SSB or the Service Selection Board interview is the most crucial element of the selection process for the aspiring defence candidates. The candidates are interviewed by a high-ranking officer in this method. The average interview last roughly 45 minutes to one hour but in this time the officer judges the candidate closely and finely by asking him questions ranging from current affairs to personal knowledge of the candidate and the IQ of the candidate. The officer also judges the emotional intelligence and reasoning and critical thinking abilities of the candidate. The candidate is judged on a variety of parameters from the appearance and dress-sense of the candidate to his communication skills.
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There are a number of things that a candidate should be careful about when it comes to the SSB interview process. Candidates make many mistakes in stress and tension during the SSB interview. Thus, a candidate must be calm and confident throughout the interview to pass it successfully. Here are some of the common mistakes that aspirants make during the SSB interview-
Not reading and following the instructions properly
Whenever the candidate is called for the SSB interview or any other entry he is given a set of instructions to be followed. Candidates may make a variety of mistakes, if they take these instructions or guidelines lightly.
- Not reading the instructions can make the candidate failing in arranging proper and complete papers, which may result in their-home return on the first day itself.
- The second thing that can be a result of not reading the instructions properly is the candidates, both the freshmen and the repeaters not having the adequate attires and relying on others at the last time.
The PIQ with an unclear bad handwriting and cuts on it
After the students are screened, they are given a PIQ (Personal Information Questionnaire) to fill and it is given to each assessor before the interview. By the information in these PIQ’s the interview officers are able to create a mental image of the candidate and as it is said, First Impression is the Last Impression, therefore one must not mess up with the PIQ.
Body language and Posture
While entering the interview hall, your body language and posture is the first and foremost thing, the assessors notice in the candidate. Furthermore, they can guess the state of the candidate through non-verbal communication like body movement, hand gestures and tone. Thus, maintaining a proper posture and body language and a confident tone makes a good impression on the interview officers.
Dress Sense
The dress sense of an aspiring officer should reflect his personality. Formal attire is the highly-required attire for the process. Choose a formal attire that compliment your strong side rather than the cool side of your personality.
Nervousness
Nervousness is a thing that can ruin the interview completely because it affects your actions, gestures and tone and indicates the officers that you are nervous, which makes a negative impression. So, don’t be nervous and try your best to prepare for the interview.
Know Yourself Completely
The candidate should have complete information about all the things he has mentioned in the PIQ whether it is his personal information or the information related to the occupation of his father or any other relative he has mentioned.
Be honest and to the facts
On the factual questions asked by the interviewer, the candidate should be honest and should not add up anything casually to the details just to impress the interviewer. The candidate should know that the interviewer is a professional, who interviews a number of candidates every year and hence he will absolutely catch the lies.
Avoid excessive talkativeness
The candidate must be polite during the interview but it doesn’t mean that he will be more familiar with the officers. Candidate should only answer the things he is asked. Candidates with a talkative nature should assess when to speak or when not during the interview.
Mugging things up
The candidates should have the real knowledge of things rather than mugging things up word by word. On mugging things up, the candidate will stuck when the interviewer will ask a follow up or logical question on the topic. Thus, whatever you have prepared is enough and you can politely tell the interviewer that you will research the topic whenever you encounter with an unexplored one.