Hello, friends, this is Satyendra Singh hailing from Chittorgarh Rajasthan, I got recommended from 31 SSB Kapurthala for Army. This was my last chance to fight for the olive green amidst the pandemic!! so I gave my best and won. My journey starts in 2017 when I completed my engineering and chooses not to get any placement from college and prepare for the CDS exam I took one year gap and studied for CDS. Utilised every second of my time and cleared CDS and AFCAT exams. My first ssb was in Bhopal, I screened out and after that, in three consecutive SSBs, I was screened out. I used to sing Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s line after every rejection, “सौभाग्य न सब दिन सोता है, देखें आगे क्या होता है।”

After having six rejections(3 screened out ,3 conference out) I got my next call for Army from Kapurthala. my SSB was scheduled in may but due to covid-19 it was rescheduled to August. Due to covid-19 I got three months extra for preparation, and I got completely free time to focus on myself, introspected and thought about the previous failures, I focused more on meditation and yoga, that helped me a lot to know myself and for the self description, psych portion.This impacted on my over all performance.

Day 1

Reporting: On the screening day 40 reported and 18 screened in. in the OIR I did every question, the question level was moderate so I did every question and in the PPDT we were shown a hazy picture ,I wrote a very simple story. Then we were taken for the the narration and group discussion ,in the narration I completed my narration very briefly and in GD I took part and got two or three chances to speak, I gave my points and then listened others.

now the result comes and I screened in. out of 40, 18 candidates screend in that was the first day after that we went in our rooms and started preparation for the next day.

Day 2

Psych: on second day we had or psychology test so in the SRT I wrote 49 SRT out of 60, completed all TATs and WATs and in the self description part I was already very prepared because I used to write my self description twice a day. that is the only test for which you can prepare yourself in advance, you can determine what you want to write so I have written my self description so many Times.

the best part of the day was my interview schedule on the same day so the self description which I wrote was somehow in my mind, which helped me to maintain the same pace of my psychology in the interview. my interview went for almost one hour he ask me question about my journey, personal and professional life and my family and some questions from academics and sports.Two, three rapid fires also were asked and I remembered all questions and answer in the same sequence which was asked, some counter questions he asked but in a genuine way I answered all.

The bitter part of the interview was wearing Mask and face shield , sweating all over my face and struggling with the voice.

Day 3

GTO 1: In the first day of group task to group discussions held that went well after that in group planning exercise I participated well and gave ideas and worked with the group. in the starting of GD I was not able to give any points because of the fish market of the GD but after that I got chance somehow to give two or three points, same happened in group planning exercise.

on the same day we had our group obstacle race and PGT,HGT,LECTURETTE. in PGT our group performed very well but we forgot some helping material behind the lines so that went completely against us.

Day 4

GTO 2: next day we had our command task, GTO asked me questions related to my personal life, some technical questions and some questions from my job, after that he explained me the task and told me to get two subordinates. my command task went very well, he put me into so many difficulties he changed the colours and the helping materials, also destroyed some helping materials and I somehow managed to enter and get the bomb out of the the circle so that was very impressive part and CT I was also called for the four times from other candidates. In individual obstacle I performed 8 out of 10 but I was satisfied with my performance because I didn’t break any rule. in FGT I worked with group we all were trying to complete the obstacle, there was no individuality left in the FGT and that was the best part of the task.

Day 5

Conference day: On the last day we packed our suitcases and took them to the waiting area after that we were called in the seminar hall. one officer came and he told us about the SSB procedure and about the failures and how to overcome from the failures and some good talks, after that our conference started my conference went for 15 minutes. Vice president again asked me some technical questions and put me into some situations, he asked me about my hobbies and interests, I answered very confidently after they ask me about the food stay then my conference ended. The resulting time, the officer came and gave briefing but we all knew what we were feeling, all having butterflies in stomach. The heart beat was at the highest.

When he started giving the numbers the first was chest number 3 that was Rushi somvanshi, he was previously recommended candidate so no surprise to hear his name. The next number was chest number 4, that is me, I stood up, told my name, forgot my roll number, he pushed me to remember the roll number but I could not. he allowed me get the chest number with the Plus sign. that moment was the best moment of my life when I got a recommendation. Five candidates recommended in my batch. Cleared our medicals, and now got all India rank 101.

I would like to tell every aspirant that believe in yourself and you will get what you want just try to think every time what you want ,get your energy concentrated towards your dreams and the result will be in your favour.

Remember vivekananda’s words” उठो जागो और तब तक मत रुको, जब तक अपने लक्ष्य की प्राप्ति न हो जाए”.

Jai hind

Hello Everyone. I’m Anurag Mahlawat, I belong to Alwar, Rajasthan. Will start the talk from the number of attempts. Total attempts – 11, C/O – 6, S/O – 3, Rec – 2. So, the journey started back in Sept. 2015 from SCS BLR. Initially I wasn’t very much interested to join forces but trust me, once you come to know about the life in armed forces, there’s no other career you’d want to pursue. Took 5 attempts after 12th class but failed in all of them. I would credit my immature nature and a bogus coaching academy for that. Completed my graduation (B.Sc. Maths) in 2018 and started appearing for exams again. Couldn’t clear CDS but managed to clear AFCAT. Personally I feel AFCAT is the easiest exam to clear(maybe because I cleared it everytime).

Appeared for AFCAT SSBs and was screened out twice and conf out twice. I picked up a corporate job in between which helped me managing my finances. Then came 2020, cleared AFCAT and CDS both exams. So, for my 10th attempt I appeared at AFSB Varanasi during the pandemic and got recommended subsequently, cleared my CPSS and medicals both. Next, Appeared for IMA entry at Bangalore and was recommended there as well. I won’t be discussing how interviews went because it’s different for everyone. Now comes the point I want to tell all those hardcore repeaters(it’s a community, those who know they know) out there, guys trust me it’s not tough at all.

I understood this thing after so many attempts. All it requires is a bit of hardwork on current affairs, common sense and presence of mind during those 5 days. Talking about OLQ’s, almost every one of us have them it’s just that if we’re able to present ourselves well in those 5 days. Work on finding solutions rather than putting knowledge everywhere, although both these things go together but focus more on finding solutions. And this goes for every test in SSB, you see a problem, grab details, use available resources, find solutions and you’re done. Know your strengths and accept all of your weakness, and guys assessors are looking for personality weaknesses not ‘meri gk weak hai, meri English weak hai, mera weight jyada hai’ types.

‘Be your natural self’ is true but what if that so called natural is not enough? So work on your raw skills like communication, knowledge, physique etc. These things will build up confidence which helps a lot during interview. Remember they aren’t looking for an officer, they are looking for a person who can be transformed to become an officer.

Talk to your recommended friends, they’ll help you more. One more thing, explore every option for yourself, don’t just sit and keep appearing for defence exams only, I appeared for CGL, CPO, CAPF, all these exams in mean time. Or take up a job, be responsible in daily life. And guys, stay cheerful during the process yaar, I’ve seen chaps getting competitive and loosing that natural smile they have during non testing hrs. Right now I’m waiting for merit and will be joining IMA or AFA soon. So, with a simple advice I’ll take leave – enjoy, stay dedicated and work hard.