If you are preparing for the SSB interview for Army, Navy and Airforce, do not forget to read “Let’s Crack SSB interview” and “Breaking the Code Of SSB Psychology“. Hello aspirants, this is my SSB story of 8 attempts. 5 conferences, 2 screen outs and 1 recommendation. I hope it will motivate you to never give up. Because if I can make through I believe any of you can. So my story begins with a childhood dream of becoming a fighter pilot, growing up in Air Force Stations across India has always inspired me to become a part of this beautiful organization.

Then comes the execution part, after completing my 10th grade, I was determined to go for NDA, I appeared for the exam 4 times but was not able to make through the written exam. Then I appeared for JEE exam and got admission in a government college in Mechanical stream. My focus was clear and in the first year itself I got into NCC, and that indeed was a wonderful feeling when I saw my name in the list of cadets as many students gave an interview but a few were selected. I received my ‘C’ certificate after 3 years of training. By that time I had also developed interest in fitness.

Gym and diet had already become an addiction.  In the final year of my graduation, I received SSB call letter for NCC SPL Entry at Kapurthala. I was very excited as it was my first SSB and I would finally experience what I had only heard about. In that excitement, I somewhere lacked preparation and ended up getting conference out. But the experience was wonderful and I could clearly see that as per my preparation I didn’t deserve to get recommended in that attempt. After that attempt, the motivation to join the forces was at even greater heights. I finished my graduation with 66%, appeared for a placement drive and that interview indeed was a motivation to join the forces, as I told the interviewer that my goal was not to be in that company rather it was to become a part of defence forces and the interviewer told me a few things and motivated me so much that after that there was no looking back. I started preparing for CDS and AFCAT. Gave both exams and cleared AFCAT, I got my NCC and AFCAT SSB’s in the same month and with all the preparation done I went and to my shock, I was screened out from both. That was a moment when I was very disappointed with my performance, but I was never discouraged.

I analyzed and accepted my mistakes and prepared a roadmap to work on my, self-development. I enrolled for two certification courses (Personal trainer and sports nutritionist) as an online course from ISSA, because by that time I had made myself clear that for the scenario I don’t get recommended I would be starting my fitness cafe from the year 2020(As I wanted to follow my passion rather than going for technical jobs). That year I gave 4 SSB’s 2 for AFCAT and 2 for NCC and I was conferenced out from all. I could clearly see all my mistakes and was continuously working to get them right. By November I received my certification from ISSA with good grades. I started training clients, and along with that I was working on my business model as well which was all set to be launched in January 2020, I cleared INET and got my SSB for flying branch on 2nd December. This was going to be my last attempt for flying as per my age, I left no stone unturned as far as my personality was concerned. 

-So I went for the SSB at Bangalore, I had reached a bit early, I found a candidate sitting as we were talking I came to know we had same number of attempts, we wished each other all the best and we got our documents verified. 

-Next day it was screening I made a decent story of a son and his mother concerned about the education of his younger brother, my OIR had gone very good and I was screened in(220 reported and 42 were screened in). 

– Second day was Psych test, in TAT I made very simple real-life stories (remember these three words thoughts, emotions and actions), WAT was very natural (If the word is very negative and you’re not finding any good idea, I suggest you inculcate current affairs) and SRT was good too (I did 48). My SD was very detailed with real-life examples which have come through self-analysis and improvements. 

-Next day was my Interview, questions from every part of my life (professional/personal) were asked, my most favorite one was :

• You’re working as a sports nutritionist and you have future plans in this field as well, so it would not be wrong to say that you wasted four years of your life doing engineering. To which I answered in a very detailed and calm manner.
• Other question that I answered in a very detailed manner was, how did you improved yourself and prepared for this SSB? I feel that as a repeater this question should be answered with utmost seriousness and truthfulness.

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A lot of situations and problem-solving questions were also asked which I answered with patience, one should stay calm at these situations.

Then interviewer handed me over to a gentleman sitting on one side who was carefully noticing the entire interview. He, first of all, told me to bring weighing machine lying under the table and stand on it. I had written my weight in PIQ 80kg and it came out to be 79.4 on the scale. He said alright Amit you have mentioned your weight right, many fake it these days. He then asked me a lot of questions about buoyancy, flying, ranks, aircrafts used, etc. I answered most of them. Then he started asking all the questions relating to ships which I hardly knew to which I said, “I’m sorry sir I have never been onto a ship.” After which he laughed and said ok Amit, the glass next to you is empty (As I had drank all of it) if I need to fill it how much water will come in it. I said sir 250ml, he asked how, I said because a 1-litre bottle contains nearly 4 glasses of water, he then told that this is layman language how will an engineer say. To which I politely replied that an engineer will also say the same way sir.!

He told No I want some calculations, then I found out the volume of the glass and told. After which he seemed satisfied and the interview was over.

