This time I would share my experiences of my SSB interview for CDSE Entry at Bhopal in August 2010. Those five days were real fun,Believe me!.
I had to report at Bhopal station at 1400 hrs on 18th August 2010, and for that I missed my first cousin’s wedding. Nothing before my dreams.
I had reached Bhopal station at 0800 hrs itself. Stayed at a distant relatives’ house. Very courteous people I must say. Took bath, had a nice Lunch and then left for the station at 1300 hrs. Station was very close to their house. At station there were almost 60-70 gentlemen already waiting for the bus from the SSB board. The bus arrived exactly at 1400 hrs, and we started with loading our luggage first. After almost an hour reached Selection Centre Central, Bhopal where some of us would be staying for the next five days. We were welcomed there with typical military style.First Day Punishment,coz 1 guy from our batch dared to change his sleeveless t-shirt in open, behind the bus near Board President’s office.So the CHM asked all of us to take 4 rounds of the centre.
Huh!!!Then we were given some general instructions, temporary chest numbers and we moved towards our respective rooms.6 of us shared one room.Room mates were good. One was from Allahabad and other from Varanasi.
Then we reported back to the TESTING AREA for document verification. The entire process took almost 3-4 hours. In the evening we had briefing about what will be expected from us in the place and after that we filled PIQ forms, TA forms etc. TIRING DAY and next morning we had our screening test.
Day 1
The screening test comprised of verbal and non verbal aptitude test and also Picture Perception and Discussion Test (PPDT). First we were divided into groups of 10-15 on the basis of our chest numbers.In the picture perception test we were shown a very blurred image and we had to write a story on it and conditions on what led to that situation and what will happen in the future.
Well I could see two girls and a guy seemed to be partying. So I wrote that the boy had gone abroad for higher studies.After completing that,he returned back to his home, and called all his friends at his home for a get together,and they danced ,partied and blah blah.....Then we were supposed to narrate our individual story to the group.Each one of us did that.As soon as the last person would finish with his story,we were instructed to start the discussion immediately, to drive out a consensual story.The scene was looking like a fish market then.Everybody was singing his own tune.I also got chance to put forward my points to the group story. Finally a mixed story was driven out and that was narrated on behalf of the entire group.
The results of the screening test were declared in the evening and thirty of us survived out of a total of 68,and the others were sent home. We were given new chest numbers and my chest number was 11.Then again we had some briefing and fresh PIQ forms were filled.We were given new rooms and new room mates.They were much better this time,infact they were the best.One guy was from delhi(Manish),one from Jammu(Parth) and the other was from Chennai(Abhimanyu).We all bonded very well with each other.
Day 2
Getting up in the morning was like hell. We had to get up at 0430 hrs and report at sharp 0630 hrs after having our breakfast.Seriously telling,I haven’t had my breakfast so early in my life. All dressed up in formals, moved towards Seminar Hall after the morning briefing.This was the day for a series of psychological tests. The first one was Thematic Apperception Test or TAT.In this,we were shown 11 pictures, though this time the pictures were somewhat clear and we had only 3 minutes per picture to write a story. The 12th slide would be a blank picture and we were free to use our imagination to frame the story we desire.Immediately after this test we had WAT or Word Association Test.In this,60 words would be shown on the screen,with each word for only 15 seconds.We were supposed to write the first thought that comes to our mind after looking at the word.After that we were given 10 minutes break.
The next test is called SRT or Situation Reaction Test. A booklet was provided which had 60 situations and we were to write our responses for them.Guys,make sure you don’t miss any situation in between.That will give a wrong impression to the assessors that you are not able to react to a simple situation.We were given 30 minutes for it.I was able to complete around 47 situations. And finally, the last psychological test is called Self Description Test.In this test, we had to write what your parents /Teachers/Friends and we think about us. Also had to mention our weaknesses and strong points. That’s the end of the day.In the Final briefing, interview schedules were announced and mine was on the third day.Some of them were having their interviews on the same day.After that we moved towards our respective rooms and in the evening had dinner in the Candidate’s mess.
