Various tests conducted in SSB stage-1

To become an officer in the Indian Armed Forces, one has to sail through the (SSB) Services Selection Board) Interview. Whatever be the entry and service type, the procedure of SSB is the same. Whether you go for an NDA entry or any other entry like AFCAT, NCC-special entry you have to mandatorily get recommended by the SSB.

This article highlights the various types of tests conducted at the SSB day one or Stage-1 i.e. the screening day.

SSB is a psychological assessment of personality. All they look for is a suitable material that can be trained into an officer through training. There are candidates who get recommended on their very first attempt and also there are candidates who don’t get recommended even after 15+ attempts. The selection ratio of SSB is very very small.

The SSB is divided into two stages viz. Stage-1 and Stage-2. Stage 1 is also known as the screening.

OIR (Officer’s Intelligence Rating)

On the screening day, the tests start with the OIR. It is an aptitude test consisting of two sets. In these sets verbal and non-verbal reasoning type questions are asked. Candidates are provided with confidential DIPR test booklets and an OMR sheet. Candidates have to answer as many as questions they can in a time interval of around 35 mins.

After the evaluation of answer sheets. An OIR rating of range 1-5 is given to each candidate. The better the OIR the more are the chances of getting in.

PP&DT test (Picture perception and description test)

This test is a purely psychological test. What happens here is, Candidates are shown a black and white, hazy slide on a large screen for 30 seconds only. Generally, there are some characters in the slide. Due to the vagueness of the picture, it can’t be said exactly that what’s going on in the picture. Candidates are instructed to write a story based on that picture in the next 4 minutes. What candidates write in their story is a direct reflection of the stimulus created in their brain through that picture. This is how the psychologist judges the suitability of a candidate.

Narration and GD

After the above tests. A group of around 10-15 candidates are made. In each group, the candidates have to narrate their respective stories about the picture. After the narration, there is a group discussion on the slide picture and candidates are instructed to discuss in order to reach a common theme of the various pictures

All these tests last for 6-7 hours. After some time the results for Day 1 are announced and the successful candidates stay at the board for the next 4 days for the stage 2 testing. The rest of the candidates depart from the Selection Centre.

This was all about the Stage 1 testing of the SSB.

Stay tuned for more.

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