Fourth day was GTO and all tasks were to be done in a single day, I spoke 1-2 times in both the GD’s but with robust points.

In GPE I made a good plan and persuaded the group to agree on those points, for narration one of my friend seemed very interested to narrate so I requested the group if he can get a chance to narrate, all agreed and he narrated very well.

In group tasks, I gave ideas whenever the group got stuck and we completed all obstacles with coordination.

Lecturette went very average, less than my expectation. I did 9 individual obstacles.

In command task, all of us got very easy obstacles and GTO sir went a bit away, talking to a person (showing that he’s not interested) while we were doing command task. I completed the task in 2 minutes and took both of my subordinates to the other side. 

Snake race was full of josh.

On the conference day, I was expecting some situations as my performance was better than the last attempt, where my conference went on for 15-20 minutes. They took five minutes before calling me asked a few questions about my Moustache and stay. After the conference I was a bit disappointed as it has been really short and I have seen such conferences many times in last 7 attempts, I was actually planning my journey back while waiting for results. And then the results came. As sir announced chest numbers, I could hear my heartbeat, in the last, was CHEST NO 27. I was shocked and not able to stand, sir repeated I stood up completely baffled, said AMIT SAINI sir and came out. Six of us got recommended and standing next to me was Satvik, the same guy I met on the very first day. All the candidates recommended were really brilliant. I then called home and the word that I have dreamt to tell my parents I finally said it RECOMMENDED and was not able to say a word after that. My dad said me one thing that day which I will never forget my entire life he said: ” Son I have seen you working very hard for this one dream, you have transformed yourself into a gentleman and most importantly you never gave up, I’m proud of you.” Tears of happiness were not stopping and you feel so satisfied when you hear these words from your parents. The entire journey seemed very worthy and all those hardships and a long journey of 2 years seemed really worth it. I would like to thank my family and friends who believed in me and have always supported me.

At the end I would like to wish you all a very successful life, just believe in yourself and never let anyone put you in self-doubt. You are very capable and are ready. JAI HIND.

If you are preparing for the SSB interview for Army, Navy and Airforce, do not forget to read “Let’s Crack SSB interview” and “Breaking the Code Of SSB Psychology“. Hi defence aspirants, how’s the josh. I’m Rajbir Sandhu and I’m from Amritsar. (Fourth Gen Army Officer in making). “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more,you my friend are a True leader”. Recently I got recommended from 14 SSB Allahabad known as the rejection centre in TGC 131. I’m gonna share my story from the bottom to motivate defence aspirants. 

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Day 1. Screening –  150 candidates reported. This was my second attempt and I got a repeaters batch. OIR- 100/100 attempted. PPDT- Perceived the picture clearly,  my story was different from others. Eg a blurred image of a girl wearing a skirt. All of them made that girl old women whereas I made her a young girl going for a match. This point helped me convince and counter others in GD. The narration was crisp. Overall. Be alert when the picture is shown. The result- 40 got in. 10 were from my group. I got chest no 34.

Day 2.psch. Attempted all TAT,  WAT,  SRT. Tip- SRT should be practical. Eg -you and your friends lost the way in the jungle. You will…..  Most of them wrote North stars and stuff.. I wrote use google map and get out. Therefore, the answer should be short and crisp. Attempt as many as you can. 

Day 3,4.GTO 1,2 GD was awesome. I won over others by stating examples and stated different perspective like socio- eco- pol aspects of the given topic. GPE- done with logic and practicality. Mention time and place. PGT – give simple and practical ideas and cooperate with others. In my view, HGT is very important,  even more than PGT. Be a leader with ideal solutions. Snake race – the most vital task after HGT,  in this group sensibilities are showcased. Lecurette – I picked an average topic and spoke vital points. My topic was looking east policy. Posture and confidence matters

Interview – Day4. In GTO dress I went to the deputy president ‘s office. He asked me too many technical questions related to army and my stream. Like artillery guns. Infantry brigades in my city etc. But I was honest about what I knew and stayed calm during this. I showcased.my vulnerabilities to him during the interview, and He was taken aback by my confidence. Point to be noted – rapid-fire sequence is very vital to remember. Overall my interview was a decent one. 

Conference day – It went for ten mins. I was asked an SRT related corruption within my company. I gave a logical answer and further told them my future plans that are cracking the IAS exam. After which president asked me about Scandinavian countries which I knew. After my conference I was confident about my recommendation and the result was no surprise. 5 of us got recommended. After 4 washout batches at Allahabad. 

One of my group member who got conference out had another SSB of CDS IMA the next day in the nearby SSB ie 34 SSB. He got screened in and for the next 4 days while my medical was going on, I guided me all the way. And further got recommended. It’s my dream,  to create more leaders because

A true leader is the one who stands for others and builds character by helping his mates. 

Finally, I made it,  and now ready to become 4th generation officer in my family. Waiting for my merit list now. Thanks, Almighty for this success. Jai Hind.