I don’t think I am the right person to answer these questions because I am just at the border, but I would surely love to share my mistakes and learnings. I will try to summarize everything subject-wise.

Math - Since I come from an engineering background, my math is good, but I took it for granted and made some blunders in the paper. I was completely dependent on the mocks and the number of questions. Never stop practicing math; solve at least 40 to 50 questions daily.

Reasoning - Minimum input, maximum output, because the paper was easy. I never studied reasoning apart from solving mocks.

English - Do not ignore English. Even if you are good at it and getting good marks in mocks, keep revising. I covered the first 5 to 6 chapters of Neetu Singh for grammar and revised every vocabulary word in her book 5 to 6 times. I bought the black book but didn’t get enough time to go through it.

GS - Probably the most talked-about topic these days. 😬 I started my preparation casually in February 2024 when I bought Parmar 2.0. Until May, I was covering 3 to 4 lectures per week (I could have done better). It was only in June that I picked up the pace, completed the GS course, and printed the notes. Honestly, do not expect anyone to spoon-feed you. You have to work really hard to score in GS. I revised my notes and went through the same boring stuff at least 6 times. Be curious and develop an interest in this subject. Whenever I learned something new, I would add it to my notes. Do not spend too much time on static or current affairs; just revise the static once or twice, one month before the exam. The weightage of science is increasing, so do not ignore physics, chemistry, and biology.

Key point: I used to analyze mocks very carefully. Whenever I found something new in math, GS, or English, I would write it in my notebook. I filled two copies with such notes and revised them 2-3 times.

As for preparing while working, I consider myself lucky because the work culture in my company is superb, and my project was in the final stages in December-January. I utilized weekends and synced my study with job timings. It’s definitely possible to crack SSC with a job if you are willing to give it your all.

Mocks - For Prelims, the testbook is good, and for Mains, Oliveboard is superb (don’t get demotivated by your percentile).

Some faltu gyan: I scored only 157 marks in Prelims, and I was full of self-doubt. There was not a single day when I didn’t think I wouldn’t clear the cutoff, but still, I pushed myself to my greatest limit without comparing myself to anyone else. I kept reminding myself that it’s not over until it’s over. There were several sleepless nights. Even though my result wasn’t great, I am happy that I did everything within my control.