My dear Friend, God bless you! 1. The The proce process ss of SSB SSB is mos mostt scie scient ntif ific ic meth method od to find find out out your your true true personality. As their advertisement says: "Do You Have It In You?" If you have it in you, they will find out. Approach the entire process confidently and with open mind. There is nothing stopping you! 2. A gent gentle lema man n with with who whom m I was was trav travel elin ing g in tra train in and and sha shari ring ng ber berth th was was an an SSB Official. Official. He happened to share some information information on SSB Interview. Interview. When I asked him about how the evaluation of candidates is done; he said, all the candidates candidates are categorized categorized in 5 grades A, B, C, D, and and E. The Candidates Candidates in A, B and E grades are rejected. The logic for the same was an eye opener for me. 3. “A” “A” and and “B” “B” are are too too int intelli ellige gent nt and and hence ence cann cannot ot be trai traine ned d effi effici cien enttly to beco become me offi office cers rs.. They They are are the the ones ones who who are are more more like likely ly to be pote potent ntia iall Musharafs! An “E” grade candidate simply doesn’t have the aptitude to become an officer. Thus, after eliminating A B and E; “C” and “D” are the only guys, who have the potential; and they are the ones who can be trained and molded to become officers. 4. First and foremost: foremost: Do not try to pose what you are not. Be honest, honest, natural natural and down to earth. If one is trying to cheat during the process of SSB Interview, it will be easily detected by the Group Testing Officers (or GTOs), the Interviewing Officers and the Psychologist who have been specially trained to conduct this proce process ss of inte interv rvie iew. w. And And mind mind you, you, they they have have vast vast expe experie rienc nce e of judg judging ing hundre hundreds ds (rath (rather er thous thousand ands) s) of potent potential ial offi office cers rs want wanting ing to join join the the Armed Armed Forces (Army, Navy and Air Force), Force), who come for SSB Interview Interview as candidates, from different states and variety of family background. 5. The SSB SSB interv interview iew is is spread spread over over duratio duration n of 4 to 5 days days and it invo involve lves s different types of tests to find out your Personality; your Leadership Qualities; and your Psychologi Psychological cal build up! up! A word of caution caution here, even even if you clear clear the other tests; unless the Psychologist finds you fit to become an OFFICER, you will not be selected by the SSB. 6. If you you have suff suffici icient ent time time at your your dispos disposal, al, you you may join join some some coachi coaching ng class; but it is not a must and it is not going to help much. My son (Lt Shirish Sayanakar, now posted to 2 J&K LI) got precisely 5-6 days to prepare for his SSB Interview. Since he is a good sportsman, he did not have any problem in doing the OBSTACLE COURSE and other PHYSICAL TASKS during his SSB interview. All I showed him was a set of obstacles (fortunately) available in the
close vicinity of my house. Rest was left to him to update himself about General Knowledge, Interview Technique, improve his Physical Fitness and Stamina etc. 7. You can buy or borrow any book about SSB Interview and just go through it once; which will give you sufficient idea about the entire process. Also, if any of your friends has undergone this interview recently, he can give you some practical hints. 8. Like I have already said in the beginning, there is no need of become a "Parrot" and rattle out things during the SSB Interview. It will not do any good. During Group Discussions, do not overstep someone else's time or point. You must speak (in you turn) to the point and add something substantial to the discussion rather than just repeating what others have said. Do not ridicule anyone during the Group Discussion. Remember, you can’t prove a point by raising your voice (or shouting). Also, do not try to sum up the discussion; that is not your job as a candidate. Leave it for the GTO to do it. 9. In the Group Discussion, some Candidates tend to keep on speaking, even when they do not have something substantial to say or add, without giving chance to others. One should know when to speak, when to give chance to others and more important of all : when to keep one’s mouth shut. Also, the more one speaks; the more one tends to exhibit "bond like” traits in his personality. 10. Always be positive and that is MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR which is going to help you during the interview. During Group Tasks, don't be selfish. You have to help the entire group to perform well, to the best of your ability, so that your group does well. The success of your group will be your true reward. 11. Whatever I have written above, will definitely help you to perform well. It is the test of your personality which can not be built overnight. It is the test of the leadership qualities in you which can't be "imported". These are part of your mental set up (nay personality) and would depend as to how you have been brought up and what constructive activities you have been involved in during your student/social life. 12. If there is any Service Officer (Army, Navy or Air Force) near your place, do visit him and ask for some positive inputs about. Mind you, there will be some "Well Wishers" who will tell you only the negative aspects about the Armed Forces. Just avoid them. It is not going to help. Your outlook must be positive! 13. Kindly open the following link on internet: www.indianarmy.nic.in/career.hotmail. It will give you some inputs which will come handy as general information. Also, you can try www.joinindianarmy.nic.in. This is also of some help.
14. In my personal and frank opinion, SSB is a test of your aptitude and nothing else. SSB preparation doesn’t guarantee your selection. It only reduces your nervousness and nothing else. 15. I was once speaking to a GTO who said that, if you have it in you, then you'll get selected without even an ounce of SSB coaching or preparation. And if you don’t have it in you, then even 5 years of SSB Coaching won’t get you through the selection rounds. 16. When I asked a GTO, what is it that he would be looking for in the candidates during the SSB Interview? He replied:(a)
Natural Intelligence,
(b)
Natural Communicative Skills,
(c)
Natural Team Work; and
(d)
15 Officer Like Qualities (OLQs).
17. Be Natural, the GTO was referring to those traits and characteristics that one is born with and also one has developed over the past 19 to 22 years; and NOT in some 30 days stint with SSB Coaching Class. 18. Infact I was also just talking to a GTO recently and he was saying that the biggest problem faced by the Armed Forces is NOT lack of officers; but it is the lack of QUALITY officers. The GTO went on to say, in 60s-70s-80s, there were more recommendations than number of seats available; and now there are so many vacant seats in the academy. This the GTO implied as no fault of the selection methods but fault of the candidature material. 19. Last but not the least: Be confident of your ability and capability. At the same time, be careful not to be overconfident. (Don’t forget, there is a very thin line between being ‘Confident’ and ‘Over Confident’). Be co-operative and helpful to everyone. Though you all will be competing against each other, let it be a healthy rivalry. I will pray to the Almighty for your success in the SSB Interview.