Day 3
Next day again early in the morning we had Group Tasks, more of a physical activity. Now we had to go there in nice white shorts and T-shirts. The first test was the military planning test where we were given a situation on a map and had to make strategy to tackle the situation and come out with a plan.
After the Military Planning exercise,we had two GDs. In the First GD,GTO would give two topics and we had to choose one on which the entire group should agree.Of the two topics,we chose “What are the major hindrances before India to dealing strictly with Pakistan?”.The group had a nice discussion on it for 10-15 minutes.No conclusion was required at this time. The topic for the second GD was “What are the major reasons behind increasing number of Divorce cases among the younger generation?”.This was the only available choice.This also passed quiet well.After that 10 minutes break.
Then we had the snake race where we had to run with a big rolled tent, resembling a snake, with atleast 3 people holding the snake at a time and crossing obstacles. Also we had to choose a war cry and we chose ‘Dhaavaa”. I should say I had never shouted louder ever like how I was shouting and cheering my team. The obstacles were not easy and people do get hurt doing this and hence a Medical Personnel was present in the Testing Grounds just in case anything goes wrong.
The first obstacle was a bit simple.We just had to walk up on an inclined log without falling. There were time penalties for it.Then we had to climb a net and crawl down. The other obstacles were like jumping across a 7 Ft. Wall, walking on a beam placed at a height of around 6 Ft or forming the shape of digit 8 by moving across 3 parallel beams lying horizontally one over the other with some gap in between them.Our group was the first one to reach the finish line even after getting so many time penalties.
Next we had the Progressive Group Tasks. Here a maximum of 3-4 continuous tasks are laid out which are to be crossed by the whole group
with the assistance of helping material such as planks, ropes, some bamboos, a load for making the job
tough and to generate the feeling of responsibility amongst the candidates.
Every task has to be completed and the other one to be started only when the whole group along with the helping material have reached the end point of the previous task.Our group was able to complete all four progressive tasks.
Then was the time for Half Group tasks. This is another outdoor task similar to the Progressive Group Task but the group is divided into 2 halves and hence called so.In HGT only 1 or probably 2 obstacles are there to cross. Rules are same as that of PGT.
The day was over now and we were very tired after the hard work that we went for an afternoon rest and then later went to the DP City Mall and Bhopal lake with the entire group. That was quite relaxing. Later in the evening we had a nice chat with every other candidate and cracked jokes on one another.We were awake till late at night although the light-out timings were at 2200 hrs.
Day 4
Today would be individual tasks and Lecturettes and some more obstacle crossing exercises. Again at 6 in the morning ,wearing shorts and T-shirt we were made to sit in the group and each of us were supposed to select a card consisting of four topics and we had to choose one from them to speak on.each candidate was given 3 minutes to prepare and 3 minutes to speak on the topic. Then we had the Individual Obstacles. The individual task consists of 10 obstacles laid in a typical fashion.The 10 obstacles are numbered and the same marks are assigned to the respective task.
A minimum of all tasks should be performed in a span of 3 mins. and if time is left any other task can be done over againThe obstacles were difficult and again not for the poor of hearts. I started from the most difficult one,Tiger Leap.In Tiger Leap,one has to move up on a platform at some height(9-10 Ft.) and then jump forward towards a suspended rope.The distance between the ramp and rope could be anywhere between 3-4 Ft.. I maintained my focus on the rope and jumped forward.Luckily I caught hold of the rope in exactly the same manner as the GTO wanted.Then climbed down from it,instead of skidding.Kudos!!
Next one is the Commando Walk.As in the figure,walk from any side up,and down from the other side.Maintaining balance is must,coz the height is quite good! We were asked to call our chest numbers(rather say “shout”) as soon as we reach the top most step.
The third one I attempted is called Tarzan jump.Walk up to a ramp at height of about 9-10 Ft.The groundsmen will then give a rope,catch the rope and leap forward so as to reach the other end.But will have to jump within a given area only. Otherwise it wouldn’t be counted.
