Service Selection Boards (SSB) are institutions established to carry out the interview process for the selection of Officers in Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. This interview is based upon the principles of Ancient Indian philosophy of
Mansa, Vacha and
Karmana. Mansa means
through the depth heart,
Vacha means
through the depth of voice and
Karmana means
from your Actions, that means you should be intelligent and sharp from heart to voice with appropriate actions at suitable time.
The whole interview process is carried out in two stages across 5 days.
Stage - I
This is a screening test for remaining 4 days of interview process. In this test Officer
Intelligence Rating test with Picture Perception and Description is conducted.
- Officer Intelligence Rating Test (OIR) Test : In this test 50 Questions each from Verbal and Non-verbal reasoning are being asked to test the sharpness of mind.
- Picture Perception and Description Test (PP&DT) : In this test a blurred picture is being shown to you for 5 minutes and then you have to frame an appropriate story behind the picture and write it on a blank paper provided by the board.
Stage - II
- Day - 2 (Psychological Test) : Candidates who have declared qualified on Day 1 undergo this test. This test is based on the philosophy of Mansa. First of all Thematic Apperception Test(TAT) is being taken, in this test candidates have shown with 12 hazy pictures are shown one by one, and you have to frame a story behind that and write it on the sheet of paer provided by the Board. 15 seconds will be given to analyze each picture while 4 minutes will be given to write stories. Out of 12 pictures last of them will be blank, for that slide you have to think your own picture and write a story behind that. After writing 12 stories you will undergo Word Association Test (WAT), in which you have to write appropriate sentences on 60 words, you will be provided one by one shown for 15 seconds After WAT you have to give Situation Reaction Test (SRT) in which you will be provided with a booklet containing 60 complex situations written on it and you have to write your reactions within 30 minutes, when you face those problems in your real life. At last Self Description Test (SDT) is being taken, in which you have to write about yourself in 15 minutes. Self description is being written in 5 paragraphs one by one describing these 5 questions (1) What your parents think about yourself ? (2) What your teachers think about yourself ? (3) What do friends and colleagues think about yourself ? (4) What you think about yourself ? (5) What kind of person you would like to become or what improvements you want to bring in yourself ?.
- Day - 3 [Group Testing Officer (GTO) Test - I] : After psychology tests on Day 3 and Day 4, you have to undergo Group Testings Which includes several in group or or off group tasks. The first task you will be given is Group Discussion (GD) in which your group will be given 4 topics (current), from which your group have to discuss on one topic selected by the whole group. After GD you have to undergo Group Planning Exercise (GPE), in which a story is explained to you with the help of a model and a story card, this story has 2-3 main problems which you are required to solve. After GPE you will undergo Progressive Group Task (PGT), in which you are given a set of 4 obstacles which are progressive in nature. You have to pass all the obstacles one by one following border rules. After PGT you will undergo Group Obstacle Race (Snake Race), in which you are given a rope (looks like a snake) and your group is required to pass all the obstacles divided into 4 channels. Next task under GTO test is Half Group Task (HGT), in which the whole group is divided into two sub groups. This task has only one obstacle and remaining things are same as PGT. After HGT there will be a task called Lecturette in which you have to give a short lecture of about 3 minutes in front of the group on one of the topic out of 4 topics given to you.
- Day - 4 [Group Testing Officer (GTO) Tests - II] : On day 4 the first task that you will face is Individual Obstacle Race (IOR). In this task you are given 10 obstacles, which you have to do in 3 minutes. Next task is Command Task (CT), in which you have to command 2-3 partners selected by yourself. After that you will undergo Final Group Task (FGT), in which you are brought back into original group and you are given only one task which you have to perform in group.
- Personal Interview : Any one day from Day 2 to Day 4 you have to give a personal interview to a interviewing officer of the board. The duration of interview will be around 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Day - 5 (Conference) : After the completion of 4 days on the Day 5 you have to face the whole panel of the board (Psychologist, Group Testing Officer and Interviewing Officer. It will be like an interview. If you are going to be selected than your conference time might be longer than usual.
