Meet IPS officer Pooja Yadav, who left her MNC job in Germany and cracked UPSC

Pooja had her share of financial difficulties and from giving tuition to students to occassionally working as a receptionist, she dabbled in several side jobs to meet her expenses. The IPS officer cracked the UPSC exam in her second attempt.

Pic: Instagram/@poojayadav_ips

New Delhi: Here's a tale of success and inspiration. Hailing from Haryana, Pooja Yadav cracked the UPSC exam in 2018 and became an IPS officer. She left her job in Germany to pursue a career in police force. But Pooja had her share of difficulties and from giving tuition to students to occassionally working as a receptionist, she dabbled in several side jobs to meet her expenses.

Jobs abroad after M.Tech
Born on September 20, 1988, Pooja's spent her childhood in Haryana, from where she did her early education as well. After this, she did her M.Tech in Biotechnology and Food Technology and worked in Canada and then Germany for a few years.

Switch to UPSC
According to a report published in DNA quoting UPSC Pathshala, after working in Canada and Germany for a few years, Pooja Yadav realized that instead of contributing to the development of India, she was working for the development of another country. So decided to leave her job and appear for UPSC exam. She followed her dreams and began preparing. But it wasn't immediate success. She cleared the exam on her second attempt was appointed as an IPS officer of 2018 cadre.

Gave tuitions, worked as receptionist to meet expenses
While she always had the support of her family, be it when she pursued MTech or UPSC, her family was not finacially very well off. So Pooja gave tuitions as well as worked as receptiont to meet her expenses while she pursued her education.

Married to IAS officer Vikalp Bharadwaj
According to media reports, Pooja married IAS Vikalp Bhardwaj on February 18 this year. The two had met at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. Vikalp is from 2016 batch. An officer of Kerala cadre, he has requested reprtedly requested for transfer to Gujarat cadre post marriage.

Active on social media
She may hold important designation, but like any other youngster Pooja is very active on social media and has about 2.7 lakh followers on Instagram. She reportedly believes that there is no better platform than social media to interact with the public and exchange views for the betterment of people's lives.