You would have heard a lot about the required OLQ’s, i.e. the Officer Like Qualities, which you must have for getting through the SSB. These qualities are the essential qualities of an officer. While some of them must be present in a candidate, some others can be developed while in training. So these qualities which may be developed in training are given less weightage. However this article is not about those qualities, it is about essential five qualities, or traits which a candidate must possess in order to ensure success. I would like to clear here that these qualities have no resemblance to the OLQ’s, yet some may be common. These qualities are taken from a general point of view, which will enhance your personality:
- Honesty: This is the first and foremost quality that a person should have, not only for SSB but for the all walks of life. Honest people are held in high esteem, and can be trusted with anything. If you are dishonest once you’ll be marked dishonest for life, so ensure that you speak nothing but the truth. SSB is a matter of 6 days, and it is not possible to fake anything for so long. Even if you fake and get selected you are bound to suffer from problems in training. So state the correct facts write only your thoughts and not mugged up things. Say the truth in the interview.
- Leadership: Leadership has several shades to it. It is not about bullying and standing in front, it is all about supporting from the front yet shining in the front. You are expected to be a good leader in SSB. You must be the one who can take the group in the right direction, towards a common solution avoiding any conflict and disagreements in the group tasks. Your PIQ should reflect that you were a good leader, the ‘position of responsibility held’, column is very important. As a good leader you must support the other people in your group, and definitely not shout at your sub ordinates when they make a mistake. You should keep your points in a firm but polite way, and not shout and force people to agree to you.
- Responsibility: Being an officer is a great matter of responsibility, and anybody with a careless attitude can definitely not be trusted with such a responsibility. There are several instances to show that you are responsible, most of it comes in the interview. You should be a responsible child, a responsible friend. The most important part is taking responsibility or your mistakes. Say you have scored less, then you must have the courage to take responsibility for your less marks.
- Patience: Your patience is tested to the biggest level in SSB. Right from the time you start waiting for your bus at the station, till the time you hear the final results. SSB is a long process; you must have the patience to bear with the long wait durations. Since there are so many candidates involved together, you must be ready to wait wait and wait. If you are a person with less patience level then you are bound to lose your mind, which will affect your performance.
- Good Listener: In SSB there are instructions given before any test. If you follow those instructions sincerely, half the battle is won. Unfortunately candidates are not a good listener, and thus they do not listen to those long instructions. Their mind tends to either drift away in between or they tend to listen half-heartedly. But you must listen to whatever instruction is given before any test very closely, it contains the mantra for success.
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