Junaid Ahmed was able to secure AIR 3 in UPSC 2018. He showed that if you are persistent then there is no limit to what you can achieve. Read this article till the end to know all about his life and what was his strategy for IAS preparations.
Junaid Ahmed Biography
Junaid Ahmed was raised in Nagina, Bhijnor by his mother and father. His father is a lawyer and his mother is a housewife. Junaid Ahmed did his undergraduate in Electronic Engineering at Aligarh Muslim University. UPSC 2018 was his fifth attempt where he was able to secure AIR 3. Junaid Ahmed optional subject was Geography. Before this, in 2017 he was appointed to Indian Revenue Services. Junaid has always been an average student in studies since school till his engineering days. He proved that hard work will always win over talent, Period.
In 2018 his posing was done UP. His current age is 28.
Junaid Ahmed Strategy
Junaid Ahmed gave his 1st attempt in UPSC 2014. He advises everybody to read NCERT very carefully as according to Junaid these NCERT will build your foundations for IAS preparation.
Junaid states that a candidate will require a minimum of two years of preparation to crack this exam even if he or she is passing the Prelims in the first attempt.
He has laid down his timeline for UPSC preparation
June to October: Reading NCERT and reference books in this period for clearing the basis. During this time a candidate should newspaper for just a half an hour so that more focus would be covering the syllabus of General Studies and the options.
October to December: Newspaper reading time should be increased and the revision of NCERT should be done consistently.
December to April: After the candidate is done with the second revision of NCERT and reference books, he or she should start practicing answer writing for IAS Mains. By this time preparation ethics should also start.
Junaid Ahmed Strategy for UPSC Prelims
Junaid suggests candidates start their Prelims preparations from March till June. He says your consistent revision will play a huge role. Also one should focus on factual information on topics.
The aspirants should prepare for prelims by giving mock tests. According to Junaid 40-45% can be done without any confusion. But for answering the rest of the questions he used the elimination technique. In this technique, you first discard the options which are wrong answers are eliminated.
Also Read: Inspiring Journey of UPSC Topper Saumya Pandey Biography
Junaid Ahmed Strategy for UPSC Mains
Junaid insists candidates to not be stressed out after prelims and wait to prepare for Mains till the result shows up. Start practicing writing answers. IAS Mains focus more on current affairs.
Junaid attached that he failed in his previous attempt due to not making proper notes for the exam.
While making notes only keywords and bullet points should be written. Notes should be updated with the latest current affairs.
UPSC exam is more based on issues going. Therefore a proper knowledge of current affairs can help writing a good answer.
Junaid Practiced giving mock tests regularly. The more you practice the more you get better at writing answers.
Every candidate is expected to write an answer of at least 100 to 200 words.
Also Read: A Guide to the Best Resources Available for UPSC Preparation
Junaid Ahmed Strategy for Essay Questions
Junaid advises candidates that essay writing is not to be taken lightly as it can improve the scores drastically. Proper time management is the key to essay writing. Take 1st twenty minutes of collecting ideas and then start writing.
Prioritization of ideas during the exam is also very important.
His essay structure consisted of an introduction at the begging and a conclusion at the end. The essay didn’t have any grammatical errors.
He says that the essay should cover the political, economical, ethical, environmental, etc. aspects of the given topic.
Junaid Ahmed Marksheet
Here is the UPSC Mains mark sheet of Junaid Ahmed:
| Subjects | Marks |
| Essay(Paper-1) | 132 |
| General Studies-I | 108 |
| General Studies-II | 110 |
| General Studies-III | 111 |
| General Studies-IV | 111 |
| Optional-I (Geography) | 148 |
| Optional-II (Geography) | 173 |
Junaid Ahmed Interview marks were 184. He was able to secure a total score of 1077.
Conclusion
Junaid Ahmed was not always good at studies. It took him five attempts to reach where he is today. You will have to overcome the failure and learn from it.
Don’t copy every part of his strategy. Because what worked for him might not work for you. Instead, try understanding the thought process behind and use it to build your own strategy.
You completed a number of fine points there. I did a search on the subject matter and found mainly people will agree with your blog.