Quitting Job for GATE preparation?

I am a graduate of 2013 in cse engineering. I wanted to pursue mtech from a nice college but my entrance exam (GATE 2013) rank was poor and i couldnt manage to. I had then joined a company as a trainee software engineer. Its a year now that i have joined but i am feeling now that i have not learnt anything in this tenure. Besides, the work doesnt interest me as its more of a stereotype work and no brainstorming to do. my office hours are 7 30 am to 4 30 pm and i come home by 6 30 pm. I dont have work at office and everyday i have to kill time as am idle.reading newspapers arent allowed in the office. I am planning to take up the preparation for GATE 2015 once again and want to get a v good score as i want to shift to the research sector. Is this what IT sectors are like? No work and just killing time, pretending that u are working a lot? my first job has nipped the blossom in the bud of my interest towork in an IT firm. Now i want to start studying seriously for the exam. I have decent understanding of the basics. I was wondering if i should quit my job around september which would leave me with 6 months to prepare, meanwhile i keep preparing in the time i am back from office. But after office i am too exhausted to study. I tried studying a few days with a lot of determination, but then when i reach office, all my motivation is lost when i return home that day as there is no competitive environment around. Or should i continue my job?and how do i get the determination to study. Posted in: #Career Help

First of all welcome to CE @archne33.
If you have clear mind set to quit the IT sector and want to go in research sector then I would say go with it.
I agree with you that you can not focus to GATE exams when you are doing job as at a time a lot of things running in mind is not good. So better go with your clear mind set.

You need to clear following question:
1. Why you want to go far gate??
2. Knowledge addition or knowledge addition so you can get better job?

Can you get the knowledge while job!!
Yes, you can do tons of certification, distance learning and even your company might have policy to reimburse those expenses. Which will add extra figures in your salary.

But, I always suggest to go for proper study if you can afford (time, money).

PS:
If you are bothering about work, it might have same when you come out from Masters. In software sector, some places you will be sandwiched in work and some places you will not get enough work but it's you who have to manage the balance of learning curve and growth.

Let's just put it this way: If you don't want to work in R&D, the M.Tech is a degree of little value. In fact most M.Tech programs don't really teach you anything really new. Understand that unlike the M.Phil or MSc which is a pre-PhD of sorts, the M.Tech is just an upper level B.Tech course. As a result, any knowledge gained will not have a lot of practical value.

Hi, I am a pass out of 2013 Btech in CSE engineering. Currently I am working in an it company as a software engineer.I always wanted to pursue research as my career option, but during college, i couldn't prepare well for GATE exam and got a poor rank. Since then, i started working in an IT company as i was offered the job on campus and i thought that was the only option for me. Its been a year hat i have been working and i want to now start my preparation for GATE 2015 and score a very good rank. I tried studying for the last 2 weeks, but i am only tired after office(i leave home at 7 and reach home by 6 30) and though i could complete a few topics in two subjects, i did it in a very slow pace as i am tired after whole day's work. Plus the work is not motivating enough, and involves stereotype work. Now only 8 months are left for GATE, and i am in a fix if i should quit my job, and prepare at home full fledged or should i continue my job which doesn't interest me enough. The salary is good, but i can save for the time i am preparing and get going. Please suggest. I want a very good rank. What would be a wise decision?

@archne33 - You already have a discussion ongoing on the topic and fellow CEans have replied to you. Please continue the discussion here itself. 😀

Hey all, thanks for ur replies. But I am very determined to go for GATE, no other exams.I want to pursue research work fulltime. I just want a very good score and study mtech for research in the top colleges in india. So do i quit my job for 8 months home based prep?

Have you made any attempt at GATE earlier? If yes, how did you fare in it? If not; have you taken any mock tests to see where you stand in the competition? I'd recommend checking out how much preparation you need to get your dream score and college.

If you are absolutely sure that you'll get a good college if you dedicate yourself to studies for the next 7-8 months; you may quit your job. But if you are unsure; I'd strongly recommend taking a mock test first.

One advantage of a monotonous job is that you don't have to study at work. Just set your eyes on GATE and work shouldn't interfere. I've known people who've dedicated 8-9 hours to work and prepared for 2-2.5 hours daily; and got great scores.

Sir/Madam,
I am an Electronics and Instrumentation graduate 2014 passed out. I gave my GATE exams in Instrumentation but my rank was insufficient to get into PSUs or for IIT admission(Rank: 452). Now I have a job at Verizon with 4.5lpa salary as a software engineer. But i want to have my career in a PSU. I am planning for an attempt in 2015 GATE Instrumentation.
Now I am really confused as to whether leave this IT job and focus on GATE or to prepare for GATE while working since there a sense of insecurity.
Is it possible to prepare and work at the same time especially with a job in an IT field?
Please express your views on this.

