ESE 2018 Topper's Interview: Shashank Shekhar (AIR 1 Electronics & Telecommunication)

ESE 2018 final result was declared on 9th November 2018 and a total of 511 candidates have been declared selected for the recruitment. ESE being the most prestigious exam for Engineering graduates requires rigorous preparations with the dedicated focus towards the desired goal. Shashank Shekhar (AIR 1 Electronics & Telecommunication) has set the example for many other aspirants of how to transform your dreams into reality with continuous efforts. BYJU'S Exam Prep got in touch with Shashank Shekhar and here is what he had to say about his success in ESE 2018

What inspired you to prepare for Engineering Services Examination?

• ESE is the toughest examination in our country for engineers. Clearing this prestigious exam will give me a great feeling of satisfaction.

What was your preparation strategy for different subjects?

• I went through good books in my B.Tech. When I started preparation for ESE on 7th November 2016, I had neither books nor my notes. I purchased previous years papers and started solving.
• Whenever I faced difficulties I used to check concepts on google and made notes for the same.
• Major issues came with Non-tech subjects. I studied basic concepts from different materials available in the market and tried to solve questions of test series.

What was your strongest area and what was the weakest? How did you overcome your weaknesses?

• Discipline and dedication are the strength of mine. My weakness is lack of adaptability.
• Whenever I came across new things, I resist a lot in place of analyzing positive and negative aspects of the new things.
• I didn’t recover from this kind of attitude yet but ESE has made me a bit adaptable because of the diverse nature of this examination.

What difficulties did you face while preparing for the exam?

• Since the last three and half years, I have been a working professional so time management was the biggest issue.
• Study and Work are entirely different so keeping minds ready for both the challenges was another difficulty. Keeping myself motivated towards goal was very difficult.

How did you manage pressure during the preparation?

• Pressure and ESE are very much co-related and “working hard while feeling pressure” and “being successful” are also very much co-related.
• Mainly pressure is felt when you don’t get desired results or when we are not able to complete the target. My way of doing was, keep yourself focused even when the tides are high.
• With the course of time, definitely pressure will be there but you will be able to handle the same.

What was your strategy in the last 1 month before the Main exam?

• I was looking into these three things in last one month:
  
  • Short notes made while solving previous years papers.
  • A separate formulae copy and a copy of diagrams of different circuits/blocks.
  • Notes made while solving a test series.

What role did Mock Tests, Previous Year Papers and Daily Quizzes play in your preparation?

• As I started for ESE after a break in my study so I had nothing to start preparation with.
• I picked previous years papers and started solving questions and making notes wherever I was finding difficulties.
• Mock tests had a great role in my preparation. BYJU'S Exam Prep Daily-Quizzes kept me motivated.
• These daily-quizzes are of very small duration so it was like a refresher to me.

Are you a working professional? If yes, how did you manage preparation while working?

• Yes, I work for a company. I used to study from 6 AM-9 AM and from 7 PM-11 PM on every weekday.
• On weekends I tried to study as much as I could. If we have a job, we must have vey strict routine for every day.

What was your preparation strategy for the Personal Interview? Share the questions asked in PI

• I arranged previous years questions asked in the interviews. After reading those questions, I realized that interview is going to be entirely different from normal study. We must have the presence of mind there.
• We should have enough understanding of next questions coming out of the mouth of the interviewer. For example:- My M.Tech project was “High-Speed Serializer Design”. It is similar to USB but I didn’t study about USB much before the interview. Even I didn’t expect USB can be correlated to my project work.
• Panel member asked that is it related to USB? I got shocked but I showed courage and told that “Yes mam, it has similar functionalities like USB but I had designed everything which was not in the Market. If you allow me, can I explain using pen and paper how it was different.”
• See, now panel member can’t refuse to give paper and pen. Once I got paper and pen, I was sure that I will kill next 5-7 minutes while discussing block diagrams.
• Panel member forgot to ask USB after 5-7 minutes explanation of my project.
• My PI was average. As far as questions are concerned I answered 80% questions but I made few mistakes like while sitting and getting up my chair made noise, I was speaking fast, I asked one panel member to remove his glass of water because I was not able to show block- diagram to a panel member sitting far from me etc.
• I don’t remember all the questions but I remember few which I will share here:-
  
  • What is maximum power transfer theorem?
  • What is impedance matching?
  • Which BJT configuration provides impedance matching?
  • What is the current buffer circuit?
  • Which provides current buffering?
  • What is the digital signal?
  • How it is different from analog signals?
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of digital systems ?
  • What is sampling theorem?
  • What PM Modi told on the I-Day?
  • What is Gaganyan?
  • What is IRNSS?
  • Describe the method of position finding involved in GPS.
  • You are in IOT and PM Modi wants smart cities across India. Tell 5 applications which IOT can provide?
  • Tell 5 good things about your company. (After Answering) Why do you want to leave?
  • Which are the Competitors of your company?
  • What is the revenue of your company?

What advice would you like to give to the fellow aspirants?

• ESE has three rounds and each round is made for checking different talents in you so never ever think about other rounds.
• If it is prelims, don’t think about mains or interview at all and so on.
• Dedication and Discipline will play major roles in your success.

How did BYJU'S Exam Prep help you in your preparation?

• I had no plan to study further after M.Tech(2015). I had given my notes to my juniors. On 7 th November 2016, I decided to prepare for IES. 99% of my friends had no plan to study.
• In these scenarios, I needed a community where I can ask questions.
• My initial relationship with BYJU'S Exam Prep started with getting questions solved by Gradians but later on, I realized the importance of short duration quizzes.
• Even in the office whenever I was getting 10 mins time, I could solve one test.
• An environment provided by BYJU'S Exam Prep where everyone is talking about exams/questions are the best motivation for me.
• The BYJU'S Exam Prep app is distraction free because advertisements are not shown. This helped me in keeping me focused.
• Gradians are very knowledgeable and are very helpful. If I keep writing about the benefits of BYJU'S Exam Prep, it may take the entire page.

What feature of the BYJU'S Exam Prep App was the most useful for you?

• Gradians are very polite and helpful.
• Short quizzes.
• No distractions due to ad free app.
• Previous years papers provided by the app.
• Detailed explanation of notifications of examinations.
• BYJU'S Exam Prep management is very approachable.

Suggest the Area where We Need to Improve.

• We can have less quizzes but questions can be entirely new.
• Solutions of previous years papers of all stages(Prelims and Mains) can be provided so that poor students will not have to purchase books from coaching centres.

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Team BYJU'S Exam Prep!