Recent Changes and Updates in SSB Interview Procedures

The new SSB Interview procedure is considered as a revised version of the old procedure, which is yet to be implemented by the Ministry of Defence. The changes are made to make the SSB Interview procedure more effective and significant. Moreover, the new procedure known as De Nova SSB System will help in the selection of deserving candidates for Indian Defense. Although the new procedure is still under testing, therefore candidates will prepare according to the old procedure.

Why was there a need to change the old SSB procedure?

Here are the following factors responsible for the change in old procedure.

1.Procedure was lengthy

The old SSB Interview procedure is very lengthy and time consuming as it takes complete 5 days to select candidates for Indian Defense. Moreover, SSB selection boards are less in number and the number of candidates appearing are increasing every year so the number of batches to be examined are very high.

2. Transparency during the selection

Over the span of time, the old procedure of SSB interview has been shortened from 5 days to 3 days. In order to select more genuine candidates in less time duration with transparency. New SSB procedure will help the Interviewing officers to examine the real personality of candidates and select the deserving ones.

3. Better assessment

The new SSB procedure will help the officers to examine the number of candidates in a particular time frame. This procedure will be time saving and it will be beneficial in doing better assessment of candidates, as candidates can’t pretend or show fake gestures due to short time duration.

4. Cost-cutting

Nowadays the youth of our country are more passionate about joining the Indian Defense, so the ratio of candidates appearing is increasing day-by-day. Therefore, the higher number of candidates leads to higher expenses on their living for 5 days. But the new procedure will be helpful in managing the expenses as it will be held for 3 days.

5. Process will be convenient

Once the testing work of DE NOVO selection process is over, the 3 day SSB Interview will be considered as most effective and convenient. As, it will no longer be a time taking and lengthy process and will get upgraded with modification and new testing techniques. Therefore, the selection of the candidates will be easier.

The New SSB Interview Procedure

The candidates who are willing to join the Indian Defence should be aware of the new SSB Interview procedure, because the old 5 days long SSB procedure has been changed to 3 days procedure, and some changes are made in both the stages of SSB Interview, but the implementation is still pending. Therefore, candidates will prepare according to the old procedure until the testing of the new procedure is over.

The new SSB Interview procedure consists of 2 stages

Stage 1 Screening Test

The first stage of the SSB interview selection procedure will be a screening test. This test will be conducted online or at the SSB center and it will be carried out once a quarter every year, and candidates will get three chances to clear the screening test. Moreover if you find SSB Screening test difficult still you should try to give your 100% as the Screening test result depends upon whether the candidate will go ahead or have to go back. Basically, SSB Screening test comprises of two phases-

1- Picture Perception and Description Test (PPDT)
2- Officers Intelligence Rating Test (OIR)

Stage 2 of SSB Interview

The candidates who are finalized after the screening test of SSB, will be called for the second stage of the selection process. The second stage consists of various tests and tasks.

1.Psychology Test

The new SSB procedure has come up with many changes. There are various types of changes made in the Psychology test in SSB like Thematic Apperception Test has been replaced by Situation Apprentice Test and only 9 images will be shown to the candidates instead of 12 images. Whereas, in the new procedure Self-Description Test is no longer existing. So, the new format of psychology test consists of-

(A). Situation Apprentice Test
(B). Word Association Test
(C). Situational Judgement Test- Affect
(D). Situational Judgement Test- Values

2. Group Testing Officer

In the GTO task there will be Group Discussion and Group Planning Exercise. Apart from these two rounds, some outdoor tasks will be given to the candidates to identify their physical strength, ability to complete the task, and their leadership quality. Also, the old GTO tasks are replaced with new tasks. Here are new GTO tasks for the SSB Interview procedure-

(A). Group Discussion
(B). Combined Situation Planning
(C). Outdoor Task Execution-1
(D). Outdoor Task Execution-2
(E). Combined Obstacle Course
(F). Leadership Situation

3. Personal Interview

There are no changes made with the Personal Interview at SSB. It will be conducted according to the old SSB procedure. Where the Interviewing Officer will have questions with the candidates on general awareness, their personality, person life, and academics.

4. Conference

This will be a final step of De Novo or new SSB procedure, where an Interviewing Officer, Group Testing Officer, and Psychologist will analyze the candidates on their performance and select the deserving candidates.

Conclusion

The new SSB Interview procedure, named DE NOVO, is undergoing trials at Bangalore. Therefore, once the trail is over and the new procedure gets implemented, candidates have to prepare according to the 3 days SSB procedure. But until then they will prepare according to old procedures only.