Surabhi Srivastava experienced several setbacks in her UPSC journey. She shares that her parents and teachers always encouraged her to do better. In her second UPSC attempt, she reached the interview rounds, and eventually became an IAS officer in her third attempt in 2023.
Surabhi Srivastava, an officer from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, has achieved the 56th rank in the UPSC exams. She completed her schooling from DPS Kalyanpur and earned a BTech in Computer Science from HBTU, Kanpur in 2019. She worked at a company for a year before deciding to pursue a career in civil services. In the year 2020, she quit her job to focus on competitive exam preparation. She appeared for both UPSC and UPPSC exams. In her second UPSC attempt, she reached the interview rounds, and eventually became an IAS officer in her third attempt in 2023.
UPSC journey
Surabhi Srivastava experienced several setbacks in her UPSC journey. Despite all the challenges, she continued with her preparation. She shares that her parents and teachers provided unwavering support to her during tough times. Surabhi felt disappointed when she failed to clear the interview in her second attempt, but her parents urged her to persevere and try again. Even her teachers played a pivotal role in helping her achieve success.
Dedication
There is no simpler alternative to hard work. UPSC requires immense dedication and focus. Surabhi advises aspirants to create their own study notes and study the previous year question papers. UPSC can be a long and tiring journey and having patience for it, is all it demands. Furthermore, she also suggests that having a Plan B is important as even highly qualified aspirants may not always success in UPSC.
Achieving success
Recognizing one’s strengths and weaknesses is essential for achieving success. She mentions that if you are scoring average marks in prelims then trying mock tests may help you identify areas for improvement. The Mains exam requires more diligent study and focusing on topics you are weak at and working on them can increase your chances of success. Furthermore, aspirants must also work on their personality for the interview stage. Body language, the use of words, and the confident way of answering certain questions even when you don’t know the answer can significantly improve your chances of being selected.
Interview experience
Surabhi scored 160 marks in UPSC 2022 interview and improved to 173 marks this time. She emphasizes the importance of appearing for mock interviews to get better at answering interview questions. It is also important to maintain authenticity and originality in answers. Mock interviews can help build confidence and improve overall personality.
During the interview round, Surabhi was asked plenty of questions on various topics. These included questions about global legislation on Artificial Intelligence, India’s contributions to peacekeeping efforts, her hobbies, and matters related to judiciary.
What are your thoughts on the advancement of AI?
Surabhi answered that AI can be viewed as a beneficial and progressive technology. There are drawbacks but its impact entirely depends on how it is used. For her answer, she mentioned a draft law from the European Union related to AI and emphasized how it can be used for creating effective regulations in this regard.
What role does India play in global peace-making?
Surabhi highlighted the number of forces deployed from India to various countries for peacekeeping missions and also discussed the specifics of India’s involvement in promoting peace in various regions.
Family’s support
Surabhi’s father works as a Block Development Officer, and her mother, Archana Srivastava is a homemaker. During her journey, she received immense support from her parents, sister, and mentor.
Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.