A supermom and an efficient officer, Ms. Sonal Goel is now a mentor to hundreds of young UPSC aspirants. Deciding to make constructive use of her huge fan following on social media, the officer started offering guidance on preparation for competitive exams. Her tips and advice on how to crack the exams have helped innumerable candidates till now.
In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, Ms. Goel talked about her decision to help young aspirants and how successful it has been.
GUIDING YOUTH OF MANY STATES
The senior IAS officer from Panipat district in Haryana decided to give tips and guidance related to the preparation of Public Service Commission Examinations to the youth of the country.
Youngsters from all over India, especially from the states of Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Tripura, are receiving the officer’s help and guidance which is proving beneficial to them in their preparation.
HUGE SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING
Currently posted as the Resident Commissioner at Tripura Bhawan, Ms Goel boasts of a huge fan following. With a social media following of 340K on Twitter, 702K on Instagram, 492K on Facebook, 76.5K on Koo, and 12.3K on YouTube, Ms. Goel has been consistently doing live sessions and organizing webinars along with big social media channels and houses.
“Consistent hard work leads to Success! Let your drive to excel always compel you to deliver,” Ms. Goel told Indian Masterminds.
The officer especially tries to take out time from her busy schedule to help the young aspirants. Even on days when she has no time, she still conducts and records webinars before or after officer hours so that the aspirants are able to clear their doubts and their preparation doesn’t get hampered.
A POPULAR YOUTH ICON
Many universities across the country have invited Ms. Goel to address the students and make them aware of nation building, youth development and social responsibility.
Even during the lockdown period of the Covid19 pandemic, Ms. Goel continued with her work to create awareness among the youth by participating in talk shows organized by universities through internet. Now that colleges and universities have reopened and life is slowly coming back to normal, she is personally visiting those places to give guest lectures.
TIPS FOR UPSC ASPIRANTS
The senior officer gives important tips to the aspirants that might help them in their preparation, the most important among them being time management. She believes that dedicating at least eight hours when studying for prelims and 12-15 hours when studying for the mains is absolutely necessary if a candidate wishes to clear the examination in their first attempt.
“One must set a study routine and stick to it religiously. Segmenting the syllabus and setting a completion date for each to cover the vast portion will be very helpful,” she said.
Among other tips, the most important ones given by Ms. Goel to candidates are, to regularly solve mock papers to test themselves and keep themselves updated on all current affairs.
“One should always revise multiple times before giving the examination and keep writing down notes. It will be helpful in the long run,” says Ms. Goel.
ALWAYS KEEP PLAN B READY
Ms. Goel was working as a Company Secretary in a firm before she cleared UPSC Civil Service Examination in her second attempt. She did not let go of her CS job until it was final that she was entering civil services, in case she had to fall back upon a Plan B.
“I always explain to the candidates the importance of having a secure Plan B just in case things don’t turn out the way that they had planned. In this way, they won’t have to waste their time in securing another job for themselves during their most crucial career years,” she said.
Ms. Goyal is a 2008-batch IAS officer of Tripura cadre and has been in Haryana for many years under the provisions of the service rules. Ms. Goel has promoted welfare policies of the government while holding many important posts, including the post of Deputy Commissioner of Jhajjar. She has done commendable work in Haryana to improve the sex ratio under the ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ campaign, for which she has also been rewarded by the central and state Governments.
