It is every defence aspirant’s aim in life to appear for the Service Selection Board (SSB) and to get recommended. The SSB is a process and place that gives the platform to numerous defence aspirants to make their dreams come true. The 5 day long interview process at the SSB is one of the fondest memories of every officer/ defence aspirant who have been trying to clear the tough interview procedures. The SSB plays an important part in a defence aspirant’s life, since it is a big milestone and people are one step closer to realising their dream to see themselves in the Olive Greens. It is (as people have told me) a life changing experience. You enter a different person and after 5 days, you leave a different person. Even those candidates who get screened out and can’t make it to the next stage of the testing process describe whatever experience they had as even more motivating and inspiring that they don’t give up on their dreams and keep coming back to make their dreams come true.
SSB Interview Preparation Material [ 100% Recommended]
- Let’s Crack SSB Interview [Book]
- SSB Psychological Tests – Deep Dive [Book]
- OIR Test and PPDT [Book]
- Current Affairs [eBook]
- Defence GK [eBook]
You enter a different person and after 5 days, you leave a different person. Even those candidates who get screened out and can’t make it to the next stage of the testing process describe whatever experience they had as even more motivating and inspiring that they don’t give up on their dreams and keep coming back to make their dreams come true.
Having said this, let’s see what the various life lessons are that SSB teaches us are:
- Organization and discipline.
With each day being dedicated to a certain test which is highly time bound and with every assessor and other members of the SSB board being highly detail oriented while briefing the candidates and assessing their performance, it’s safe to say that the 5 day long procedure makes the candidates organized and disciplined. They have to show up on time, they have to do things under certain time period and all these things inculcate the quality of being organised and disciplined. - Team Work and Cohesiveness.
There are numerous tasks in the SSB that occur in teams and a group to assess how each candidate performs as a team member and who emerges as a leader. Be it the chaos of the Group Discussion or the strategizing in the Group Planning Exercise the art of working as a team and maintaining the decorum while the discussions is something that the SSB teaches to each of its candidates and the ability to be a group member and to think about others first and then oneself and to maintain the cohesiveness of one’s group and to emerge with commonly agreed upon solutions and answers.  - Quick decision making.
In the SSB, the presence of mind and the reasoning ability of the candidate is assessed along with several other qualities and characteristics. With being subjected to different stressful (hypothetical in case of the situation reaction test and other psychological test and real in case of the various GTOs tests), the decision making ability of the candidate needs to be quick as well as sound. Any individual with quick and good decision making ability is always valued in the organizational setup, needless to say this ability is desired in the Officers as well and the SSB makes a candidate realise its importance. - Mental toughness.
During the entire SSB procedure, the candidates are being evaluated and assessed on their personality traits and characteristics. To accomplish this task the psychological tests are designed in a way that elicit the true traits and qualities of the candidates. Being subjected to numerous psychological tests and other physical tasks, a candidate learns how to be mentally strong and tough. - Motivation and determination.
The drive that the candidates have, to be amongst the fortunate ones to don the coveted Olive Green grows only stronger while having the SSB experience. The SSB process teaches a person to be determined and to be motivated to fulfil their dreams and goals. - Nothing is impossible.
When I come across people who have cleared their SSB in 8th attempt and 11th attempt, it really proves that nothing is impossible and if one is truly dedicated and determined then no matter how much unattainable the goal may seem, you can achieve it and the sky is the limit for you!