@RAAZIQ It is great to know that you have a clear focus in your mind. The fact that you know you want to work in a PSU more than an IT company, is a good start.
Now about GATE Preparation while doing job - I have seen students prepare for 2 whole years and still not getting a good score and on the other hand, there are people who take tuitions for 3 months, prepare the rest of the time on their own and get a rank < 200 - which is simply great.

Now it is entirely upon you whether you want to quit your job or not. It all comes down to -
1. How many hours can you put in on daily/weekly basis exclusively for studies?
2. Do you think you need coaching to 'understand' certain topics of the syllabus?
3. Are there weekend classes available? Are they convenient and within-budget?
4. Do you do well on mock tests you take at home? If no, have you tried re-solving the paper and could your understand what went wrong and correct on your own?
5. Does your job give you a lot of stress? Do you have the energy and feel fresh for studies?

There are people out there who have done both - working hard at their job and study well simultaneously. Since, you have already taken the GATE exam once, you know what level of studies it needs and what are you are good/bad at.

I recommend this -

1. While on the job, read all the reference books when you're back home. Give it 2 months. Concentrate only on understanding it the concepts.

2. Start solving previous year question papers at home 3 times a week (say Mon, Wed & Fri). On the alternate days check the answers of previous day's paper and check the correct answers from the reference books and read all you can about the topic)

3. About 2 months before the exam, do selective revision of subjects and revision of formulae.

^ The above schedule won't take more than 2 hours of your time on daily basis. GATE would look like an achievable target then. 😀

HI..I AM A SOFTWARE EMPLOYEE..AND IT HAS BEEN 3 MONTHS BEING IN TRAINING.I AM A TECHNICAL PERSON. AND I NEED A ELECTRICAL JOB OR A PSU FOR WHICH I HAVE BEEN DREAMING FOR SINCE I HAD JOINED ENGINEERING. MY PREVIOUS GATE RANKS ARE 9783 IN 2015 & 2453 WITH 49 MARKS IN 2016. I AM BIT DEPRESSED ABOUT MY SCORE THIS TIME CAUSE I LOST 10 MARKS IN APTITUDE AND ENGLISH. AND ABOUT 5 MARKS IN DOING CALUCLATION MISTAKES . I HAD JOINED SOFTWARE JOB ONLY CAUSE MY FAMILY HAD FORCED ME TO DO SO AND I VERY MUCH HATE TO DO WORK IN SOFTWARE COMPANY. I WANT TO LEAVE THIS JOB AND TRY GATE FOR NEXT YEAR.WHAT WILL BE YOUR SUGGESION??

First thing - never use ALL CAPS in writing text. It makes it extremely difficult to read.

If your financial condition is good and you are confident of scoring well in GATE - you might consider quitting your job. I'd however recommend using frustration at the job as a booster for your GATE studies. If you think you can achieve a better score by extra preparation; I'd say keep your job and study in part time. Quitting your job won't be a wiser decision even if it's frustrating you.

Your alternate option is to keep looking for your dream job in core sector and when the right opportunity strikes; say goodbye to software.

hi ,, i m chemical engineer btech , i prepared for gate 18, but messed up, i only aimed for psu ,however i will be getting some iits for mtech. i m confused that should i prepare once again or do it along wid my mtech first year,, would it be possible to carry both things together

vishal singh rajkiran

hi ,, i m chemical engineer btech , i prepared for gate 18, but messed up, i only aimed for psu ,however i will be getting some iits for mtech. i m confused that should i prepare once again or do it along wid my mtech first year,, would it be possible to carry both things together

Is PSU the only option you have ?

Now a days many people left the job for the exam preparations like GATE, CAT, NET IBPS and many more. The Job in the Private Sector is a vey tough and it requires lot of patience and dedication to grow here

People usually look for working in the PSUs and govt. sectors because of the working environment and less work load with nice salary

But quitting the job is a tough work. Make sure you can prepare well after quitting the job for the examinations

@Riddhi Kumar - you are right. Quitting job is difficult - and I know because I've the first hand experience of it. Quitting job only to study GATE isn't advisable because if, for whatever reason, the person fails to crack GATE; they won't be able to get back into the job easily.

It'd be difficult to justify the reason to the new employers. 

@archne33 Hey buddy, I am stuck in the exactly same situation as yours in past. Please help me out from here.

I want to know what happened next? 

Is it worth to you to go for the gate?

What are you doing now?

Please reach me asap

samijain40@gmail.com