The ideal Indian job

Getting a government job is often considered the ultimate achievement by the Indian public and for good reason. Government jobs ensure job security, exalted socio-economic status and influence, luxury, good work-life balance and mostly a limited work pressure. No wonder it is considered an ideal job with the ideal lifestyle. 

Naturally, many people harbor aspirations of getting a government job, including students and even more so, their parents. While there is a huge competition in exams for government jobs, studying hard for these exams is totally worth it…as long as you do clear them after all the toil.

The plausible appeal of government jobs often fades when you have a look at the success rates of the exams and interviews that you’ve to go through to get there. The vacancies are few and competition is titanic, as validated later on.    

There are 3 types of responses to this prospect-

1. Believing in slogans like “Be positive and try your best”, “you may be lucky”, “you already have a good background” and “nothing is impossible” and then putting a half-hearted effort while multitasking with other jobs or preparations. This works as much as you would expect.

2. Just giving up on it and trying other options or just not considering it as a practical option in the first place. Could this be the most practical option or a miss on a big opportunity? We’ll see soon…

3. Recognize that there is no shortcut to success and spending multiple years of his/her life working hard towards the goal of a government job with unwavering determination and correct strategy. Now this sounds like the right way ahead, right? 

But this is not a sure shot either. The truth is that vacancies are execrably few and candidates are many. 

Those having the third response and putting their full effort towards the job are also numerous. In short, the competition will be overwhelming unless you have exceptional dedication, conducive nature, some luck, a few years to spare and yes, sufficient rote learning power. 

Briefly, you need the right mindset, strategy, mental ability and available time together with a touch of luck, to have a good chance of clearing these exams. If you have these, government jobs are probably your best bet. 

But if you don’t have these factors together and to an extraordinary extent; you might want to look for other good options as a student, even at the cost of annoying your parents. 

While parents naturally tend to think that their child is highly capable and deserves the best, the modern reality might not be concurrent to such beliefs. They may inadvertently ignore the elephant in the room, blinded by the luster of government jobs, but the students must not. 

As a student choosing your life’s path; you must pensively judge your base personality, learning abilities and intrinsic interests impartially and decide for yourself; as a lackadaisical effort for anyone else’s gratification is bound to fail in this age of cutthroat competition.

Some facts

Now let us see some statistics to validate my line of reasoning

The success rates in the following popular government exams are found by dividing the vacancies filled in all applicable jobs from the exam divided by the number of candidates actually sitting for the first exam. These are as per the available stats that I could verify:-

1. UPSC exam (2019)- 0.00163% chance of selection for any eligible service. 

Most candidates get selected in their third or fourth attempts only.

2. NABARD exam (2020)- 0.001%

3. SBI PO (2018)- 0.002%

4. IBPS PO (2019)- 0.006%

5. RRB NTPC- 0.035%...

Also remember to divide your chances by half if you are a general candidate…

Looks a bit bleak, doesn’t it?

Misconceptions

Further, let’s clear some misconceptions relating to government exams/jobs in India: -

1. “Government exams are too tough to be cleared in the first attempt”- Out of the very few people who succeed, a significant portion make it in their first attempt. Also, low level government exams are considered easier, such as clerk, typist or low-grade officer roles in SBI or NTPC. Sitting for multiple government exams may also slightly increase your chances of success.

2. “Preparation for government exam with a full time job is futile”- This is not true in all cases but does add a major challenge and requires even more intrinsic stamina and dedication.

3. “General candidates have almost no chance”- That sounds true technically but a majority of candidates who clear these exams, such as UPSC, IBPS are from general category. It is probably not a major restricting factor by itself.

4. “Government jobs are ideal and they have full job security and lower stress”- This is probably going to be a thing of the past quite soon. The government is taking measures to remove underperforming government employees and has started this in some PSUs. The political influences on certain government jobs are also an uncomfortable reality. Be wary of glorifications.

5. “Having good English will benefit you significantly in government exams”- English is just one of the many subjects in bank exams and has little contribution to total marks in UPSC.

6. “Just try it, you may get lucky!”- UPSC is considered one of the world’s toughest exams with questions about almost everything under the sun. Unsurprisingly, it often takes multiple attempts to yield success. You probably have more chances of being eaten by a shark in the Sahara Desert than clearing all levels of an UPSC exam (specially its interview) with plain luck. While luck is a factor in government exams, it must be backed by hard work. 

