How General Knowledge can elevate your chances of selection

General knowledge is one of the most crucial segments of most competitive exams in the present times. You will often observe that the toppers of major competitive exams for government jobs are eager to know about the happenings around them.

This indicates the significance of General Knowledge topics in different exams conducted in the country. Students and professionals often neglect general knowledge and general awareness subjects to score higher in the technical subjects and other interesting subjects such as the English language, Quantitative Aptitude, and Reasoning Ability, to name a few.

You must be wondering how general knowledge can help you increase your chances of selection for competitive exams such as Engineering Services Examination (ESE).

Let us find out more about how it connects with this competitive exam.

General Studies and Engineering Aptitude is one of the crucial subjects associated with the Engineering Services Examination (ESE). General knowledge forms a vital part of this competitive exam. Therefore, it is important to ensure that you prepare your general knowledge base in the best possible manner. General Studies include a significant portion of the general knowledge. If you build a strong foundation of General knowledge, you will see appreciative improvement in your non-technical exam scores.

Here are the important topics associated with this crucial subject:

• Current issues of national and international importance related to social, economic, and industrial development.
• Engineering Aptitude covering logical reasoning and analytical ability
• Engineering Mathematics and Numerical Analysis
• General Principles of Design, Drawing, and Importance of Safety
• Standards and quality practices in production, construction, maintenance, and services.
• Basics of Energy and Environment: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, climate change, and environmental impact assessment.
• Basics of Project Management.
• Basics of Material Science and Engineering
• Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)-based tools and their applications in Engineering such as networking, e-governance, and technology-based education.
• Ethics and values in the Engineering profession.

If you are preparing for competitive exams, you must update your knowledge regarding a specific list of topics. This includes the following:

• Everyday Science
• Awards and Honours
• International Organizations
• Indian Economy
• Indian Polity
• Constitution
• Indian and World Geography & History
• Current Affairs
• Miscellaneous General Knowledge

Now, let us find out how you can improve your general knowledge base to excel in the competitive exams:

1. Build a reading habit:

In the present times, when we are moving towards consuming information in the form of visual representation, it is important to ensure that the habit of reading remains intact to stay updated with what’s happening around us. You need to have focus like ‘Arjun’ to read like a pro and absorb the information into your memory. Aspirants preparing for the Engineering Services Examination (ESE) must create a timetable that includes dedicated reading sessions. You can pick up 2-3 national newspapers for these sessions to learn and practice the general knowledge questions later. Some of the top newspapers include The Hindu, The Indian Express, Dainik Jagran, and Business Standard.

2. Prepare notes:

If you genuinely want to dedicate yourself to ESE preparation, you must start preparing the notes as you read different topics from the chosen resources. You can create notes from the above-mentioned newspapers and create your general knowledge questions alongside. You can create both short notes and long notes depending on the content you read from the respective sources. Before creating regular notes, check the previous years’ general knowledge questions and answers for the best quality work. You can maintain a journal or diary to record 1-2 liners in it to revise during the final revision phase. Such a self-made resource will help you revise non-technical subjects such as general studies and current affairs.

3. Watch or listen to news channels:

We have entered the era of podcasts. Earlier, we had developed a habit of watching every useful video and listening to it simultaneously, even when we only intended to listen. In recent years, podcasts have made their mark in the world of infotainment. They have helped listeners of different age groups stay updated with the latest happenings around the world. Aspirants preparing for the ESE must utilize these modern resources to continue learning and gaining general knowledge from the latest and most advanced sources of information. You can even listen to these podcasts to improve your knowledge base.

4. Balance with technical subjects:

Often ESE aspirants who are obsessed with scoring a top rank go far ahead with time allotment for the non-technical subjects. In this way, they move far from their goal of securing a decent rank in the Engineering Services Examination. It is one of the biggest mistakes that certain aspirants commit during their exam preparation. Therefore, create a balance in the time allotted for core technical subjects that require consistent practice and non-technical subjects that are highly volatile in nature.

Now, let us dive into some important questions ESE aspirants often face during their ESE preparation journey.

FAQ’s

1. Is there any book to gain general knowledge of the ESE current affairs?

Ans: Yes. You can refer to the MADE EASY’s Current Affairs Quarterly Issue to gain the latest knowledge and revise consistently to perform well in the actual exams. You can even refer to this book for the latest month’s current affairs.

2. What are the two major types of questions asked in the General Studies subject of ESE (related to general knowledge)?

Ans: The general knowledge section in the General Studies subject of the ESE mainly includes two types of questions. This includes questions associated with specific topic knowledge and ones that require the exam aspirant to possess a basic knowledge about the topic.

3. What is the ESE salary?

Ans: The in-hand salary of a selected ESE officer ranges up to ₹55,000 per month. Apart from this, the selected candidates are eligible for the grade pay of ₹5,400.

4. Do we get repeat questions in ESE?

Ans: Yes. ESE takers can find repeated questions in their ESE Prelims and Main exams. Therefore, you must prioritize reading previous years’ general knowledge questions with answers from trusted books and resources.

5. Is there any attempt limit for the ESE ?

Ans: No. As per UPSC ESE 2025 notification, the respective organizing committee has not specified any attempt limit for the ESE. Therefore, you can apply for the Engineering Services Examination until you aim to crack the competitive exam.

Hope you found this blog post useful!

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All the best for ESE!