If you have a passion to do something for your country, sooner or later, you will find a way to serve your nation. The story of Japan-returned Shivam Sharma is a good example. Even with a cushy MNC job and good lifestyle in Japan, he felt something amiss in his life and felt that deep calling to go back to his motherland to serve the nation. It didn’t take him long to realise that civil service is his true calling and he sat for the UPSC exam, cleared it in 2018, and became an IRS officer after securing 251 rank in his third attempt. He is currently posted as the Assistant Director, Directorate General Systems and Data Management CBIC, Delhi.
NRI SHIVAM RETURNS HOME
Shivam had a good job in Japan in the multinational company, Hitachi. Yet he decided to return to India. It was not an easy decision as he was leaving a good career in the corporate sector for an uncertain future. But he took the risk as he believes in the adage that ‘where there is a will, there is a way.’ His strong will to serve his country brought him back to India, and the rest is history!
JOURNEY TO UPSC BEGINS
Originally from Jaipur, 28-year-old Shivam Sharma’s father was in North-Western Railway and mother was a teacher. Shivam was always a topper in studies right from his childhood. After passing the Inter examination, he did B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from the prestigious IIT Kanpur. After completing his graduation, he went to Japan to work for Hitachi. After working there for some time, he returned to India and started working in ITC as Technical Consultant in the agriculture sector. During his stint in this company, he worked in many states and saw farming very closely. It was during this time that he finalised his decision to crack UPSC CSE exam.
In 2015, he left the ITC job and started preparing for UPSC full time. In 2016, he cleared UPSC exam with 390 rank in his first attempt. But he was not happy with the result and made a second attempt in 2017 which went the similar way, leaving him disappointed with the result. It was in the third attempt in 2018 that he got a better rank and he joined Indian Revenue Service.
CHOOSE OPTIONAL WISELY
Shivam told Indian Masterminds, “Choosing your optional subject is the most important thing while preparing for UPSC. You should choose it very carefully. In my first and second attempts, I got less marks in my optional subject. But in my third attempt, I worked very hard on it and the results were good.” His optional subject was Mechanical Engineering.
Shivam believes that every UPSC aspirant should make his own strategy and prepare accordingly.They should focus on self-study and make notes. “Pay special attention to the syllabus and complete it on time. Revise a lot and practice answer writing from the beginning keeping in mind the mains,” he advised.
SWOT ANALYSIS
Shivam put his corporate sector experience to good use in his UPSC preparation. For better preparation of his optional subject, he did SWOT analysis and made a strategy accordingly. SWOT is a technology used in the corporate world, with the help of which we can find out the strengths, weaknesses, available opportunities and challenges of a group, organization or an individual. Shivam analysed his strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats with SWOT analysis and then made an effective strategy.His strategy got him 336 marks in his third attempt. This is why Shivam believes that a good strategy is very important for cracking UPSC.
