Introduction:
The selection process at the
SSB is based on highly scientific and well-evolved techniques, which aims at
assessing the personality traits of an individual in the context of the
requirements of the Defence Forces.
The SSB recommends the candidate as a potential officer material, who after rigorous training in the
stipulated training academy and further chiseling in the unit into which
he/she is commissioned into subsequently, can be suitably groomed into an
officer.The best SSB coaching centre in Lucknow Shield Defence Academy grooms
the aspirant's personality in a well-trained manner.
The experience, maturity and
familiarity with the service conditions, enable him/her to subsequently
discharge the service obligations appropriately.
The SSB’s adopts three
different techniques of testing the candidates, applied by three different
assessors (Interviewing Officer, GTO &Psychologist) to assess the same
personality traits of the candidate at his conscious, sub-conscious &
non-conscious levels. These techniques are as listed below:-
·
Interview Technique
·
Group Testing Technique
·
Psychological Technique
It is interesting to
understand, that though the above three techniques are divergent in their
application and tools of assessment; these converge to quantify the acceptable
shades of the same personality traits desired to be possessed by the candidate.
The requirement of applying
the three techniques to a candidate is to provide a three dimensional view of
his personality. It may be compared to viewing an object from its three
different sides, so that an overall complete picture is available, when
assessment of the three assessors is finally put together.
Further, certain traits and
qualities are more prominently discernable through a particular technique, eg,
physical stamina, through GTO’s technique, as compared to other two techniques.
Hence, the ‘grey areas’ of one technique are confirmed by the inputs received
from the other assessors during the final Board Conference.
Schedule
of Testing at SSB
The selection process entails
a five day testing schedule. The reporting day to the SSB, as given in the Call
up letter, is not included in the said five days and is meant for documentation
/ settling down (except if, the candidates have been called early in the
morning, in which case Screening Test happens on the same day itself).
(a) Day-1 is called the Stage-1 of testing or
‘Screening Test’ and entails the following activities:
Intelligence Test or a test
of reasoning ability, similar to the ones that you find in magazines like
Competition Success, etc comprising of verbal and non-verbal questions. The
test is timed and hence, practice attempting
these tests in your spare time will considerably improve your performance.
Picture Perception and
Description Test, in which a hazy picture is flashed, and the candidates are
expected to write a short story regarding the characters identified by them in
the picture within a restricted time. The requirement in this test is that the
story should present a positive perception and convey a purposeful action by
the main character of the story, which he executes for the larger good of the
society rather than his own individual promotion.
Later, a discussion on the
story perceived by each candidate is conducted in groups of about 15 candidates
each. The aim of the discussion is to broadly identify candidates who have the
potential for being considered for the Stage-II of testing. All candidates who
meaningfully contribute towards the formation of the commonly agreed group
story get recommended. A word of caution here, candidates who do not
participate, even if they have performed well in the other tests listed above,
are unlikely to be recommended.
Result of Stage-1 is
announced and only recommended candidates are retained for Stage-II tests, the
others are dispatched on the first day itself. Generally, about 30-40%
candidates are retained for Stage II.
(b) Day-II is devoted towards the conduct of Psychology tests. These are
conducted indoors and adequate
briefing is given by the Psychologist prior to commencing each test regarding
the requirements and the method of attempting.
The tests are designed to
extract responses from the candidates at their unconscious level and with the
imposition of a time constraint for each test; it is difficult for a candidate
to hide his actual personality traits.
Hence, it is cardinal that
much before you proceed for your SSB, you inculcate positive attitude in your
life, adopt an outlook of abundance and look at the world around you, filled
with opportunities and hope.
It is imperative that you
maintain a positive frame of mind and be realistic in your responses. The art
of positive thinking has to be developed over a sustained period of time and
must become second nature to your behaviour.
Also, an extremely essential
ingredient to do well in the psychological tests is a high order of general
awareness and imagination that will evolve over a period of time through real
life experiences by closely connecting with the environment around you and
through a vigorous reading habit.
The details of the tests
conducted by the Psychologist and the inferences drawn about your personality
attributes will be discussed with you in detail at the best. There are four
major tests conducted, which are:
·
Word Association Test (WAT)
·
Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT)
·
Situation Reaction Test (SRT)
·
Self Description (SD)
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(c) Interview Technique. Personal interview may
be conducted by the Interviewing Officer either after the conduct of Psychology
tests or on subsequent days depending upon the total number of candidates to be
interviewed and the availability of the Interviewing Officer.
