It might be third time or forth time you are appearing for a competitive exam. There can be several reasons- you cleared the cut offs but failed in interview, or despite scoring good marks in both; you just didn’t get the desired job because there were some other candidates who scored better than you. Personal obligations, Sickness, Anxiety, Pressure to perform, Parental and societal pressure- somehow, you had to accept the failure and move on.
You might be continuously searching and applying for jobs on various job portals and because of no success, your parents might be nagging about your uselessness. Or you are already toiling in a private sector job. Meagre pay, huge work hours, feeling of uselessness, boredom and complete lack of security- some of the features of entry level jobs in private sector. Public sector surely seems to be attractive-good salary, other allowances, comparatively less work hours and work load and most importantly, holidays. Yes, this factor cannot be ignored. It will not be a wonder if you want a complete change in your life when suffering from such conditions.
Have Suicidal thoughts for not being passed in any of these government exams despite working hard become part of your life? Are you blaming your destiny for these failures? Surely, we cannot ignore the role played by destiny in determining the course of life. But somehow we can control it. What we can do is to maximize our efforts, work hard.
Think about what you can do and not about what will happen as the outcome of this hard work. If you are appearing for a competitive exam for third and fourth time, keep in mind that destiny has already offered you many chances and it is offering you one more opportunity. If you are a fresher and it’s your first exposure to these kinds of competitive exams, it will help you determine whether to stick with these efforts or look for alternatives. Do the SWOT analysis and focus more on your weaknesses. Analyze the section in which you fail to clear the cut off or simply uncomfortable with.
Now I would like to suggest you some strategies to deal with the failure problem. First of all, think of what you will like to become in life. If you are unable to do so, consult the help of professional, take aptitude tests. Now you are say 20, B. Sc. and not cannot spend 3 years in doing B. Com which your aptitude test suggests what you should do. In that case, you decide some time span to settle in life. Suppose you decide to try your luck with competitive exams till you become 22, then focus all of your attention on these exams, learn time management, reduce time spent on TV, Facebook. Make the best use of technology to achieve your objective. For e.g. even the simplest mobile phones now have dictionary and access to internet at cheap rates. You can always use these features to enhance your vocabulary and knowledge of current affairs. No matter if you are a student, working professional or housewife, time management is the key. If you can manage to spend it on productive purposes, it is going to give you good returns.
Now suppose you are 22, had not cleared any competitive exam yet, but need a job desperately. Then you can search jobs and continue preparing for/appearing for competitive exams. In the above case, it is assumed that your natural aptitude is towards commerce and have done B.Sc.. In that case, you can appear for some financial course from a good business school. Many B-schools offer these courses with only graduation as prerequisite and also give employment assistance. These courses will surely help you to enhance your qualification in job market and help to get reasonable better job.
To sum up, determine your objective, allocate some time to it and meanwhile keep learning something new. Life is ever-flowing and we should always learn to adjust with its turns and loops. Seek the every possible support you can have- let it be friends, family or professional counsellor. Don’t underestimate your abilities, have patience, hope and keep striving hard.
You remember one f the Akbar-Birbal stories? Akbar asked Birbal “Tell me something which will make a happy person sad and sad person happy?”. Birbal replied “It will also pass.”
Note
This article is written by Amruta R. Bhuskute and it is a part of Article Writing contest (March). Check scores here
