Success in Competitions
Competitions have invaded all the walks of our lives. The child is born; he faces competition in terms of the beds, medicines and medical facilities in the hospital. The young child competes with his friends in small games. As a school boy, he competes in studies, sports and debates. As a growing lad of twenty-four years, he prepares for his college or university examinations. Further, he has to be career conscious and he must opt for a professional course lest his chances of survival are limited. So, he prepares for the competitive examinations. There is a competition in the professional life or in the post-studies period. He has to earn his bread and butter through toil and a special set of skills, which he has acquired in his previous years of life. Then he becomes a father and he has to struggle for his children. This cycle has been going on for centuries.
Competitive examinations are common in almost all the fields: architecture, medicine, education, engineering, navy, army, air force, fashion design, management, computer software and tourism are some popular examples in this context. The aptitude of the candidate is judged through a written test. a formal group, discussion and an informal interview. For union government jobs, the government has established a Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). For getting selected in IAS, IPS, IFS and other examinations, UPSC is the central authority. There are state public service commissions for each state for various state department selections. National Defence Academy (NDA) has its own examination system. Similarly, army. navy and air force accept officers and junior entry level personnel on the basis of examinations and tests conducted by Services Selection Board (SSB). The government jobs are quite lucrative nowadays in terms of money, status and facilities. The private sector jobs carry more money packages but there is no job security.
The candidate should be able to decide by the middle of his 10+2 class about the profession he wants of choose. There is a possibility of a switchover if one field is not suitable for him. But mostly, the stunts opt for their favourite professions by the end of class 10+2 in the schools.
After 10+2, they try for a CA, a BBA or fashion technology diplomas. There are many other courses which include computers. Internet, civil construction, electrical, mechanical engineering, architecture and medicine. But the mainstream areas do not offer careers now and today, we have more avenues opening up in fashion, textiles, computer software, arts. graphics, design, Autocad, CAM, CIM, SAP (R3), beautician and other practical courses. This depends basically upon the aptitude of the candidate. Once he has chosen his profession, he must continue to struggle till he has achieved his aim.
Success in competitions needs planned work and gruelling hours of practice. Group discussions could be held with the friends and within the family. General knowledge can be improved with the help of good quality newspapers, magazines and cable TV networks. For improving numerical ability, one should count on only good quality books. Logical Reasoning, Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension are other vital areas in examination. Books are available for each subject. Some fields require special knowledge and practice. So, knowledge would have to be acquired through self-study, interactions with friends, guidance from parents and training in competition institutes. Nowadays, professionally managed insitutes help the students in the preparation of CAT, MBA, GATE, GMAT, GINDOMAT and MAT examinations. The examinations related to selection in defence services sectors are also included by them in their training schedules. If the candidate does not belong to a metropolis (where these institutions are available in abundance), then he can get the study material and the practice examinations by post or by courier.
Nowadays, students appear for TOEFL, GMAT, GRE, LSAT, SAT, and other examinations conducted by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) whose headquarters are in Princeton, New Jersey, the USA. The training for these tests is available in India. These tests are of high standards and the successful students can go abroad for higher studies. Those students, who score very well, are able to get good amounts of fee waivers and scholarships in the foreign universities.
Success in competition is the key to success in life. The students and young graduates would have to bum the midnight oil in order to succeed in competitions. Hard work, concentration, identification of weak areas and then beefing them up and finally, a commitment to the goal are necessary for success in competitions. We wish the students and young stugglers all the success in their respective endeavours.