The interview is conducted in
a very friendly atmosphere and the candidate is put to complete ease by the
interviewing officer. Once the IO feels that he has established a reasonably comfortable
rapport with you by interacting with you regarding your family background and
interests, he will ask you questions pertaining to general awareness and may
ask you to describe the organization of an event based on the interests and
hobbies mentioned by you in your Personal Information Questionnaire (PIQ) Form.
He is also likely to check
your ability to withstand stress by putting you through stressful and intriguing situations. The best method
of facing the interview is to be completely honest and do not try to bluff the
IO.
Also, be well acquainted with
current affairs and improve your general awareness before proceeding for the
SSB. The interview generally lasts for about 45 minutes
Services Selection BoardInterview (SSB Interviews), also called as "Intelligence and Personality
test" is conducted by SSB Board, Ministry of Defence. Those who clear the
first stage (Either CDS or NDA) have to undergo SSB interviews, spread over a
period of 5 days. The best SSB coaching institute in Lucknow Shield DefenceAcademy provides effective sort of training to crack SSB
This
stage comprises two sub-stages i.e;-
STAGE –
A
Stage one selection system includes the
following:-
· @ Intelligence Test (verbal and non verbal).
Picture Perception and Description Test Picture
is flashed for 30 seconds. The candidates have to broadly note down seven basic
parameters viz number of characters, age, gender, mood, action relating to
past, present and future for each character in one minute. Time for story
writing is four minutes.
· Discussion of the picture – 30 Minutes In this
phase batch is divided into different groups. Strength of group is around 15
candidates. Each candidate narrates his individual written story verbatim.
Subsequently, in Part-II all the candidates have to discuss amongst themselves
and achieve a common consensus about the characters and theme of the story.
After all candidates have undergone stage one.
The results for stage one testing are declared. Recommended candidates are
retained for stage-II testing and those not recommended are dispatched back.
STAGE -
B
It comprises psychological
tests, group tests, and group tasks. These three tests are conducted on three
consecutive days.
a)
Psychological Tests:- Thematic Apperception Test:
12 Pictures including one blank are shown. Candidates are asked to write a
story around what led to the situation? what is going on and what would be the
outcome? Each Picture is shown for 30 seconds and candidates are asked to
write it in 4 minutes. In the blank slide, they have to think a picture of
their own choice and write a story around that.
b) Word
Association Test: - In this test, a series of 60 words are shown
to the candidates one after another for 15 seconds each. The candidate is
required to write down the first thought or idea that comes to his mind.
c)
Situation Reaction Test: -This test consists of 60 routine life
situations regarding day to day activities. The situations are printed in a
booklet and the candidate is asked to write his reactions by completing the
sentences, as to how they would feel, think and act in these situations.
d) Self
Description Test:- Candidate is asked to write five separate
paragraphs on each context about the opinion of his parents/guardian, friends,
teachers/superiors.
Group
Tests
GTO – Day 1 This includes the following:-
Group
Discussion:- Two topics of common interest (social issues
and current events) are discussed. It is an informal discussion and not a
debate. Each topic is allotted 20 minutes each. No definite conclusion is
required to be deduced.
Group
planning exercise: -It comprises of five stages viz., explanation
of the model, reading of the narrative by GTO, five minutes for self reading by
candidates, 10 minutes for individual written solutions and 20 minutes for
group discussion. Narration of the group solution and definite conclusion is
required.
Progressive
group task:- It is the first outdoor task. A set of four
obstacles with progressively increasing level of difficulties are to be
completed in 40 to 50 minutes. Structures, helping material and load are
provided to the group.
Group
obstacle race: -In this task the group is pitched against each
other over a set of six obstacles with a snake like load to carry.
Half
group task: -It has one obstacle similar to progressive
group task with helping material and load to be carried. Group is divided into
two Sub Groups and assigned the same obstacle in turn in such a way that when
one group is working, the other is not allowed to watch it. Time allotted to
each sub group is 15 minutes.
Lecturette:- It is
an individual task and the candidate is required to give a short talk to the
group. Three minutes are allowed to prepare any chosen topic from the four
given in the Lecturette Cards for the talk.
Group
Tasks Individual Obstacles: A set
of 10 obstacles is set to be tackled individually. Obstacles are numbered from
one to ten, denoting the points each one carries. Each individual is given
three minutes.
Command
Task: Each individual is nominated as commander for
one task consisting of one obstacle similar to the Progressive Group Task Time
given is 15 minutes.
Final
Group Task: Task consisting of one obstacle similar to the
Progressive Group Task . Time given to complete this task is 15 - 20 minutes.
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