Keep small targets and complete them with utter discipline, says Jamir Shaikh who secured 18th rank in Indian Forest Service

Jamir Shaikh Munir, 28, secured 18th rank in Indian Forest Service (IFS) 2019 and topped in Maharashtra. Hailing from Shirur in Pune district, Munir did his early studies in Delhi before moving to Bengaluru in 2016. Speaking to Nadeem Inamdar, the civil services exam topper shares his success story

How did you prepare for the exam?

As this was my fifth attempt, my base for exam was clear so I could clear prelim easily. And I had an experience of this exam where I reached the interview stage, so I focussed more on my optional subjects and worked on English like basic grammar rules and formats of essay and letter writing. It is a scoring subject so one must take it seriously which I missed in my first serious attempt of 2016. For the interview, I did mirror practice mostly and gave only one mock interview in Delhi. My senior, Santosh sir, helped me in the optional subject. I kept my focus on IFS exam only. So, I was confident about positive result this year.

What other steps are needed during studying?

Keep yourself happy and energetic. Be optimistic always because the exam is difficult, so patience and positive attitude will help to overcome failures and come out with shining results. Keep targets small and complete them with utter discipline. The exam is simple, but the process is tedious. So, it becomes hard to crack easily, but discipline and hard work can pay you off at the end.

Why this particular exam?

This is the best way to give back to society what I owe as a responsible citizen of India. Also, it has good future prospects at par with IAS. This field has lots of challenges and field work which tempted me to go for it. Considering the major issues like climate change and its impact on every sphere of life, the very existence of forest is immensely important. So my role will be to manage the forest and related subjects in more sustainable manner.