The others were rather simple one.A sort of long jump,sort of high jump,jumping from a height(Monkey Jump)),balancing on logs placed in zig-zag fashion…
This test passed well above my expectations.
The next is called Command Task. The command task is a task where every candidate is assigned a typical task according to his performance
level and the degree of toughness depends on his prior performance and ability to communicate with the
group.Every candidate is called one by one and the GTO has a pep-talk with him about his ongoing current
activities and future plans etc. This task is alike the PGT but only one task is given here and the candidate has
to guide his way out of the task to reach the other end.The candidate is allowed to call 2 of his colleagues as his helpers in the task .
The task is explained by the GTO and asked to proceed.The first thing is to see what all is your helping material and where it can be placed. My Command Task was quite difficult one and hence could complete it partially.
Then came the turn of the Final task of the day, called as Final Group Task or FGT.Here everything is same as PGT,the only difference being that now it would be one single task, and hence the hardest one.
After this we all were too tired.But I had my interviews scheduled in the evening.So couldn’t even sleep.Me and Gurpreet were asked to leave the testing grounds immediately after FGT because of the interviews. So we immediately came back running , took bath and got ready.
Interviews :
Deputy President of the Board was my Interviewing Officer. The interview started with a casual talk about myself. Then he put questions to me in a RapidFire, that means, he would ask 10-15 questions in a go and then I was supposed to answer them. The best practice here is to remember all the questions and answer them in the same order in which they were put up.I couldn’t do that.So I answered all questions which I could remember. When I was answering them he again counter-questioned and that made me forget the sequence of questions.First Rapidfire was about myself, my family, friends etc. Next was completely on my academic career starting from 10th Class till Engineering.Common questions were which subject you like, which you don’t like, which teacher you liked the most and reason for that,which teacher you din’t liked and reason,about the grades I had scored in Boards and Graduation, how many friends did you made, what you like in them,what you don’t like in them etc etc.
Then he will come to hobbies. I was asked some SRTs here also. Then he will come to Current affairs,if he is interested. Thank God I was able to answer these questions correctly.Then some more questions and it concluded. My interview lasted for about 70-75 minutes. According to me,my interview went well except for a few minor mistakes.
After interview I directly went to play Volleyball where my friends were waiting for me, and in this excitement I forgot to inform the next candidate to report to the waiting room for interview.lolz.In the evening,went out with Parth to the local Market.Came back at around 1945 hrs. that too through back gate because closing timings were 1930 hours. Next day was our Conference.
Day 5
We All dressed up in formals and were supposed to attend the conference with all the concerned officers of the board. During the conference, all the Officers will be sitting in a big Conference Room in their Olive Greens(Uniform, for those who don’t know the charm of Olive Green), with the President/Deputy Prez sitting right in front of the chair meant for us.I don’t know it’s a myth or fact that ‘the longer is the time when the previous candidate goes out of the Conference Room and when you are called, the more doubtful is your case; which means that some Board members are keen to take the candidate in but some are not. I waited for around 15-16 minutes, before my chest no. was announced, while for others the waiting time was around 1-2 minutes. In the Conference, some general questions were asked about the stay, about the city or if you want any improvement in the facilities provided by the board etc. Results were announced after 30 minutes of the Conference.4 candidates were selected. Unfortunately, my name was not in the list of successful candidates. So rest of us took our luggage and were escorted to Railway Station by the Army Bus,in the minimum possible time.
That was the entire journey of my first SSB experience. One thing is for sure, you are definitely gonna miss these days, even more than your school days.These five days you will not feel like a civilian but like an Officer of the Indian Armed Forces.
May be this time I was not able to crack SSB, but will definitely one day; because “Who dares-WINS!”
I Any of you are really interested a career in the Defence, and want any material for SSB preparation,then just mail me.I have the following documents/material available :
1.SRTs
2.WAT Software, which I have developed
3.Pictures for Thematic Apperception Test
4.General Articles about Interviews
5.WAT words list
6.PDF about Individual Obstacles Task
