The Service Selection Board (SSB) is one of the toughest interviews in India. It is considered the most crucial stage of Indian Armed Forces recruitment. The interview process continues for 5 days which includes a series of tests and evaluations. After clearing the interview the selected candidates are sent for officers training at IMA (Indian Military Academy), INA (Indian Naval Academy), OTA (Officers Training Academy), and Air Force Academy. Let us today look at the procedures that are followed in the five-day SSB interview process:
Day 0- Reporting Day: Candidates who are appearing for the SSB interview are received by an army official at the station. They are then taken to the selection centre where the process will be held. Upon arrival, the official starts with an opening speech in which all the required information regarding the process is mentioned. This is followed by document verification. The reporting day is not considered as the first day by the army. The Air Force Service Selection Board counts the day as the first day and various tests commence immediately after the completion of the verification process.
Day 1- Screening: The first day of the SSB interview starts with three tests:
Officers Intelligence Rating Test (OIR Test – Paper-1 and Paper-2)
Picture Perception and Discussion Test (PPDT).
The OIR tests include both written and verbal tests. The candidates are provided with two booklets each comprising 40 questions. The time allotted to answer is 15-17 minutes for each booklet. Then the PPDT round starts. In the PPDT round, a picture is shown to the candidates for 30 seconds. Then the picture is taken away and the candidates have to write a story based on the picture within a timespan of four minutes. This is followed by a group discussion. Around 10-15 candidates are grouped. Each group is required to narrate the stories after having a team discussion. The results are announced at the end of the PPDT test and the selected candidates move to the next round.
Day 2- Psychological Tests: The Psychological Tests are conducted on the second day in four stages:
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
Word Association Test (WAT)
Situation Reaction Test (SRT)
Self Description Test
In the first stage, the candidates are shown 12 pictures including one black picture. Each picture is shown for 30 seconds and the candidates then get four minutes to write a story based on the picture. This process is repeated until the black slide appears. In the Word Association Test exam candidates are shown 60 words back to back. Each word remains on the screen for 15 seconds and within that timespan, the candidates have to make a sentence out of the word and write it. In the Situation Reaction Test, the candidates are given a booklet which contains 60 situations and candidates have to write their response depending on the situation. A time of 30 minutes is provided for this test. The last stage of the day is the Self Description Test in which the candidates have to write a few paragraphs about themselves. The time allotted for this task is 15 minutes.
Day 3- Group testing 1: On the third day of the SSC interview procedure, several group tasks and events are held. They are:
Group discussion on two topics
Group planning exercise
Progressive group tasks
Individual Obstacles Task
Half group tasks
Day 4- Group testing 2: The fourth day of the selection process consists of lectures, individual obstacles tasks, command tasks, final group tasks and personal interviews. Candidates are given four topics and each candidate has to speak for three minutes on one of the given topics.
In the individual obstacle round a candidate needs to cross 10 obstacles within three minutes. Personal interviews are typically held on the second, third and fourth day of the process after the completion of the daily activities. Questions regarding daily experiences, work, family, education, hobbies, academic achievements, and general awareness are asked. The final selection is done based on the interview of the candidates.
Day 5- The fifth and final day starts with a closing speech by the board members of the Service Selection Board followed by a conference. The members discuss the performance of each candidate and then call each of them individually to announce their overall results. The committee then recommends the candidates for the final selection process.
Stay ahead with all the exam results updates on News18 Website.
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