Interviewtimes 
Satyasanti Majhi has completed his schooling from B.B. High School, Dhenkanal. He has completed B.sc Botany from Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar and also holds LLB degree from University Law College, Utkal University. He secured 112 rank in the Odisha Civil Service exam 2020 and got Odisha Finance Service (OFS) and is currently posted as Odisha Finance Service probationer. The Interview Times had a great conversation with him, below are the answers he responded to the questions of The Interview Times –
Q1- Do you always intended to go for civil services?
Answer – To be honest I wasn’t aware of civil services from my childhood. With time, I learnt about it from my father. He is very fond of reading newspaper and always used to keep us updated about the government job opportunities published by the central and state government. It was one fine day when he sent me an odia article on “How to prepare for civil services” through post. This incident took place while I was pursuing my graduation studies in Bhubaneswar. It was since then I was inspired and started preparing for civil services. I felt positive for this kind of job and can excel in this field. Therefore I always had a soft corner towards this line from the day I was introduced with civil service platform.
Q2- Tell us about your journey clearing the Odisha Civil Service exam.
Answer – Initially when I started my preparation during graduation time I was not serious at all. But with little effort everyday I used to cover my syllabus and made my own notes. During the covid period, I had completed making my notes which immensely helped me during my preparation. And specifically during that period I got a lot of time to prepare and I utilized it properly to clear this exam.
Q3- Would you like to share any fond memories during your preparation time?
Answer – There are a lot of memories to recall during the preparation stage. But i want to focus on a memory of my interview time which is not exactly a fond memory but there is something to learn from that. I was not properly thorough with my law subjects ( LLB degree is my second graduation) and I went for the first interview of my life. The interview panel was headed by Satyajit mohanty sir, Chairman OPSC. I had decided not to tell about my law graduation during the interview, but eventually I ended up answering to a question ” What did you do after completing graduation? “.And after that I was followed by 1-2 law related questions which I failed to answer. And as to my expectations I ended up scoring poor marks in the interview. So it is necessary to focus on every subjects that is related to you when you are appearing for such exams.
Q4- What was your preparation strategy for clearing the exam?
Answer – Few strategies which helped me during this exam were my self made notes and setting up and completing the milestones everyday. I made realistic targets which I could achieve within the day and revised the important areas properly. With that, reading newspaper and keeping myself updated with the current affairs played a vital role in the preparation. It is not necessary that the same strategies would work for others but when you decide to do something you can find the way automatically. So I recommend to make your strategy wisely which would work for you. And you can experiment with the strategies to understand which works for you and which doesn’t.
Q5- Would you like to share any message for the aspirants who wants to go for civil services?
Answer – The message is simple. This exam is not just a exam but a process through which you have to go. Setting up goal and having motivation is fine but the habit of giving little extra effort everyday is much more essential during the process. For every aspirant the strategy may vary but patience is one thing which is constant. The more you believe in yourself, the higher is the chances of getting success. And last but not the least dont get surrounded by negative thoughts like procrastinate about your failures and hardships that you face. Always take the positive side as we never know how much potential we have until we have try out ourselves. We just have to learn how to take the positive inside and discard the negativity within.
Photo Credits – Mr. Satyasanti Majhi
