Inspiring Story Of Zainab Sayeed - UPSC Interviews Topper(Category: Inspiring Stories)

When you think of who may have been the most successful interviewee in the last decade of UPSC Civil Services Examinations, names like Tina Dabi, Kanishk Kataria or Shubham Kumar may come to mind. Reality however, is that Zainab Sayeed has obtained the highest marks in the interview in the last 8 years of the UPSC Civil Services Examination. Zainab, an alumnus of Jamia Millia Islamia and a resident of Kolkata, ranked 107th overall in the 2014 edition of the exam. She achieved 731 points in the written component and 220 out of 275 in the interview.

Since 2014, no person has achieved the same mark in the interview as Zainab did. In the UPSC Civil Services Exam 2021, Ashutosh Kumar and Kiran PB were both awarded 206 marks in the interview, the highest score. Apala Mishra, who obtained the 9th rank in the UPSC Civil Services Exam 2020, achieved the highest mark of 215 in the interview round. Shilpi, who was ranked 256th in the year 2019, had the highest mark of 212 in the interview.

Zainab Syed, who is from Chitpur in Kolkata, did amazingly in the UPSC exam, which she had taken for the third time. Interestingly, she had failed to pass the prelims in her previous two attempts. She mentioned that during her interview round, she was asked to choose between Delhi and Kolkata and she chose Kolkata, citing the fact that it is where her family and home are. Questions on current affairs, international relations, FDI in retail and European Union were put forward to her. The duration of the interview was around 25 minutes. Furthermore, she was asked to name the author of a poem, which she unfortunately could not answer, but the board members had made her feel comfortable during the whole process.

Coming from a family with a business background, Zainab completed her English Honors at St. Xavier's College. Following this, she earned her Master's in Mass Communications from Jamia University in Delhi, in 2011. Subsequently, she began to study for the UPSC exams. She took her first and second attempts in 2012 and 2013, respectively.