Hi, I am Mohammad Sameer. I got recommended in 5th attempt @2AFSB. This was my first attempt for Air Force. I am sharing my SSB experience, some things to keep in mind and little bit of my story with all you guys who is motivated to join armed forces. I’ve written a long post as I just want help every aspirant out there like me.

Day-1

Got picked from Mysore Railway station along with more than 100 chaps. We were provided good snacks and after that we were directed towards testing hall. OIR tests were as usual easy and interesting. The picture shown in PPDT was quite actionable, there were two male characters, their ages seemed like 23 and 18, the elder one was making some kind of big flex board. I wrote a story about my personal experience of organising cultural fest. For the discussion we were divided in groups of 15. There is good amount of time between story writing and discussion, I utilized that time to prepare my narration and get a little hint of themes of other candidates. My group people were saying to have discussion calmly and not make it a fish market (as usual) but when we started it was a fish market (as usual). I felt my narration was not that good compared to my previous attempts but story was realistic. Most of the candidates gave in good stories but there were some mind numbingly stupid stories about making armoured jackets for army with the help of DRDO. We had a good discussion and everyone seemed to agree on “social cause” theme but we couldn’t make full story. At the end GTO asked to nominate one person to conclude the story. We were just thinking of whom to nominate, within a sec candidate with the stupid story stood up and started to speak. GTO told him to sit down and told us again to nominate. That person started yelling to nominate him so we let him conclude. He started to narrate his own story again. Within 5 secs GTO told him to sit down and we all left.

After lunch, Chest no-60 was called out with 58 others and we made it into Phase-II.

Things I would suggest to do for Screening with my experience-

1. Practice some basic OIR type questions before going if you find it difficult and attempt all because OIR IS IMPORTANT.
2. Write a realistic/believable story and prepare a good crisp narration in the time given to you after writing the story. Also try to get a hint of what others saw in the picture and their themes.
3. While narrating, be confident and make eye contact with other candidates and SMILE. This will create your impact on others and they will “agree” with your story/theme.
4. Try keep at least 3 good points in the discussion when people are listening to you.
5. LISTEN TO OTHERS POINTS. By doing this you’ll be able to create a story with different ideas.
6. NEVER try to control the group by saying “you stop! You speak!”. I’ve seen people doing that and not getting selected.
7. NEVER stand up nominate yourself to conclude as person above mentioned did.

Day-2

CPSS & PABT – Both of these are tests of your pilot aptitude. As they say, if you have played PC games you’ll find these tests easy and enjoy giving them.

In CPSS everything is tested on computer accept the cockpit games. I cleared the MCQ part of it and got a chance to sit in those cockpits to give some more interesting tests. They are all games, so, one should not ever worry about CPSS and PABT.

Psychological tests-

TAT-

3 stories had a river and a boat. 2 had someone drowning. 1 had a hospital scene with a dead person on a stretcher. 1 had people climbing a mountain. Cant remember other 4. Wrote all 12 stories.

Things I would suggest for TAT-

1. Avoid creating problems like natural calamities or accident or poverty when you don’t see one just to make your hero in the story do a great noble job. You can simply create a story of your hero helping someone or organising a event or work for his own good.
2. If you see a problem in the picture like an accident, please don’t kill someone yaar. Just show that your hero handled the situation well with the help of other people or friends and made sure the person is safe.
3. Again like PPDT write a realistic/ believable story which you think is possible if you were the hero in your story. Avoid stories of appearing in a SSB or military operation.
4. Try to write in a organized way so that you can include ‘What lead to the story? What is happening? And what can be the possible outcome?’ and easily complete the story in 4mins. Always ask yourself those 3 questions before writing the story.
5. Possible outcome of the story need not to be a big award thing like a Nobel Prize. I mean come on! If you were the hero in the story, could you win a Nobel Prize? (No offence)
6. For your 12^th story i.e the blank story, come prepared; don’t waste time thinking what to write now. Try to write a story of your personal experience as it would be easier to write.
7. Your story should show at least one or 2 qualities which can be theme of your story.
8. It is very important to show you’re Qualities which you are going to write in your SD in these stories.
9. You can download few slides from SSB crack and practice on your own. Access yourself. Avoid writing your friends’ story or story you found on internet as it shows qualities and responses of someone else, not yours.

WAT-

15 sec flies like a rocket when it comes to write a sentence on a word. In my first attempt I had no idea what to write. Did 58/60.

Things I would suggest for WAT-

1. Write a crisp actionable sentence.
2. Avoid writing known facts, idioms etc as they don’t show your qualities.
3. There are always some positive, neutral and negative words. And you can download slides for WAT on SSB crack and practice on your own.
4. Make sure you write fast, neat and clean and never miss out on a word.
5. If you don’t know what to write for a word, just write the word and move on for that time. If you find time later you can come back and write a sentence on it.
6. Practice well before SSB.

SRT-

This is a simple test where you are supposed to write what YOU would do in the given situation. Again, what YOU would do in the given situation not our beloved Rajnikanth Sir. As I think and my GTO also told, Fauj needs a normal person who can do difficult tasks, not alone, but with a team. So if a situation like a fire in your building comes just ask yourself if you can save 10-20 families alone? I could attempt only 42/60 this time.

