Top 5 Mistakes Made by Most Aspirants in the SSB Interview

Based on my experience of 3 years wherein I have seen hundreds of bright candidate’s fail, I recapitulate 5 commonly made mistakes by candidates at the SSB Interview.

“Physical Attributes VS Mental Attributes”

Candidates think that SSB Interview is typically about physical fitness rather than mental aptitude. As aspiring officers, one needs to be mentally strong and the training at academy takes the ownership of building your physical strength. Hence, SSB Interview is a test of personality comprising of ten qualities / traits which are measured.

“Knowledge VS Reasoning”

Most aspirants think that knowledge of events and happenings is important and hence tend to read GK Books to crack SSB Interview. Whereas, in SSB Interview it is about reasoning based on knowledge and awareness and expressing your views that are logically and rationally sound. Thus, reading newspapers regularly to gather knowledge and seeing debates on television on national issues will help in developing one’s own perspective on various issues. Expression of these perspectives which are most logical will see you through rather than rattling abstract information.

“Individual VS Team”

Several aspirants tend to outshine individually rather than collectively as a group. Working in the armed forces is all about working in a team. Unless a candidate is able to work in a group and keep the group objective ahead of individual he/she will not be able to do well in this test

“Intellect VS Values”

Several Candidates who are bright intellectually get rejected at SSB for the simple fact that their value system is not in order and they tend to use their intellect in the wrong way. On the other hand, candidates with average intellect but strong value system find success. To summarize, values play a major role in the selection of candidates.

“Abstract VS Practical Intelligence”

Abstract Intelligence means giving thoughts or ideas to get out of a situation. On the other hand, practical intelligence is about resolving a problem. Candidates with high practical intelligence are considered ideal and preferred over others in the SSB Interview.