Group discussions are important part of any selection procedure as they give your clear picture regarding many qualities. How well could you gel with members of the team, do you have a leadership quality, do you want to gel with the members of a group, are you a good team player, can you handle conflict in a team. These are the essential qualities of any member of a team and all should know them. Also for an officer these are needed badly. In real life situations we get to see conflict, and we should know how to handle it properly. In battlefield if any matter shoots up within your team how you will handle it. What action will prevail in that important time? How will you satisfy the ego states of all the members simultaneously making no one feel offensive?

• Communication skills
• Listening skills
• Team work
• Depth of knowledge
• Sharing comrade with the group
• Leadership
• Caring for others
• Taking care of feelings of the group
  

1. Initiation: this forms a very important part of GD as the opener not always but yes has an added advantage. It requires a lot of courage to open about a topic which is given immediately. Also a participant should remember that if you have in detail knowledge of the topic and can talk relevant then only jump into this else it backfires too.
2. Describing topic: this forms the middle part of the discussion where every member tries to pour in their views on the topic to make the discussion rich and healthy. Often the heard fish market situation arises in this phase only. Such situation should be avoided as there is always a sufficient time to speak your views and fights should not be done to get a turn. Also if you speak relevant the group hears you or else you are ignored by the group.
3. Questioning: This is a phase where one member of group might raise an issue or a question to the other members. Such situations are meant to enrich the discussion and should not be taken as a chance to demean others. If done so you will be marked negative.
4. Conclusion : Ideally the conclusion should be provided by the group at the end of the GD by themselves and this marks the perfect ending of it but if the fighting persists and the group was not able to conclude , officers might ask to do so. In such situations speak the groups point of view and not yours.

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 Jayendra Singh, Editorial Team

Jayendra is pursuing MBA from IIM Ranchi and is a die heart counsellor for defence aspirants. He was recommended in the first attempt for Indian navy UES entry and is willing to help aspirants to make use of his experience in this field.

“It doesn’t matter if you have failed, if you had been beaten. All that really matters is if you get back up and try again. Because winning is fun, but winning when nobody thought you would, is just awesome.”

It is also said that the qualities that the psychologist gathers are compared with those shown in PIQ and forwarded to GTO and PI officer for crosschecking. So if anyone wants to fake in SSB it is not at all possible because similar things would be checked throughout in all the processes and if they interfere then only can a candidate have his chances for recommendation. Now everybody would be thinking of how to write an effective story. So here it is. 

Remember your story should have the following:

• A hero performing some action
• Description of environmental conditions
• Different characters
• Main theme and story should revolve around that
• Past, present , future related events of story

• Hero of story as framed by you should have a name
• Hero should deliver an action which is possible in real life.
• Theme of story should be positive, try to show your optimistic nature.
• Age , sex and mood of the hero and relevant character should also come out of story
• Try avoiding grammatical errors to make story more effective
• It should be written clearly, so that the efforts of psychologist goes in extracting qualities and not in guessing what is written
• Try to convert negative pictures also  in positive tone

 Jayendra Singh, Editorial Team

Jayendra is pursuing MBA from IIM Ranchi and is a die heart counsellor for defence aspirants. He was recommended in the first attempt for Indian navy UES entry and is willing to help aspirants to make use of his experience in this field.

Leadership is an important Officer Like Quality (OLQ). An officer is expected to be good leader as the responsibility of many people is on him/her and moreover as an officer you are expected to take decisions and execute them at the spur of the moment. In SSB out of the various qualities which are checked leadership hold great importance. So you have to project yourself as a true leader. Gone are the days when leaders were born not made, each one of you is a leader, it’s just the matter of projection. In this article I am penning down a few situations where you can project your leadership. Before you read that, keep one thing in mind always, there is difference between being a leader and being bossy, a leader leads by example, a leader cares for his subordinates.

1. Progressive Group Task: Here you have a good chance to project yourself as a leader only if you do the things rightly. As a leader you are required to give ideas and not only give but execute them practically. Leadership here doesn’t means that you have to keep dictating your ideas and expecting people to follow you, you have to practically execute it. Now if you don’t have ideas then help the idea which is being executed. Many times candidates fight for the helping material, shout at each other, which is not expected out of a good leader. Thus in PGT you can demonstrate leadership by giving logical and worthy ideas, helping practically, when the group is struck without any idea then trying and thinking for a solution, being calm and cool with your group mates. Remember NEVER SHOUT on your group mates. Divide the work, assign work to your groupmates.
2. Group Discussion: You can demonstrate your leadership in GD by speaking only relevant points. Be receptive to others views as well and respect their views. If you disagree with somebody’s points then mention it politely. It is a discussion and is expected to be carried out in a gentlemanly and lady-like manner. Don’t speak when other are shouting on the top of their voice. Remember quality takes over quantity, hence speak less but speak solid things.
   
3. Military Planning Exercise: Planning is very important part of services. A good leader is responsible enough to take his group in the direction of solution. When you plan keep in mind that none of your resources are idea, that you are following the rules etc. Don’t give foolish or childlike plans.
4. Command Task: As a commander you get the golden opportunity to demonstrate leadership. Never leave any resource ideal, i.e. keep a track that all your subordinates are doing something. Give clear instructions to them, explain them your plan of action and take care of your subordinates that they have a way to cross the bridge you made. Take risk go ahead and show how the work is to be done.
5. Snake Race: In this keep motivating your group, help the weaker members to cross the obstacle, pay attention to the rules and make sure your group follows it.
6. PIQ Form: Fill it very carefully, there is a section of ‘Position of responsibility held’. This section is your leadership section. You must fill it nicely, and remember it for your interview.
7. Psychological Tests: Make stories where the hero is doing something worthwhile for the society. The hero must have a purpose in life. In your SRT write the reactions which demonstrate leadership.
8. Interview: Be clear and confident. Have you views and knowledge on aspects and express them clearly.

