After the Air Force SSB, I had one week time for the next SSB, the Navy UES SSC. The recommendation in the Air Force had boosted my confidence & morale and my desire to give SSB(s) got intense. So for the upcoming Navy SSB, I prepared and made notes related to the technical questions, Indian Navy and its working, assets and about GK. I also did introspection, worked upon improving my negativities and weak points that came up during the Air Force SSB.
The reporting was on 23rd December, 2013 at Bhopal at 1300hrs. I reached Bhopal through train, joined other candidates for the SSB on the way to the bus. Inside the bus, I looked at the candidates and everyone was serious, thinking about getting screened in, recommended and about God. I, myself, am no alien to it as I was also little bit nervous about the future but the backing of the recommendation in Air Force helped putting me at ease.
Unlike AFSB, here on the day I arrived, was just document verification and form filing. It is important to keep all your documents ready with at least three sets of photocopies of them along with forty photocopies of the passport sized photo (light & plain shirt, simple tie, nice haircut, smiling face, white background). After that, there was briefing; about the stay, dos and don’ts in SSB area, upcoming events starting from next day; by a dashing naval officer. I was awestruck by the fluency he spoke in. Anyways, after that refreshments are given (which is paid and it is better to remain hungry for a while for dinner).
Next day was screening. Verbal and non verbal tests (quite simple) and then PPDT. During the narration, some of the candidates fumbled despite being repeaters (of course I was in the repeater’s group & candidates with recommendations and merit outs in it). In discussion, it was really a fish market (earlier I used to read about famous ‘fish market’ of the SSB in the experiences of others but now I had the honor of experiencing it myself). The officer warned to throw all of us out if we started selling fishes together again. Thereafter, it was a pleasant discussion, a nomination and the conclusion. Nomination should be me to me (me nominating myself). I was happy and satisfied with the screening process. Out of the eighty who reported, thirty eight got screened in. More form filling (PIQ – crucial & decisive).
Psychology Tests, many of the stories, words and situations were repeated. So more or less, the whole activity was same as in AFSB. Although, this time I was not able to do all the SRTs, but I didn’t think much over it because whatever I had solved, I was contented with them.
Ground tasks were held the next day and the day after it. In GPE, I was nominated & after the speech, I was pointed out by the GT officer (who happens to be the same dashing naval officer I talked about earlier) about not mentioning the timings while carrying out the plan. Timings are important because without it, the defense organizations cannot work accurately. In Lecturette, the topic was Women Empowerment. My number was at last, so I was attentive the whole time (unlike in AFSB where after giving the Lecturette, I took a nap). In the Individual Obstacle, I improvised, doing ten and was glad about that. In command task, I was called first and was asked the time limit to finish the task; however I took a bit more time but was able to complete the task. I believe that I or anyone could definitely improve performance by carefully looking the whole obstacle before working upon it and by listening to the officer meticulously (I was not careful this time). Also, it is said that more the number of times you were called as a subordinate, more beneficial it will be for you; although it is somewhat true, still there is no need to get dejected even if you were not called. I was not called even once both in Air Force SSB and here. So it’s not a big problem. In GDs, HGT, FGT, PGT, my group had good discussions and nice planning. Snake Race was full of josh and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
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This time, the interviewing officer was the president of 33 SSB, Bhopal. I reported for the interview immediately after lunch but was told by the IO himself to come around 1730 hrs so that the interview can be started by 1800 hrs. I slept in between & reported again at the stated time. After waiting for some more time, I was called in. Unlike the environment inside the interviewing room at AFSB, the climate here was somewhat tense (to be frank, I was nervous). The questions were shooted at me in rapid fire manner. While answering, the officer dwelled deep into some more questions and then I continued answering the rapid fire questions. An awkward moment came when suddenly I forgot all the questions; silence of about thirty seconds, after which I started answering the questions which I could remember (later I came to know that I skipped a lot of questions). Then second part of the interview came in which I was asked technical questions, the first question being ‘Archimedes Principle’. Believe me ladies and gentlemen, it may seem to be a pretty easy question, but for me, it came out to be a tongue twister. I started correctly but with each word that came out of my mouth, I got confused and said totally wrong answer, I tried again but still with the same result. In between, I spoke some keywords like volume, weight, force which I could not able to correlate with the answer. Then the officer asked me what is the difference between mass and weight, then about volume, force and weight. I was utterly puzzled. Still I tried to put a brave smiling face and spoke whatever came to my mind. Being a computer science student, I was asked the question “what is bootstrap program and why it is called so”. I was totally blank and said something with a cheerful face to which the officer said “Don’t shoot shit and that too with confidence”. I thought that was end of my interview & my navy selection but then he posed another question i.e. “What is the use of the cell in the laptop or computer”, “What is CMOS & its use”. I was not able to give answer to any of these questions. He also asked me “Out of Air Force and Navy, which you want to join and what will be your job profile in Navy as an officer”. Honestly speaking, I did prepare about the Navy but forgot to prepare my job profile. Also as the interview was not going on the right path (path which I imagined), I, in order to please the officer, said I want to join Navy but then again went blank when he asked “Why”. Ladies and Gentlemen, although I had prepared a lot for the SSB but unfortunately I was not at all ready for such questions. It was a grave mistake (especially the one in which I tried to please the officer by saying I want to join Navy instead of Air Force without knowing why). The officer at the end told me to prepare these questions for the conference. After the interview, I was sad and was sure of not getting recommended. But I did not lose hope and noted down all the questions and their answers which I was not able to give during the interview. Later I diverted my attention by visiting places in Bhopal with my friends.
On the day of conference, I had prepared well for the questions I was asked to at interview. When my turn came, then after few pleasantries such as my stay, food; each and every unanswered question of the interview was asked to me and thanking God for the common sense God put in me after the interview to find out the answers of all those questions, I, with confidence, was able to give every answer and was able to convince the board members in the best possible manner. Later at the end, I was asked the places I went to see in Bhopal. Even though I gave my best reply to every question that is asked to me & was happy about it, still in some corner of my mind, I was anxious and nervous about my selection. So when the results were declared, it came to me a big surprise when my name was called at the very first. It was very much unexpected as I thought that given my performance, even if I was selected, then also I should be called at the end. So after my name was announced, I was beaming with happiness. Total seven out of thirty eight were selected. Thereafter, the president shook hands with all of us and wished us best of luck for the future. We all were then taken for form filling and the medicals started from the next day.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this ends the second part of my SSB experience. I will be posting about my Army SSB experience soon. Wish you all the best for the SSBs. Any queries related to SSB, you can mail it to me at:
[email protected].
About Nomit Sharma: Failure’s not an option for a dream I wish to achieve. Resides in Himachal Pradesh. Recommended in Air Force, Navy and Army. JAI HIND.
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About SSBCrack Editorial Team
Jayendra Singh, Editorial Team
