10 Tips To Prepare For The SSB Interview Questions

If you are going to prepare for the SSB interview then you would have to understand that the assessors at the SSB never judge you based on a fixed parameter that applies to all of the candidates. They are assessed on the parameters, their reaction and decisions in the past as well as in current life and on their own performance solely. The interview technique as called “VAACHA” is among the core technique to assess a candidate and usually, an interview lasts between 45-60 minutes. Since, the interview technique focuses entirely on your current life, past decisions and achievements, future plans and of course, you are looked for the necessary OLQs. This way it becomes very important that you prepare for the interview in a streamlined way so that you can stick to your original plan. Any deviation in the form of questions, for which you aren’t prepared for, will make you nervous or will ask for unwarranted and divided attention.

Here we will discuss some points that will elaborate you about the appropriate ways in which you can take your SSB interview preparation. These points are the usual points that most of the candidates failed to keep in track and their interview preparation usually go haywire as they prepare in a zigzag manner. Any preparation for an exam requires a detailed strategy and for that, you need to work upon that in a systematic manner. The detailed and elaborated interview technique in the SSB is unlike any other interview where you are tested for your skills but here you are tested for your personality. So without any further delay lets jump to the 10 tips to prepare for the ssb interview question.

1. Make a timeline of your life events:

We all are aware that the interview is all about our events and decisions in our life that has taken place and our future decisions that we will take based on our past experiences. Now, to gather complete information about yourself, you are required to note down all the major events of your life and concerned decisions affecting your future choices in a place. Starting from your class 10th result followed by the stream selection, class 12th result, results in competitive examinations, type of college allotted, branch or stream selection, placement or no placement, job profile, further competitive exams if any etc., should be kept at one place as numerous number of questions will come out of your single decision made by you in the past. Now take a pen & paper and think about these events and write it down so that you can find out that there will be a reason behind each one of them that will answer the questions of the interviewer such as what, why, when, how and where.

2. Make a list of your achievements in concerning fields:

Since you have noted down all of your life decisions and events at one place, this should be followed by assessing all of your achievements in the fields of academics, sports, curriculum activities, positions of responsibilities that you have held in the past. Your current achievements in the recent & past in your job or in competition examination should also be highlighted. The logic behind writing down these achievements is to boost your confidence as well as showcasing your credibility in front of the interviewer. Armed forces hold special thoughts about sports that’s why areas such as academics and sports are held in high regard. Your performance in these areas is evidence that you have been a good and sincere student and you can be trusted upon based on your previous consistent performances. They also need to see that if you can handle multiple things at once and that’s where your CCA activities involvements come into the picture as that ensure that this candidate doesn’t buckle under pressure and can handle many things simultaneously. Similarly, your performance at your workplace and competitive examinations tell about your seriousness regarding your future and current decisions and how well you are aware of the basics of your profile.

3. Raise questions from your decisions and satisfy yourself:

As stated in the earlier point, you should be able to raise questions from every major life event and achievements of yours as it will help you in realizing the true reasons that you can tell the interviewer. What, why, how, when and where are the basic five questions that arise out of everything that you will mention in front of the interviewer. Remember, the interviewer, however friendly he may seem, is there to unveil the mask that you are trying to put on and that’s why it is suggested to not put any. The answers pertaining to every decision of yours must satisfy you in the first place because if you can’t convince yourself about the reasons for your decisions then how can you convince a man whom you have just met.

4. Introspect and improvise:

Now, that you have arranged all the relevant questions in a place, try to seek their answers in a systematic manner. You won’t get right answers in the first time as you know yourself just as the next person knows you because in a daily routine, we don’t emphasize on knowing ourselves in the manner SSB want us to. You will have to put a lot of time and efforts to write down the answers to the questions with the help of your friends, teachers, colleagues and family. The collective responses by these people can help you in determining your qualities that you are unknown about as well as your weaknesses that you don’t want to admit. With the time, you will start getting the answers in the right manner as your mind will adapt to the responses and it will carve out the necessary information suitable for the interviewer to know about you. This sort of improvisation will help you in the long run and it comes based on your previous attempts or with the gradual understanding of your nature and behaviour.

