The Services Selection Board (SSB) interview is a decisive stage which a candidate has to undergo to get into the coveted Indian Armed Forces as an officer. My experience of attending the SSB interview way back in 2015, during the early stages of my professional career had taught me some life lessons which I’ve taken along with me all through. SSB is a comprehensive form of an interview which analyses various aspects of your personality in a way that you never know you are actually being tested. The “Officer Like Qualities”, OLQs as they are called, are some of the critical skills that an individual needs to have not only for the sake of clearing the interview but for the holistic development of one’s personality. I have no clue how I managed to clear the stages of my own SSB, to enter the conference round. There I was asked some basic questions about the stay, ambiance and somehow that led to my rejection.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience spending about five days with strangers in a city completely alien to me in a camp-like army environment. I personally enjoyed every stage of it without even knowing on which parameters I was being tested on and what were the consequences. A candidate with basic awareness of the pattern of SSB with a fair amount of prior preparation possessing a set of leadership traits, analytical, communication skills and a strong zeal to join the Armed Forces would have a much better chance of making the cut. I realized this only after I was not recommended by the board for medical tests.
I remembered all these experiences from my SSB interview at Bengaluru while moderating online sessions on clearing SSB by Brig. Sree Ramulu, who had put in an elaborate 37 years of meritorious service in the Indian Army and has a rich body of knowledge. Bhavishyath Counselling, the organization with which I’m associated as a consultant has been proactive in reaching out to the students as part of its webinar series on various career options to students. It all started with an initial orientation session on ‘Career in the Army’, subsequently leading to a full-fledged course which is being carried out bi-weekly. It deals with every aspect of the SSB interview in very great amount of detail. In a way, I feel nostalgic that I’m virtually going through every stage of the SSB, cherishing the moments and I’m also being explained the rationale behind every test, ways to approach them etc. I’m fortunate that I’m moderating these sessions while also delivering certain presentations on general and current affairs topics. It’s a mixed bag of feelings for me as I was not aware of the avenues that guided aspirants for such interviews at that point of time and it was an eye-opener for me to get acquainted with a dire need for career guidance. Given a chance, I would be enthused to retake the SSB with a completely different perspective and with more chances of clearing it.
The Covid 19 pandemic has affected people from every walk of life. It posed a major threat to the public health system, livelihoods, employment, and as a whole impacted the country’s economy. Education is one such critical aspect which had borne the brunt as schools have been shut down and students and teachers are no longer in the classroom. In this crucial phase, students are to be hand-held, guided in a proper way, and motivated in order to ensure continuity in learning. In this context, career guidance plays a vital role in enabling the students to take informed life decisions. I had personally observed how our course on the army took off with candidates exhibiting noticeable incremental knowledge and behaviour outcome as the sessions progressed. By taking stock of the aspirants’ interest, now we are planning for a 3-month intensive course starting this March 2021. I did not cover the actual technicalities and nuances of SSB interview through this piece since it is for a general audience. For those actually interested in joining the Armed Forces, I invite you to join us in one of our pre-course orientation sessions for more detailed information.
Ashish works as Project Officer at Centre for Innovations in Public Systems (CIPS), Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad. He is a Public Policy enthusiast with research interests in the fields of Education, Health, Electronic Governance, Innovations in Public Service Delivery. He has been helping out at Bhavishyath as a freelancer and is a trusted member of the team.
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