Wednesday, March 23, 2011

SSB Interview - a must for all aspiring to be a commissioned officer in Indian Armed Forces

"Whatever be the mode of entry as a commissioned offer in the Indian Armed Forces, whether Army, Navy or Air Force through direct competitive exam or promotion from ranks, Service Selection Boards Interview (SSB Interview) is the step all have to clear, except for the medical corps."

There are different modes to join Indian Armed Forces (Army, Air Force and Navy) as a commissioned officer both for civilians (after 10+2, graduation, post graduation), as well as for serving personnel.These opportunities exist for aspiring candidates, depending upon their academic qualification at 10+2, graduation or post graduation level and same are advertised in all leading news papers including ‘Employment News’ from time to time.

A candidate, after 10+2,  willing to join the Indian Army can opt for selection through NDA written exam or 10+2 Technical Entry Scheme. The UPSC  holds, twice a year, an examination for entry into the National Defence Academy (NDA). Candidates on completion of the 10+2 Examination or while in the 12th standard, are eligible to compete in this examination. Successful candidates there after have to face Service Selection Boards Interview. Only on the recommendation of SSB he  or she can  join the NDA. On completion of the NDA course, they are sent to the respective service academies for their pre-commission training.

Similarly the  UPSC holds an all-India competitive examination, known as the Combined Defence Services Examination (CDSE), twice a year. University graduates are eligible to appear in the examination. Successful candidates join the respective training academies, viz., the Indian Military Academy (IMA) for the Army, the Naval Academy for the Navy and the Air Force Academy for the Air Force. For Technical Branches, women special entry scheme, NCC special entry scheme and service entries is made directly through the respective Recruiting Directorates for the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. 

The candidates who are declared by UPSC as having cleared the written exam, as well as those short listed in Direct Entries are called through Call Letters to appear for SSB (Allahabad/Bangalore/Bhopal/Dehradun/Mysore/Varanasi/) at the Centre allotted to the candidate.  

Whatever be the mode of entry as a commissioned offer in the Indian Armed Forces, whether Army, Navy or Air Force through direct competitive exam or promotion from ranks, Service Selection Boards Interview (SSB Interview) is the step all have to clear, except for the medical corps. 

There is no limit on the number of attempts that can be made and the SSB Assessors encourage candidates to appear again for SSB. The SSB interview spread over a period of 5 days  is mainly a comprehensive  psychological assessment of the personality of the candidate, to gauge his/her potential as a future officer in Indian Military. The tests conducted by the SSB aim at selecting individuals with OLQs (Officer Like Qualities). These qualities include effective intelligence, sense of responsibility, initiative, judgment (under stress), ability to reason and organize, communication skills, determination, courage, self-confidence, speed in decision-making, willingness to set an example, compassion and a feeling of loyalty to the nation.

To face the challenge of   SSB Interview successfully, a candidate has to prepare himself in advance in all aspects of SSB Interview including indoor and outdoor practical tests. It is necessary for a candidate  to hone up OLQs (Officer Like Qualities) under some professional Personality Development programme as offered by the Minerva Academy during 10 days SSB Interview Coaching Programme . This can be done   any time preferably soon after appearing for written exams without waiting for the Call Letter for SSB Interview as most of the time there is simply not enough time for such preparation. How ever many candidates who want to ensure success, join the training course in the Minerva academy, even before clearing for the written exams .


For more details you can visit following websites :
http://indianarmy.nic.in/Index.aspx?flag=LfcULYFlbeQ=
http://joinindianarmy.nic.in/
http://www.upsc.gov.in/exams/exams.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Services_Selection_Board