5. Don’t mask the weaknesses rather work on them:

It is evident that we all have weaknesses and strengths while many of us are aware of them, some of us aren’t aware of these. Usually, when we first note down our strengths and weaknesses then they are superficial and sounds hazy but when we explore more, we tend to realize the hidden meanings and patterns behind them. After sorting out these points, you should focus on them in an individual manner. People, often, hide their weaknesses and think that it will leave a negative impact on the interviewer but they don’t realize that every human have weaknesses and the crucial thing is that whether you are trying to turn them into your strengths or not. You don’t have to mask your weaknesses and should rather work upon them as the interviewer wants to know what you are doing to eliminate your weaknesses.

6. Be honest but learn to conceal information:

The interviewer will take some strange tactics to extract the information from you or to unveil the mask that a few of us carry. Remember, the interviewer has been on the other side of the table for quite a time and have interviewed countless candidates like us and that’s why he has the knowledge regarding our nature and behaviour. He has been trained by one of the best institutions in the field of psychological assessment and that’s why you shouldn’t lie in front of him. Being honest will show him your true qualities and he will be able to assess on that basis. But, many a time we get involved in some circumstances and situations that we repent later and they can have a terrible impact on the interviewer’s mind regarding our personality. Such things should be kept away in the interview as you don’t want the interviewer to dwell on that grey area.

7. Know about the people around you:

It happens often that candidates stop at just knowing themselves and they make no efforts to know about their friends, family and people around them. An officer in command of his men is expected to know each and every one of them as its necessary that he should have knowledge about their potential, strengths, weakness, character, reliability etc. How would you know who can stand by you in your difficult time or who will cast you away during hard times? You will have to observe them and draw your conclusion based on your concrete observations and evidence. Also, if you don’t have knowledge about the behaviour and nature of your immediate family members then you aren’t a good observer or you are simply not interested in them as a person. The army is the extension of the traditional family and it acts as one with Commanding Officer being called as the “Old man of the family”.

8. You don’t beg for the recommendation, you deserve it:

Many of us prepare with the aptitude that this job is really very necessary for us and if we don’t get recommended that it’s the end for our future dreams. Due to such thinking, nervousness develops in our minds which hinder our positive thinking. You don’t beg for the job as it will lower your confidence and you will prepare with a cautious and doubtful mind which can hamper your chances. If you will think that you have all the necessary aptitude and skills to get recommended that it will develop the deserving attitude in your mind. Such an attitude boosts your confidence and makes you believe that you are here to get this job since you are passionate about this and not because you need it badly. Remember, you never beg for a job. You deserve the job and that’s why you came all the way down there to give a test of your skills.

9. Find out about your hobbies and interests:

Most of us take some things which provide relief from our usual routine and gives us happiness. Such things when pursued in rather a serious manner are called as hobbies and when they are in the normal routine and we are slightly inclined towards them then they can be termed as interests. Hobbies are more productive in the sense of pursuing and personality development. I also like to watch movies and read articles about various topics from time to time and it isn’t regular. It is my interest and I am fine without doing it for quite a time and pursue it when I have an ample amount of time. It can be termed as my interest. It’s totally fine if you don’t have any of the above as it’s not mandatory but if you such a passion for anything then it is expected that you must have a good amount of knowledge for the same.

10. Common sense should prevail and taken care of at times:

Being an SSB aspirant, it is expected out of us that we all possess necessary common sense and general knowledge about our surroundings. It is a must that you should have knowledge regarding the history, geography and polity of your city and state. You must possess the knowledge regarding the MPs, MLAs, Counsellor of your city, Legislative area and ward respectively. You should have the ground and practical knowledge regarding the above areas and have a strong opinion about the same. In my first interview, the interviewer grilled me for 15 minutes regarding the MP’s performance in my city and told me to tell the pros and cons of his term. He may not ask exactly the same question but it is expected that you have a complete understanding of the place you are living in as simple logic of knowing the place that you are operating applies here.

These are some topics that you must be aware of during the preparation of your SSB interview technique. Proper questions in a systematic manner will help you forming and improvising the answers in a time frame and you should know how to answer these questions based on your understanding. It is fine to consult the internet to answer these questions but they shouldn’t be copied and written by your common sense and rational mind. This is the last part of this two-part series about the way you should prepare for the interview technique.