Things I would suggest for SRT-

1. Don’t write foolish responses like ‘’I’ll save everyone from fire, I’ll capture terrorists’’ or things like that. Write what naturally you would do.
2. Again don’t make a small problem a big one.
3. You can practice SRT sets. Remember you have only 30 sec for a response.
4. If you can’t think of any response to the situation, leaving it is better than becoming Batman or Rajnikanth. But don’t leave same kind of situations.
5. Increase your speed and try to attempt all.

Self-Description test-

I was asked to write my Parents’, Teachers’, Colleagues’, Boss opinion along with self opinion and what kind of person I want to be. I want to join defence for the adventure part of it, so for the last question in SD I wrote I want to do more adventure in my life and develop my overall personality, with few more things.

Things I would suggest for SD-

1. Again, write SD naturally. Don’t try to force OLQs in your SD, it looks unnatural.
2. Instead of writing direct sentences like “ I’m a determined, hard working person” write how are you determined and hard working in other words like “I don’t lose focus on the work till I complete it.”
3. Know what to write in different sections. For example, in friends opinion it would be foolish to write “They think I’m obedient person” or in Teachers’ opinion “ they think I’m fun loving person”. If you face difficulties writing it, ask your parents, brother/sister, friends what they think of you.
4. Write at least 4-5 lines in each section. Ty to include all the qualities you mentioned in your self opinion section.
5. You get only 15 mins to write SD, so give a good amount of time to prepare it. By heart it. couldn’t prepare a perfect one in months. But this time I did a write a perfect one for myself.
6. YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO WRITE AN INCOMPLETE SD. You have to write what you prepared.

To crack the AFSB and SSB interview, we recommend you to get “Let’s Crack SSB Interview” book from Amazon.

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Day 3- Ground tests

Group planning exercises- A normal model with few hills, a river, metal road, railway tracks and Pagdandi was introduced. Few things I want to say are- Always priorities the problems, human life involved always comes first. Dont forget your aim which may be returning to hostel, going for a basketball match etc. Try to use all the resources in the model you can think of to make work faster and efficient. Remember it’s a group exercise so its needs to be done with team effort.

Consistency and your continuous participation in every test is very important.

GD- Topics given to me were 1. Wastage of food in India and what measures can be taken to control it. 2. Growing relations of India with US.

For every GD I would say few things,

1. Try to initiate the discussion. If you couldn’t just listen to what speaker is saying. It is very important.
2. if you support or don’t support someone’s point, it hardly makes any difference but never say ‘’I contradict your point’’ or ‘’I disagree with you’’. This can surely create a bad impression. Fauj is all about camaraderie.
3. Also don’t look desperate to speak. If you do you’ll show negative body language.
4. If you don’t get a chance to speak. Wait. You’ll definitely find an opportunity to shoot your ideas. Be like a tiger. Patient, calm and composed.

PGT-

I found obstacles easier than 22 SSB in Bhopal (people who have attended SSB in Bhopal as repeater will agree). I could easily get ideas and where I was not getting one, I gave chance to my team members. Just follow the instructions and don’t become too casual as your GTO is frank and funny.

Lecturate- I got a card in which SAARC and two other facts and current affairs based topics were there. I chose to speak in adventure sports.

A little gyan for lecturate-

1. Always ask yourself What? Why? How? When? Where? For whom? For any topic you want to speak on.
2. Don’t chose a topic on which you’re not confident. There will be at least one low level topic on which anyone can speak.
3. Yes, if you want to speak on high level topics then keep yourself updated. This might create a better impression on GTO.
4. Idea is to speak confidently in a organised way, whatever you want related to the topic.
5. Avoid getting political.

INTERVIEW-

I have given 3 SSB interviews before this one. I can say in this one I was the best. I’ve been good in interviews before this also but I’m sure I wasn’t giving out the best body language. I was ready for any kind of cross questions, believe me you don’t want to look blank during rapid fire and cross questions.

