Puja Sen, UGC NET 2019 qualified for Assistant Professor shares prep tips for Mass Comm

Go through the interview below to know what prep strategy Puja Sen adopted to crack the UGC NET 2019 exam for Mass Communication & Journalism subject.

Puja Sen cracked the UGC NET 2019 Mass Communication & Journalism paper for Assistant Professor by scoring total 152 out of 300 marks (50.67 percentage and 82.97 percentile). Her paper-wise scores in UGC NET exam are 52/100 in paper-I and 100/200 in paper-II.

A doctoral student in the department of Mass Communication, Assam University, Silchar, Puja has completed her post-graduation in the same subject and from the same university (Assam University, Silchar). Currently, Puja is also working as Assistant Professor, Department of Media and Communications, Royal Global University, Guwahati. 

Belonging to a middle-class family located in Bokakhat, Central Assam, Puja’s father is a government employee and mother is a homemaker. Puja also has a younger brother, Rajat Sen, who has also cleared NTA UGC NET 2019.   

Also Read: Rajat Sen, UGC NET 2019 qualified for Assistant Professor wants to be a researcher

In her free time, Puja loves reading and cooking. She sometimes also tries her hand at photography. In a candid interview with Shiksha, Puja shares her UGC NET preparation strategy, books that she read for the exam, future plans and more. Go through the complete interview below.

I did expect to qualify Assistant Professor once the official UGC NET answer key was out. Prior to that, I had no clear idea what the cutoff would be like.

For me, it was a process that started from the day I took admission in post-graduation. Starting from reading the entire UGC NET syllabus to keeping myself abreast with general awareness and current affairs, I did it all. 

Also Read: UGC NET exam pattern

The study plan should not be something you start three or six months before the examination. As I said earlier, the day you join the post-graduation course is the day your UGC NET preparation starts. Before the exam, it is just the revision of the knowledge you have gathered so far.

I read the following books, to name a few:

• Handbook of Journalism and Mass Communication by Keval J Kumar 
• Handbook of Mass Communication Bir Bala Agarwal
• Research Methodology by Wimmer and Dominick's
• Handbook of Television Production - Vasuki Belavadi
• Arihant and Trueman publication NET preparation copies

I had only one thing in mind while preparing for UGC NET exam, that was, scoring in paper-I is easier than scoring in paper-II. Therefore, I gave more emphasis on preparation for paper-I. My strategy was to score more in paper-I and then in paper-II so the final score is balanced.

One should be very smart while preparing for NTA UGC NET exam as the syllabus is quite vast. Preparing unit wise for the exam is necessary.

I think one should divide the time carefully so that one knows the average time to solve a question in the exam.

Also Read:

• UGC NET question papers
• UGC NET mock test

The most difficult thing, in my opinion is disappointment. If someone does not clear the exam in the first attempt then one should not be disappointed as one can attempt clearing the exam, as many times they want.

My advice to all UGC NET aspirants is to remain calm and confident. As the exam date nears, students tend to be easily excited and tensed at same time, which leads to lots of confusion.

Yes, clearing UGC NET has been my first priority ever since I decided to step in the field of academia.

I would like to tell students that patience is the key to success. Never lose hope because UGC NET is an exam, which you can clear if you keep pushing yourself towards hard work and smart learning without doubting yourself. 

I am at the verge of submitting my PhD thesis, so once I am done with it I plan to start teaching media students.