Leaving High-Paying Job To AIR 50 In UPSC, A Look At IAS Shishir Gupta’s Inspiring Journey – News18

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Service Examination (CSE) is one of the most difficult competitive examinations in India. Every year, thousands of aspirants prepare for it and then appear for the exam. But among them, only a few are able to clear it and reach an administrative position. As the civil service examination is quite competitive, aspirants spend a lot of years in preparation. Many of them are not able to clear it in one go and take multiple attempts. Today, we will learn about the success story of an IIT alumnus who left his high-paying job to fulfil his childhood dream of becoming an IAS officer.

Shishir Gupta was born in Jaipur, Rajasthan. He did his high schooling from there. During his childhood, he always dreamed of becoming an IAS officer. However, after completing his school education, he cleared the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and went to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay where he studied chemical engineering.

After he completed his graduation, he got a high-paying job in Abu Dhabi. He worked for nearly two years at Bilfinger Tebodin as a process engineer from 2013 to 2015. He then decided to quit it as he wanted to fulfil his childhood dream of becoming an IAS officer.

He left his job and started preparing for the UPSC Civil Service Examination. In 2016, he appeared for his first attempt but could not clear it. He reached the interview stage but could not go further. After that, he made his second attempt in 2017 but once again failed to clear it. After failing in two consecutive attempts, he started getting depressed. He felt that his preparation was not enough to help him clear the exam. According to reports, it was found that he even planned on committing suicide.

Finally, after preparing for two more years, he gave his third attempt in 2019 and went on to clear the UPSC CSE with an All India Rank of 50. Shishir revealed that he focused on self-study and revised his UPSC syllabus, books and notes. IAS Shishir Gupta is a 2020 batch officer of the AGMUT cadre. Currently, he is posted as SDM Ramnagar, Udhampur, in Jammu and Kashmir.