How I prepared for interviews-

1. PIQ form is the base of interview. You should obviously be completely aware of what you are writing there. Be it the place you come from, sports and extracurricular activities you’ve participated in, you should know for example speciality of your place to rules of the games and sports you’ve played.
2. If you’ve written that you’ve organized an event like college fest then be ready for 10-20 questions about it like what was your role in it, what did you do there, etc. You should know that as an officer they have plenty of experience of organizing big events.
3. For questions like ‘who was the teacher you didn’t appreciate much?’ please be honest. Girls and boys we all know we all had a teacher we didn’t like because maybe he was partial to us. Say that, otherwise your answer will not look rational.
4. If you are looking to improve your communication skills then you might try reading any good English newspaper standing in front of a mirror. It’s a known technique to improve verbal skills. Plus, if you can start interacting in English with your friends it will be great. Reading newspaper will also keep you aware of the world and national events.
5. One of the most important thing is BODY LANGUAGE. With my experience and observations I’ve known that using too much expressions and hand movements is not at all good in military. Not even in real life. Try to cut off your hand gestures and head movements when you talk. Its little difficult but with some practice anyone can do it. You can practice that in front of mirror.
6. How you shake hands with anyone tells a lot about you. A warn firm hand shake shows confidence but a too firm hand shake can leave a bad impression. A lose hand shake is indicator of your nervousness, low self-esteem and not so officer like quality. You can read about body language on internet. Second thing is how you walk in and sit. Obviously you should be walking in like a lion, confident, chest out and chin up. When you sit on the chair adjust yourself in one shot, sit comfortably, spine straight, rest hands on thighs and again chest out and chin up. Have an eye contact.
7. You must be thinking I’ve said too many things above but believe me every micro and macro thing is observed about you. But not to worry, anything can be achieved with practice.
8. If you’re worried about rapid fire rounds, just don’t. listen carefully to the interviewer, all the questions he asks in one rapid fire round are related. For example- it can be based on your family background then coming to you or starting from your educational background then sports and extracurricular ending with questions on friends and teachers. Just create a picture in your mind. You can find interview questions on internet too with these rapid fire questions. Practice well before your SSB.
9. If you’re working somewhere, please don’t say that you don’t like your job or complaint about it. Fauj hates people who complaint about there problems. Refer to movie Border 😛 . Just say its all good but highlight what you like in Defence. Be clear in words why you want to join defence.
10. Don’t get carried away if interviewer is looking friendly, people tend to show negative body language when interviewer looks friendly and relaxed. Don’t freak out if he’s yelling at you, he’s interested in you and that’s why putting you under pressure.
11. Throughout the interview sit straight and have a confident smile on your face.

To crack the AFSB and SSB interview, we recommend you to get “Let’s Crack SSB Interview” book from Amazon.

Download:

• Word Association Test eBook
• Situation Reaction Test eBook
• OIR Test eBook
• EKT eBook

DAY-3

GTO-

Command task- I got a circle one. GTO took a small interview before the task as usual. He was asking about what kind of adventures I’ve done as I spoke on Adventure Sports in lecturate. For the task I was told to stand in the middle of the circle in a wooden plat form and challenge was to come out of it with the help of plank and balli with 2 sub ordinates. First I did it with the help of plank nut he told me to do it in other way also. Did it in second way but he told me to do it in one more way. In third method I was getting stuck so he gave me a hint and it was done. After the task he sent the sub ordinates back and again took a small interview. I knew he was showing interest in me.

I was 3^rd last and till the task of last person (my friend noo. 38, Nikhil) no one had called me as a subordinate. He called me because no one called me and we were friends. So, don’t have the misconception that if no one calls you, you’re GT wasn’t good.

1. In command task , GTO will take a small intro kind of interview and he’ll be very frank and smiling that time. Don’t get carried away and give foolish answers that time. That’s his trick.
2. While choosing sub ordinates be wise, don’t call someone just because he’s your friend. Every task has its own need. Always greet your subordinate.
3. If you get a difficult command task and upon that GTO is putting pressure on you, means you’re going good and GTO wants to test you more.
4. Whenever GTO makes your task more challenging, accept the challenge and say “No problem” and think. There are many solutions to a problem.

Individual obstacles-

2 AFSB has little difficult and different obstacles. I could do only 9 as from the second day in SSB I was sick and had fever. This is a test of your organising skills more than test of stamina. Just plan to do the tasks in a organised way when GTO is showing you the obstacles. Do it in a circular pattern so that you don’t waste your time running around to different obstacles. Your courage is also tested here, so, don’t hesitate before doing obstacles like Tiger leap, Burma bridge and Double Ditch. Hesitation will leave a negative impact.

DAY- 5

Conference –

15 of us had a mini conference, before the actual conference/result day. Before calling me they only took 3-5 mins and in conference they officer asked me only about stay, what I do in free time, and suggestions. It lasted for less than a minute. Just keep in mind to not complaint about anything in SSB especially food because come on! It was free and not bad.

Sometimes your conference might go for few minutes to half an hour (happened with me during 3^rd attempt). Just be calm, they might give you a situation or shoot a rapid fire round on you. Listen to what is asked and then answer.

Play till the last ball.

DAY-6

Result –

First CPSS and PABT results were announced. I was happy that chest no- 40 was one of them. After that they started announcing SSB results. I stopped thinking and was not hoping for anything this time. Previously I had kept my hopes high and ended up getting sad. But then they announced “last but not the least Chest no. 40” and wow I made it. I still remember faces of no. 28 aka Ankit Famial and Nikhil when last no. was to be called out. They looking at me and wanted me to get through.

Now seeing my parents, brother and friends so happy for me, I feel happy.

Sometimes you might have given your 100% but time might not be right for you.  But don’t lose the grip on the dreams of your past. Keep fighting.

If you have any questions or assistance, you can drop me mail on [email protected] or contact me on facebook  @ https://www.facebook.com/nrk99sam

To crack the AFSB and SSB interview, we recommend you to get “Let’s Crack SSB Interview” book from Amazon.

Download:

• Word Association Test eBook
• Situation Reaction Test eBook
• OIR Test eBook
• EKT eBook