Hello aspirants, my name is Amrinder Singh and I got recommended in 19th attempt for TGC-122 from 19 SSB Allahabad on 30th Oct 2015. Earlier I was 12 times CO and 6 times SO. My journey to become an army officer started 7 years ago when I first appeared before SSB for NDA entry. I have tread a long and arduous road to achieve my aim finally. That time I was asked a question “Do you have it in you?” and now I can proudly say “Yes! I have it in me”. Over these years of struggle I faced failures 18 times but that didn’t FAIL me because I never gave up. “Never Give UP” these were very powerful words for me and these words gave me the courage to rise again after falling. Many of my friends and family members thought now I will not make it to Army and I should stop trying and do my job as a Police Sub Inspector. They thought that I got settled in life, but there was a voice in my heart that said “It is not what you are made for “. I wanted to be an army officer, it was not just a govt. job for me but an honorable and a less ordinary life that I ever wanted to live. You will also come across this after few failures and people will start disbelieving in you. That is the testing time of your grit, you have to believe in yourself no matter what.
Buddies I will not waste your time with how I reached and what pictures and words I faced. Rather will tell you what I learned from all these attempts. Many people ask what are they looking for, the simple answer to this is 15 OLQs. An aspirant must know and understands all OLQs by heart. Psychologist, GTO and IO all three are looking for these qualities by different techniques.
Introspection plays a vital role in SSB preparation. It means knowing yourself. Knowing yourself doesn’t only mean your strengths but also your weaknesses. It takes a lot of moral courage to know your weaknesses and accepting them. Introspection lets you know what you like, what you don’t what kind of persons you get bonded easily. Introspection is backbone of preparation for Psyche tests and Interview. Do it thoroughly by seeking inwards.
Logical approach: You have to develop logic in every aspect of your life. If you are doing something you must know why you are doing. You are required to have reasons even for your choices. In short you must have reason for anything that is related to you.
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PPDT
In PPDT, the foremost task is to observe the picture carefully (there is a difference between observe and look), observe the surroundings, people, notice things. That helps in perception and writing the story. Make the story realistic, simple and related to you if possible. Then narration is the first impression in front of assessors, make most of it. Narrate the story crisp, loud and clear. In GD it’s about behavior in group and expression. Grab the opportunity to give your point, but don’t interrupt anyone. In my opinion one should speak 2-3 times at max and helps group towards making common story.
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Psychological tests
Psychological tests don’t require coming with preconceived ideas but that doesn’t mean one shouldn’t practice. Practice writing stories, words, SRTs under time constraints to get one familiar to test conditions and time factor. During testing, you have to be with fresh mind and respond to the stimulus what comes in mind. In Psyche tests remember the quality matters not the quantity.
TAT is the base of psyche tests. The stories should be reactionary not visionary. They can be derived from daily life, your past experiences and your visualization. In stories you don’t have to write qualities of hero directly like he was cooperative, hard working etc. The qualities should be shown by hero’s feelings and actions.
WAT: Each word is an opportunity to show your quality. Thinking much won’t help you have to write response immediately. Practice WATs with MS PowerPoint.
SRTs: I wrote responses using minimum words but specifying all what to be done. Don’t think much as there is no right or wrong in this. Just think for a moment what you will do if are in that situation in real life and write it down.
Self description: It’s all introspection as I mentioned earlier also. The more you introspect the better you will be able to perform in this test. This is the first time I didn’t memorize my SD and wrote what came into my mind. Though I wasn’t able to complete it but still made it through this time.
INTERVIEW
Interview is mostly about self awareness, reasoning ability and confidence. IO asks questions based on PIQ, technical and GK. The latter two doesn’t matter much but you should know thoroughly about yourself, your relationships with close friend’s n family, your job profile. Preparation for interview can be done by framing questions based on every word you have written in PIQ. Then be prepared to the counter questions which IO will be asking from your answers. One can practice Interview by giving it to your friend.
GTO
Group tasks are mostly about team work. It’s not a competition among group members. One has to help the group move forward. One shouldn’t dominate the group and speak every other time, but to come with a idea when the situation so warrants.
This time I was grouped among freshers so I cautiously made it a point to never let them feel I am a seasoned repeater. In GD I spoke only 3-4 times and every time I spoke for around 1 min giving my views completely. I listened receptively to other’s points. In Ground tasks, your idea to go across the structure and your cooperation with group matters whether you are giving from behind or at forward.
Results
Our hearts were pounding and there was a hope of getting through. Duty Officer before announcing results said result is quite good. When he announced my chest no 8, I didn’t believe my ears at first, it happens when your hope is crushed for 18 times. I was at cloud 9; so long I waited for this moment in my life. It was the happiest day in my life.
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