7. “People from poor backgrounds can clear these exams, why not you?”- The background has little significance when it is the grind, desperation, intrinsic personality and learning ability that matters. Educational resources are no longer assets of the privileged class. And let’s not forget about the advantages of reservations…

8. “There are so many education apps to help you clear the exams”- It’s said they do help but it finally depends on the candidate’s aptitude and interest. Let’s not fall prey to the charisma and ostentatious claims of businesses without proper analysis of their competitive effectiveness.

9. “You are too negative”- If you feel negative about an idea after a proper consideration of the pros and cons, it’s probably not the right thing for you. Faking a sense of sanguinity is not going to help unless you are deeply convinced that you can do it!

10. “Just give it by the way…Who knows?”- Any reasonable student will end up putting days of work and harbor expectations even if it’s to be given “by the way”. But the waste of time and disappointment that would certainly result, wouldn’t be motivating. And if it is about experience, mock tests are everywhere. It’s great to shake every fruit bearing tree, as long as the fruit doesn’t fall on your head. Not all of us are Newton and we may end up a little disoriented.

11. “There are many different positions offered by these exams, don’t just think about the improbable top jobs”- The aforementioned statistics takes the full range of jobs from each exam into count and it still doesn’t look good, does it?

12. “There are no other guaranteed job options”- The irony here, is palpable… Opportunities are available in every line, though they may be tough to get. But most importantly, they’re probably much easier to achieve than a government job, even if they aren’t ideal to start with.

13. “Someone I know cleared the exam, so you can also do it”- Everyone’s ability to maintain determination, focus and learning ability is unique. It has been proven in various studies that people do not learn in the same manner or rate. Plus, you rarely hear about the many failures...

14. “So just put more time and effort and compensate for any differences”- That’s way too much easier said than done.

15. “The exams are too tough and impossible to clear”- This is false and counter intuitive. It is certainly possible to clear these exams and get government jobs but provided you have an extraordinary zeal, balanced psychology, a few years to spare and a naturally high learning ability and dedication. Some of these can be partly developed in oneself but most comes naturally, or doesn’t. 

16. “Hard work with strategy is all you need”- As explained, having a conducive natural personality and learning ability is equally important. And after all of these, it is still possible that someone else may score a point or two higher and do a little better in the interview and you will miss the chance. You can then try again and hope to be luckier the next time. This is something that happens with most good candidates, who are left waiting for government jobs like India waits for the next cricket world cup. 

So, as noted earlier, there is no sure shot method of success in government exams even if you have ideal characteristics, due to the difficulty of the questions, eliminatory luck factor and magnitude of competition. At the same time, the results of success are highly rewarding. Choose wisely…

Conclusion

Lastly, I would reiterate that we must carefully consider what we’re signing up for when it comes to government exams instead of getting lured by whims and motivational speeches (specially from those who have never given those exams themselves), only to be enervated later on. It is also important to not be enticed by a few success stories, many of which are sponsored. 

After all, difficulties are ubiquitous but some choices are just not pragmatic for a person and may waste precious time at an important phase of life. All said and done, those with exceptional learning potential, zeal, balanced personality, possibly a reservation benefit and the tenacity to persist despite an impasse of at least a few years, may find the illustrious government jobs as a viable option (with some luck). Those who find these characteristics in them naturally, should certainly try for government jobs. 

Those who do not have these (or have strong interests in other areas), may instead look for opportunities in their areas of strengths and interests. For all we know, the latter may end up more satisfied with his/her job. For example, there are many options for competitions to get good jobs or further opportunities, depending on individual strengths (after UG or specially PG):-

• Strong technical skills- GATE

• Strong English and analytical skills- GRE

• Strong English, GK, Research methodology knowledge and interest in Teaching- NET

• Interest and ability in management sphere- CAT, XAT

• Exams and interviews of large organizations in your area of specialization to get good jobs.

Of course, there’s always the option to sit for government exams nonchalantly and hope for a supernatural intervention. After all, miracles do happen (but I suggest you don’t count on that)

{Note-The intention of this article is not to vilify government exams or government jobs, but purely to bring together facts in a practical context. This is also not meant to malign those who vouch for government exams as they clearly see some benefits, either for their loved ones or for themselves. I aim to remove misconceptions that these exams can be cleared with luck or moderate effort and also the misconception that they are impossible to clear and should be ruled out without consideration. 

I do not vouch for the correctness of the estimates or veracity/neutrality of ideas presented in this article. This article may include an element of personal bias.}