The role of current affairs is very crucial in the Service Selection Board selection process. In order to perform well during the interview candidates must be prepared and answerable to questions related with current affairs. As during the tests and personal interview interviewing officers can ask anything related to general knowledge. Therefore, in this article you will get to know about the importance of current affairs in the SSB interview preparation.
Importance of Current Affairs in SSB Interview
1.General awareness
Being aware about the national and international events shows your interest and liking towards general awareness. Therefore, while preparing for the SSB interview candidates should not avoid the general knowledge topic, instead consider it as an important part of the selection process.
2. During decision-making
Officers working with the Indian Defense are often asked to take a quick decision during tough and unpredictable circumstances. So, if an officer is aware of global events, geopolitical developments, then he can easily make the right decision for his nation. This is the reason candidates are asked questions related to current affairs during the SSB interview. As the knowledge can enhance their decision-making ability and support them in choosing the right path.
3. At the time of group discussion
Group discussion test is conducted to check out the real personality, officer like quality, communication skills, and general awareness of the candidates. Therefore, during the group discussion candidate can only get into a discussion if he is aware about the things related to the topic. Hence, having deep knowledge on current affairs is very necessary during the group discussion test.
4. Analytical skills
Apart from the group discussion test there are various tasks conducted during the SSB interview to analyze situations, make strategies, and react to the given situation. So, a candidate who is updated with the global information will easily face all types of tasks and situations.
5. During personal interview
The personal interview plays an important role during the selection process of a candidate because this interview goes between the interviewing officer and the candidate, here the interviewing officer can ask questions based on candidate performance during the tasks, questions related to academics, whereas, questions based on the current affairs. So, during such situations candidates must be prepared to answer all the questions confidently. As this interview can extend for more than an hour.
6. Officer like Qualities
The selection of the candidate is based on the officer-like qualities. So, in order to meet with OLQ candidates need to work on their communication skills, leadership quality, social adaptability, and awareness of national and international events. If a candidate is able to showcase all these qualities during the 5 day SSB interview along with completing other tasks he will be selected.
7. Thematic Apperception Test
At the time of Thematic Apperception Test, current affairs can influence the interpretation of the images shown during the test. It may also help to set a narrative based on the situations. Candidates can frame a story related to the current event by connecting it with a real life situation.
8. Situation Reaction Test
In the SRT, if a candidate is well prepared and has detailed knowledge on current topics will easily be able craft responses according to the given situations. This test will help candidates to showcase their ability to deal with real life situations.
How can the SSB aspirant prepare current affairs?
1.Read newspaper regularly
The best way to increase general knowledge is by reading the newspaper regularly. Candidates can choose the language of their choice, but if you make a habit of reading English newspapers, it will be beneficial in two ways- firstly it will increase your general awareness and secondly, it will improve your communication skills. As, both the things are important for the SSB interview. Candidates can skip the irrelevant news from the newspaper and focus on the important and useful topics. Moreover, try to note down any important event mentioned in the paper so that you can do the revision later on.
2. Through online sources
In this era, each and everything is easily available on the internet and it has become a great source of information. In fact, candidates can read all types of news on different websites in a fraction of minutes. There are plenty of sources available online, so candidates should make use of it wisely. If you want any information based on an international event which you can’t find in the newspaper, you can simply take help of the internet and get the detailed information related to your topic. The Internet is very useful for the candidates who are preparing for the SSB interview as apart from the current affairs they can also find previous year practice sets on the official website of the SSB.
3. Magazines
We all know that the Indian Defence is a vast sector, so to be part of it a person should have detailed knowledge about its sector like branches, designation, ranks etc. moreover candidates should be aware about the past history of the Indian defense. So, to get information related to past events, magazines will surely be helpful. You can read magazines to get informative knowledge on the past as well as current events based on the annual, semi-annual or monthly edition of magazines. Remember, if you fail to get a hardcopy of a magazine then you can have a soft copy on the internet and read from there.
4. Television
Television is again a great source to gather any information. So, the SSB aspirants can spend their free time in watching news channels or other informative channels because all the current events are telecasted on the television, so it will help you to be in touch with the general knowledge and national and international events as well.
5. News Apps
Nowadays technology has made our lifestyle much easier. Therefore, if candidates do not have time to read newspapers or watch television, they can simply download a news app on their smartphones and get all the information and news in one click. In fact, almost every news agency has their own news app, so you can read the current affairs whenever you want.
Conclusion
It is a fact that questions related to current affairs are asked during the SSB interview. So, candidates do not have a choice to avoid this topic from their subjects. Moreover, having a knowledge of current affairs will enhance the confidence level, ability to think wisely, and make a good impact in front of the officers.
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