CS Professional Topper Sarika Singh, AIR 4, says, "Positive mindset, discipline, and perseverance- the road to success"

Know all about Sarika Singh, CS Professional exam topper who bagged AIR 4 in June 2022 attempt.

CS Professional Topper Interview

ICSI CS Professional results 2022 were announced on August 25. It was a dream come true for Sarika Singh, a Graduate in Commerce who bagged All India Rank 4 in ICSI CS 2022 Professional examination- June session. Sarika believes that patience and discipline are the only keys to success. In addition to the All India Rank in the Professional examination, Sarika also got AIR 10 in the CS Executive exam in June 2021. Sarika, CS 2022 Professional topper, shares with Shiksha her preparation strategy as well as her experience on her road to success.

Also Read:

• ICSI CS Professional & Executive Examination Toppers List 2022
• ICSI CS Result

Shiksha: Congratulations on scoring AIR 4 in the CS Professional Examination! How are you feeling?

Sarika: It's definitely a great feeling to have achieved something. AIR 4 is for sure something not anticipated. I prayed for a one-go pass, but AIR 4 was like icing on the cake. I feel like all my efforts, hard work, and consistency over the past few months just paid off. This is definitely a proud and joyous moment for everyone at home too.

Shiksha: What is your educational background?

Sarika: I completed my 12^th from the commerce stream and scored 92% and post that went on to pursue a bachelor of commerce and took up the course by the end of the 1^st year

Shiksha: How many attempts you gave for the CS examination? What was your score in CS Professional exam?

Sarika: For the CS exams I passed all levels in one sitting, whether it was the foundational CSEET or the executive or the professional exams. In CS professional my total score is 534/900 whereas my individual score in all three modules is:

Module 1 score: 207/300

Module 2 score: 154/300

Module 3 score: 173/300.

Shiksha: When did you qualify the CS executive and CSEET/Foundation exam? How was your result?

Sarika: In August 2020, I cleared cseet and scored 168/200. Having then pursued executive exams, I appeared for them in August 2021 and by God's grace cleared both modules in my 1st attempt itself with AIR 10.

Shiksha: Which module of CS Professional exam did you find most challenging while preparing?

Sarika: The professional level in CS is sort of different from the other two, and I find it to be easier given one puts in the much-needed effort and consistency. In Professional level all the three modules were interesting but I feel module 2 is which I felt quite challenging.

Shiksha: What was the difficulty level of CS professional exam?

Sarika: CS professional is different from executive because in professional we learn more about due diligence, a company secretary's role, and case studies, whereas executive is all about laws like company law, contract act, and negotiable instrument act. But CS professional is a bit easier than executive.

Shiksha: What was your preparation strategy for CS Professional examination? Please elaborate.

Sarika: Given the syllabus to cover and revise at that point in time, my strategy was pretty simple and remained consistent throughout. The very first thing which I do is to make a long-term plan like an 8-9 month plan, then I break that down into monthly time tables and then plan for each single day. That’s how I break down my time to narrow down on the task to be done each day.  

Once the syllabus has been planned, the next step is to finish it in about 5-6 months and to revise at least twice or three times. I prefer taking three subjects together one subject from each module in case of professional ( In case of executive I prepared by taking 2 subjects from one module and one subject from the other. ) Revision is basically the life savior for me as I revised each chapter for at least 7-8 times. For revisions I prefer self –revision and marathons which are available on Youtube.

After finishing my syllabus and revision, I looked for past year papers, solving which helped in boosting confidence and narrowing down on the areas of weakness.

One more thing to add is the importance of the ICSI module. At least once, every aspirant should go through the module and see if any topics have been uncovered.

Also Read:

• ICSI CS Syllabus
• ICSI CS Important Dates
• ICSI CS Exam Pattern

Shiksha: Share your subject-wise strategy.

Sarika: So the first subject of module I is governance, risk management, compliances and ethics : this subject is basically divided into four parts on the basis of marks distribution so first I prepared the risk management part as it contains only one chapter which carries a weightage of 25 marks and then prepared the other parts according to their weightage. The same strategy I followed for all the subjects in module II. My preference was to cover the entire syllabus and if not, then at least 90-95% of the syllabus.

For the next subject, drafting, pleadings, and appearances, I followed a different strategy, since drafting requires a lot of practice, so I completed all the theory first, then began drafting the deeds, agreements, and notices. I used to practice for half an hour three days a week.

As for the next subject, advance tax, I took a different approach as we got to see the subject in executive, so it was a bit familiar. However, in executive, the tax exam was objective, whereas in professional, it is subjective, so there is a lot to learn about presenting. As I started my preparation with three subjects and tax was one of them, after finishing the classes I had a lot of time for revision and practice. It wasn't just the ICSI module that I practiced from; I also practiced from CA and CMA modules since the subject is common, so I had a lot of questions to practice.

Next subjects are multidisciplinary case studies and insolvency law and practice (my optional subject) as these subjects have an open book exam so in their case first I finished the syllabus and then made my own index which helped me a lot in finding the topic in the examination hall.

Shiksha: Which are the best books for CS Professional exam preparation?

Sarika: The books which I preferred were the ICSI module and the books given by my coaching centre. I didn't pick up any other books.

Shiksha: According to you, what is the importance of CS mock test/sample papers?

Sarika: By taking mock tests/ sample papers, one builds confidence and identifies weak areas. The sample papers provided by the coaching institute helped me improve my writing and presentation skills.

Shiksha: Did the pandemic affect your preparation? If yes, how did you manage stress?

Sarika: Pandemic did affect my preparation but more in a positive way as during the outbreak I was preparing for my executive exams and till May 2021 I was not fully prepared but thankfully the institute announced the postponement of the exam so I got more time to revise but as the dates were being put off again and again and were not fixed everyone was just making wild guesses regarding the exact dates, that sort of added to my stress so in order to release stress I started meditating. Earlier it was just to release stress but now meditation has become a habit. It would be my suggestion to every aspirant to do some sort of exercise or yoga that would definitely help in managing stress build up and anxiety.

Shiksha: What was your exam-taking strategy?

Sarika: My exam-taking strategies was:

• Revise only pertinent topics the day before the exam and get enough sleep
• Arrive early at the exam centre
• Read the question paper very carefully
• Underline the relevant words
• Don’t panic if the paper is difficult it is difficult for everyone else
• Try to attempt 100% paper
• Give each question a fair amount of time.

Shiksha: Would you like to recommend some specific focus areas and important tips for future CS aspirants

Sarika: The key tips would be:

• Do multiple revisions
• Give enough time for self study
• Make your notes very neatly and precisely (if possible make coloured notes)
• During the exam, don't panic if you don't know any questions
• Give preference to ICSI module
• You can retain the material for longer by making charts when revising
• Go through the ICSI guideline answers for getting an idea of how to write the answers

Shiksha: At last, which are the important skills that one must have while pursuing CS course?

Sarika: The very first skill which aspirants must have is patience : as this is a professional course and takes a lot of time and energy , it requires a lot of patience. Many a times we go through changes in emotions while preparing for exams. Sometimes we get frustrated, annoyed and things might become monotonous at times. That's when patience is required.

Positive mindset, discipline, and perseverance should also be included.

Read More:

• CS Professional Topper Interview- Anushree Dhiman, AIR 9
• ICSI CS 2022 Professional exam topper interview- Siddh Jain, AIR 10