. Model questions in any
websites(TNPSCguru,TNPSCportal etc), SURA books,old question papers, school exam question papers (
need not answer problem type questions) etc

            Never let your mark go below 60% in any of the mock tests. Fix this as a TARGET. Don’t feel
bored to take mock tests. You can initially take 25mark or 50 mark tests, and through the course of
preparation you can shift gears to 100,150 and 200 questions paper.

How many hours per day?:

            This is an arbitrary question from most of the aspirants, but I will still try to answer it in a best
possible way.
             
            Hours per day depends on your talent/discipline level. There is no unique formula. What I can
finish in 2 hours may be completed by you in 1 hour if you are smart enough and have previous
experience in the subject. So many factors determines the effort you need to put in every day like

Ø Discipline to sit and read

Ø Previous experience in subject
Ø Quality friends to clarify doubts
Ø Efficiency in using internet
Ø Hunger to become an aspirant
Ø Ability to link and retain etc

But based on my experience, I have arrived at a formula to calculate the tentative hours needed to be
put in everyday, comparing TNPSC group 1 with your efforts in 12th STD public examination. Prior to
TNPSC, 12th STD was the biggest step in your life, and the importance was more or less the same.

Hours needed per day =   {8(effective hours for a good skilled guy) /    (percentage of 4  major subject
marks of 12th STD) } *100 

Sample calculation for my marks:

Hours per day      = (8 /((199+200+200+194)/8))*100
= (8/ 99.125)*100
= 8.07 hours / day

This includes the time you spend on Mock tests, News papers and any constructive works.

Main Written Examination:

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When to Start?
                                    Finish the preliminary exam, wait for official answer key on TNPSC website, and
check your score. If you have answered 125+ (this may vary based on difficulty), have a party and take a
10-15 day break and get back into study mode. You will write Mains examination for sure within
8months from date of prelims exam. Start your mains preparation, finish it and have sufficient time to
revise things. If you go for a long break, the tempo and sync will be out, and you will eventually end up
wasting few months after prelims, which is not healthy.

The Strategy :
                                    The preparation made for preliminary exam would cover 60% of the main
exam syllabus, but the trick here is, for main written exam you should be able to write everything in
detail and, hence you need more aggressive preparation. The paper is lengthy compared to any other
written examination, and you need to answer 56pages in 3 hours.  Hence the completion of paper
remains a tricky one, and for this you have to make intense practice. I would suggest you write at least
30-40 tests for 300 marks across various subjects, and preferably in the paper with around 22-24lines
per page (as this is what is being used in final exam). Try preparing question in parallel to the topics you
study. Set yourself question paper in the below pattern and try answering as exam. I have question paper
for almost every book I read, and I will try to search and share it in future. Kindly don’t study as for
school exams. Remember all questions are important. So, any question paper you set yourself is good.
Finally go into previous year papers ( around 5-7 years ) , and any model papers available in internet.

                        Section A: 3 marks --> (30 out of 35 question) = 90marks

                        Section B: 8 marks --> (15 out of 18 questions) = 120 marks
                        Section C: 15marks --> (6 out of 9 questions) = 90 marks

                                                                                                TOTAL=300marks

Book List:
                        Books studied for prelims will form the foundation/core of the preparation. Study those
in detail and have a sound knowledge on that portion. Below are the additional books in every subject
you need to cover to enhance your chances to write solid answers.
S.No Subject Additional Books for Mains
1 History a) Spectrum’s Modern India
b)  Modern India by G.Venkatesh (
this book covers Tamilnadu role)
c)  Contemporary India by
G.venkatesh
2 Science and tech a) Science and Tech Tata Mcgrawhill
b) Recent sensations in news ( eg: Stem
cell therapy, LiFi,LIGO etc)
3 Information Technologya) 11th std computer science book

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b) Wizard science and tech ( only IT

portions)
4 English Internet – study formats for precis
writing,comprehension etc
5 State Administration a) State administration by Lakshmikanth
b) Industrial bodies – TIIC,SIPCOT,ELCOT
etc ( Wikipedia – also check at bottom
of the wiki page for other bodies)
c) State schemes – Tn.gov.in
d) Central schemes- Wikipedia/visionias
e) Recruitement bodies and other
special bodies like NSG,NCERT etc –
Wikipedia
6 Economics a) RajyaSabha document on
2008 crisis
b) Acts and economics welfare
schemes – Wikipedia
7 Social Issues a) Ram Aujha – social issues
b) Wizard- Social issues
8 Current Affairs Cover for 10 months in
detail. Try to predict 30
marks questions. Eg:
LIGO,Paris agreement,
SDG,SHDR,Aaadhar etc

Note: These are the books in addition to the books covered for prelims. Yes book list looks very big, but
then stick to the syllabus. Focus more on wide coverage than looking for in-depth coverage..!!!!

Does Handwriting matters?

                You will find an exclusive statement in instruction to candidate as “NO marks reserved for
handwriting”. And to best of my knowledge and experience I believe this holds true. It’s good enough if
your handwriting is legible and clear.
                But however, there must be some feature that should make your answer outstanding. And that
I strongly believe to be Presentation of answers. Writing in essay format, I personally don’t feel is the
best choice, firstly because you cannot manage time and secondly paper looks too much loaded.
                I will give you an example of how I presented my answer.

Q: Write a short note on Regulation XVII ( 3marks)

Ans:
a) When : Dec 4, 1829 in Bengal
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b) By: Lord William Bentinck

c) Pioneer: Raja Rammohan Roy
d) Significance: Practice of Sati was banned and abolished
e) Sati: Burning of Widow women alive in her husband pyre

Ensure you have at least 3 heading per page for 8 marks and 15marks. Try adding quotes, diagrams
etc for possible question. Quotes are must for social issues questions. For history try to add the
statements made by popular leader (of that time) on every historical event. 15 marks should begin
with an introduction and end with a conclusion.

                If you need more sample answers, I can send you some photos on request( again don’t ask
me to send photocopy of all the notes). Connect me on face book (profile name : Mani Raj)

Interview Preparation?

                      Subject knowledge has been enough tested in first two rounds of exam , and hence the
interview focus only on testing your personality, how you react to social matters, what attention you
have made to happenings around the globe etc. Hence basic subject knowledge will be helpful to make
your answer look smart. But however prepare in detail about what you have done in your graduation and
particularly the current affairs for past 10 months at least. Develop opinion for majority of the issues
around the globe and also prepare the points to support it. Don’t worry if its correct or not, but take a
stand and stay on it . Have clear understanding in each issues.

            NEVER STOP reading papers after your mains. Develop a culture to follow NEWS everyday. Discuss
with your friends on every popular issues. Try to explain your family about issues that are so much covered
by the media. NEWSPAPERS are for life , not for exams alone. They will TRANSFORM you.

            Have some mocks, as many academies conduct free mock for selected candidates, which can be
helpful to refine yourself. The Interview is for 120 marks, and if you perform well you be given a
maximum of 90.
           
Alright interview can be handled later , as you will have sufficient time post mains exam to prepare for
this.

My Scores:

Main written exam Interview Total State Community Post

(out of 900) (out of 120) (out of 1020) Rank Selected
588.5 81 669.5 2 BC Deputy
Collector

Conclusion:

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At the end of the day, even after so much preparation there would be questions that looks
unanswerable. What we are doing here is to equip ourselves with all the weapons in our armory to make
sure we win the battle even if we lose some soldiers. Presence of mind on the exam day is going to be
vital .Customize yourself by taking a good understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. Adjust
accordingly and launch your preparation. Discipline and perseverance would play the decisive role. All
the Best!!!

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