With the professional world in constant flux, the education and academia sector must align strategies to stay stable. Today, the world has been facing a unique challenge of thriving in the face of uncertainty and volatility, leading to complete havoc in all the aspects of our lives. With regards to recruitment and talent acquisitions, the changes that one has been witnessing are the basis of the newer trends which have been entailed by shifts in routines.

The Indian education system was on the developing spree until the Covid-19 hit the shores, last year. The pandemic has impacted the most awaited competitive exams as well with the announcement of date postponements. Caught in the worsening situation, students who are preparing for their exams have started to become anxious over time. Every time, closer to the date, the aspirants of state and central level civil exams get notified regarding the exam postponement, an instant discouragement starts circulating forcing them for a back foot at times and it further might affect their willingness to compete. These recruitment procedures are already very lengthy as a process and as this time period is getting longer, students are eventually losing their self-confidence. The uncertainties regarding the new schedule, time framework between the announcement of the exam dates and the final conduct of examinations, synergy in the preparations etc. starts erupting with a considerable amount of energy getting drained out. Navigating through these factors might turn out to be an added task and a grave distraction for many aspirants.

The impact of this situation might vary from student to student based on their learning capabilities. Delayed exam date usually leads to securing better results in the competitive exams since there is ample time for revision and re-revision. The students get more time to solve the mock tests of previous competitive exams and thereby strengthening their chances of clearing their examination with flying colours. Especially, students who usually study round the corner of the competitive exams gets more time for self-study and this increases the passing probability for them.

While the date modifications might not impact the scholarly much in terms of the pace as they will continue from where they stopped once the dates get rescheduled, but it takes a lot of effort for the aspirants who aren’t very quick at grasping and even minor changes might slow them down even further due to such added pressure. Adapting to the newer means of studying and replacing a blackboard with a screen full-time is anyways a struggle for few. With their routine completely disturbed and no access to offline libraries, study material, group studies and other in-person interactive mechanisms, the impact can trickle down to the mental well being of some students as well. Also, students tend to get more lethargic at the comfort of their homes which further leads to a detrimental effect on their focus and stress levels. Most of these students come from financially weak families with job security as the most vital parameter for sustenance.

Despite the unfavourable circumstances, it is advised that the students should stay calm, motivated, focused and should not let their studies suffer. However, treat these circumstances with a positive perspective, as a rejuvenation period and utilise this time for striking a balance between your hobby and study hours. Physical activities such as dancing, playing, exercising etc. will help in strengthening your mental health and keeping you stress-free. You can achieve your dreams only if you keep persevering and are able to bring out the best even during these hard times.