Gaurav Agrawal : UPSC TOPPER

Hard work is the only way, the

results will come automatically

HYDERABAD: Gaurav Agrawal initially reacted with disbelief when he was informed Thursday that he has topped the prestigious civil services examination this year.

"Initially I could not believe. Then I started receiving calls from my friends, father, mother and wife congratulating me," the 29-year-old from Jaipur said.

Gaurav, who passed the Civil Services exam in the second attempt for Indian Administrative Service (IAS), is currently undergoing training at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy here.

"IAS is my first choice. It is a field job. You can meet people, understand their problems and then try to solve them," said Gaurav, whose father Suresh Chandra Gupta is a manager in Jaipur Dairy and mother Suman Gupta is a housewife.

His father and wife Preeti, a physician, are reaching Hyderabad Friday to join him in the celebrations. He is the only son of his parents while his elder sister lives in the United States.

Coming from an upper middle class family, Gaurav always excelled in studies. Last year he got 244th rank and chose Indian Police Service (IPS).

He holds a Bachelor of Technology (Computer Science) degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Kanpur and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management from Indian Institute of Management (IIM) - Lucknow. He was a gold medallist in IIM.

Gaurav worked as an investment banker in Citi Group in Hong Kong for four years but returned to India to prepare for the IAS.

A strong believer in hard work, he chose history and economics as optional subjects last year though he had no background of history. This year his optional was economics.

"I had interest in studies from the beginning. I always loved reading and writing," Gaurav said. He, however, admitted that he had slipped after making it to IIT. "I had failed and my degree had to be extended. This was a lesson for me. I then started focusing on studies," he said.

Gaurav has a message for youngsters: "One should identify one's weaknesses and overcome them because there is a general tendency to negate the shortcomings. We should continuously think of improving."

He also wants students not to become arrogant on small achievements. "We should strive for our ultimate goal. Hard work is the only way. The results will come automatically," he said.

The resume is not dead

—here’s three ways to make yours better than any social media profile

Just a few short years ago, the focus of job search advice was creating a tip-top resume that would open the door to opportunity.

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In today’s job market, people are getting hired in unconventional ways, such as showcasing work through social media (like this barber who got a job through Instagram) or networking a direct path to decision makers on LinkedIn. 

Even with many new ways of searching for a job, a well-crafted resume can still be effective for getting over the first hurdle of the hiring process.

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There are three things to keep in mind when crafting a resume in today’s job market:

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1. Results, not objectives

The average reader spends 5-9 seconds skimming a resume.

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In these fleeting seconds, they want to see that you have the exact experience to solve the kinds of business problems they are hiring for.

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For this reason, you need to update the format of your resume.

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Old advice: Write your employment objective at the top of your resume

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Example:

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“Objective: Obtain a position that would allow me to demonstrate my excellent project management, team and technology skills.”

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New advice: Write a hard-hitting skill summary at the top of your resume

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Example:

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Summary: Experienced project and team leader with demonstrated results such as:

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• Installed a new labor scheduling system, yielding $5 million of annual benefit
• Coordinated a global team across 15 countries, reduced attrition rate from 20% to 5% over 12 months

When you begin your resume with results, you answer the main question in the hiring manager’s head: Can this person solve my problems on day one?

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2. Find the threads in your work story

Our career paths are no longer linear. Due to increased layoffs, market shifts and new opportunities created by technology, more and more people experience a number of different work modes in the course of their career.

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You can’t expect the hiring manager to understand how ten years as a marketing manager at IBM, followed by a two years as a stay-at-home dad, followed by three years as a coffee entrepreneur make you the perfect person to head up their business development team.

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You need to narrate your own story, and show the threads that weave through your different work activities. Then tie these threads to the critical skills and experience required for the job.

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To find these threads, look at all the work you have done over the course of your life and see if you notice overarching themes. You might find themes like “pursuit of excellence,” “revenue generation” or “customer service.”

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Use these themes when you summarize your experience in your cover letter, as well as the description of each job on your resume.

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3. Internal referrals, not resume factories

You are much more likely to get noticed if your resume comes through an internal referral, instead of submitting it through a large, anonymous job site.

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Using your own network combined with research on LinkedIn, see if you have a contact inside the company who would be willing to put in a good word for you, and forward your resume to the hiring manager.

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Many companies have learned that the best job candidates come from valued employees.

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Resumes are not dead, but they are now one small part of a networked, social environment where information is readily available about you on Google.

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Shape your own story, and you are much more likely to get hired.