Meet Abhimanyu Gahlaut: The Working Professional who cracked UPSC Civil Services Exam in 6 Months

The Journey of UPSC Topper – Abhimanyu Gahlaut

• Born and raised in the small town of Bahadurgarh, Haryana, Gahlaut always harbored the dream of working on an international platform, which made him gravitate towards the IFS. However, he spent a significant amount of time contemplating this career path.
• His father, a retired Sub-divisional engineer with the Haryana government, and his mother, a headmistress at a local elementary school, supported his dreams.
• Gahlaut pursued his BA (H) in Economics from the renowned Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), Delhi University. He then completed his M.Phil. in Economics from the University of Cambridge.
• Post his education, he served as an Economist for the Rwanda government’s Ministry of Finance for 1.5 years under a fellowship scheme.
• He also gained international work experience by working for three years as a Country Economist for the International Growth Centre, a research centre based at the London School of Economics.
• It was at the age of 25 when Gahlaut began to consider his long-term career options. Despite his fulfilling job as an economist, he yearned for a career directly linked to India.
• Upon deciding on the IFS, he started gathering comprehensive information about the UPSC CSE in December 2014. You can check out the UPSC exam pattern at the linked article.
• He embarked on his preparation journey in January 2015 and appeared for the UPSC prelims exam in August of the same year.

UPSC Topper Strategy – Abhimanyu's Study Approach

• Being a working professional, Gahlaut was aware that he didn't have the privilege of covering the entire UPSC syllabus. Hence, he strategically selected topics for study and dedicated 6 - 8 hours each day for preparation.
• He relied on online resources for most subjects, excluding history and polity, for which he believes UPSC books are crucial.
• Given his academic background, he chose Economics optional as his subject.
• Gahlaut made electronic notes for both daily current affairs and static material. He used these notes primarily for revision and was selective about the content included in his notes.
• He didn't require separate preparation for the CSAT and the compulsory papers of English and Indian language as he was already proficient in them.
• However, he didn't overlook the essay paper of the UPSC Mains and practiced 10 essays under timed conditions before the exam.
• For the ethics paper, he suggests writing simple, jargon-free answers.

Advice for UPSC Mains Answer Writing

• Gahlaut monitored his time strictly during the exam. He made sure not to spend more than 8.5 minutes per question in the GS papers and not more than 7 minutes per ten marks question in the optional papers.
• He structured his answers with short introductions and conclusions and used bullet points for clarity.

Abhimanyu's Message for UPSC Aspirants

Don't let failure deter you. While there are no guarantees in the civil services examination, not clearing this exam does not reflect your capabilities. It's possible for working professionals to clear the IAS exam with stellar ranks, as demonstrated by Abhimanyu and many others. You can find more such inspiring UPSC success stories in the table below.

Aspiring IAS candidates can draw inspiration from the stories of UPSC toppers and gain insights into their strategies for cracking the civil services exam. For more such civil services success stories, check our Get Inspired section.

Visit the linked article for more UPSC-related preparation materials.

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