As a leader you are expected to follow every rule and take care that your group mates are also following. If any rule is violated then politely remind your group mate to correct his/her mistake.

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 Tashi Mishra, Editorial Team

She is a defense aspirant from Varanasi completed her BCA. She has attended SSB Interview at 1 AFSB Dehradoon and has more SSB coming up. She is confident about joining Defence Forces one day. Here, she is sharing her views and experience. Join us now.

Many have the dream of joining the Indian Air Force. One of the most prestigious and sacred association to work amongst the sprawling jets and have a lifetime experience of adventure and thrill. The Indian Air Force follows a particular selection process to recruit officers. This article describes the selection process which the IAF follows. Basically IAF has got a two step selection process which is followed by two other processes.

Here are the two steps:

1. Written Tests: The first step in order to join the IAF is the written test. Basically there are three modes of entry into IAF. These modes of entry are through NDA (National Defence Academy) exam, through Air Force Common Admission Test (AFCAT) and through Combined Defence Services Examination (CDSE). Each of these exams consists of a written test. The syllabus and eligibility criteria for each exam differs and you can refer to them on our website. In order to reach the second level you have to clear the first level which is the written test. In CDSE and NDA which are common exam for the tri services, the cut off for airforce is highest.
   
2. Interview: After you clear the written test you are called for the Interview.  The interview for IAF is one of the trickiest and toughest. The pattern followed is the pattern of Service Selection Board. It is a six day interview. The first day is the screening test consisting of verbal and non verbal reasoning test and a picture perception and description test (PPDT). Those candidates who clear this are kept back for five more days. In these five days they undergo different tests which are psychological tests, personal interview and group tests. The candidates who apply for the flying branch also undergo a Pilot Aptitude and Battery Test which is once in a lifetime test. The SSB for airforce is known as AFSB and is held at one of the four AFSB centers which are Dehradun, Mysore, Gandhinagar and Varanasi. The candidates who give their first preference as IAF in NDA and CDSE exams also have their SSB in these centers generally. After the end of five days the results are announced and based on your performance you are either recommended or not recommended.
3. Medical: This is not a test, it is just a criteria which you have to fulfill. There are certain criteria and some additional physical criteria’s for the flying branch. In order to be finally inducted into the forces you have to fulfill these medical criteria’s.
4. Merit: The selection board only recommends you. Your final selection depends on your performance in written test marks, your SSB marks and your medical conditions. After the SSB and before the commencement of the course an All India Merit is prepared and based on the number of requirements candidates are taken. Those who have secured higher marks in written and SSB the merit are ranked above those who have secured low marks. And depending on the vacancy available they are called for the course.

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 About SSBCrack Editorial Team

The Editorial Team of SSBCrack consists of a group of Professional writers and aspirants. Their main aim is to provide up to date information regarding SSB Interviews and sharing quality information about Indian Defence to help aspirants. Mail us to join our editorial team now.

The service selection board interviews are said to be the trickiest interview in this world. The reason being that you never get to know why you got selected and you never get to know why you were rejected as well. But certainly once you clear the SSB interview you have a great chance of becoming the part of the elites, i.e. part of the defence forces of India. So all in all there is no mantra in particular which can make you success in SSB. Success in SSB means performing well in all the tests, being consistent and being confident. Here we try to give you tips and solutions which may help you in your interview.

Anything in this world can be achieved if you are sincere enough in your efforts. So given below are some steps which will help you in getting selected in the interview.

• Consistency: Being consistent is very important in SSB. You can’t get selected if you are good in one test and bad in other tests. So consistency is very important. Perform equally good in all the tests, this will certainly increase your chances of success in the interview.
• Will Power: If you have failed in your previous attempts then you definitely need the will power. Trust me the more you have been to SSB the more your chances increase. Because you get to know the whole process. Keep up your will power and be certain that you’ll achieve your goal with your determination.
  
• Introspection: Self introspection is very important for SSB. Mostly without even realizing you are reflecting your personality in every test their. You need to know your personality well in order to project yourself clearly. So self-introspection is important for both freshers and repeaters. If you know yourself well you’ll know your strengths weaknesses and thus you can polish your strengths and abolish your weaknesses.
• Confidence: An ingredient which plays the role of salt in success. If you low confidence you are not likely to succeed. If you are over confident you’ll never succeed, so confidence is just like salt, it is very important to have the correct amount. A confident person leaves a mark in the crowd. So develop confidence, and it’ll develop only with thorough preparation.
• Work Hard: Success comes by working hard. Hard work always pays, so work hard and do whatever it takes you to get success. Prepare well, do lots of practice, brush up your GK, your knowledge about the force you are going for the interview. In short leave no stone unturned to get your aim.
• Keep your eye and mind open: You need to receptive and adaptive. This point is especially for the repeaters. You need to open your eyes and brain and analyze what mistake you did in your previous attempts. If you are not receptive to your mistakes then you’ll keep on going and coming back without recommendation. So open your eyes and mind and analyse and improve your mistakes.

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 Tashi Mishra, Editorial Team

She is a defense aspirant from Varanasi completed her BCA. She has attended SSB Interview at 1 AFSB Dehradoon and has more SSB coming up. She is confident about joining Defence Forces one day. Here, she is sharing her views and experience. Join us now.