Conference Day is the last day in the 5 day Service Selection Board interview procedure. This day officially decides the recommendation of the candidate as on this day, the result of the Candidates is announced. Basically, the candidates have to appear before a panel of uniformed officers in the conference hall. You will face all the assessors collectively including the technical officer and commandment of the board. In total, there will be around 10–12 officers. Different assessors have been judging you at different tasks for the past 4 days. This conference is where they take a unanimous decision on the candidate’s selection or rejection.
Before attending the conference, all the candidates according to the chest numbers allotted to them are made to sit in the room in groups of 5 to 10.Then after the conference starts, candidates are called one by one in the conference hall. The chest number to be called is displayed on the panel held outside the conference hall. In this way the conference is arranged for the candidates is held. After the conference of each candidate, there is a time lag before they call the next one. It is during this time that the performance of the candidate is assessed by the physiologist, interviewing officer and GTO.
If you qualify after their short assessment, then they decide on your recommendation. In the conference room, you will ask some very general questions regarding your stay, food and about the friends you made. If your conference stands for a minute or two, then it’s a clear case that either you are clearly recommended or clearly conferenced out. If their decision is unanimous, either yes or no, your stay in the room will be very short. In case you are asked response to some situation it means that the assessors have tried to resolve some difference in assessment in your case. Thus your response to this situation is significant.
In this case, they generally ask basic questions like “how was your stay here”, “did you visit any important sites of the city”, “how was the food”, “did you make any friends” etc. And then they ask you to leave. Questions about your stay, rating the performance, places you visit and asking suggestions for improvement are just courtesy questions and have no relationship with the assessment. However, if there is some confusion amongst them that whether you should be recommended or not, they are likely to grill you a little and it may seem like a proper interview. You may be asked a few serious questions and your answers here will determine your selection.
Thus, the final day conference is very important for those candidates whose fate hangs in the balance. If you are asked very basic questions you may assume that you are either selected or rejected already, and if you are grilled a little that means you are at the border-line and the decision regarding your selection will be made on the basis of your answers at that very moment. Remain calm, and be absolutely honest with the interviewers.
Talking from the point of view of the assessors, they consider the conference as the fourth technique of assessment as each technique – Interview, GTO and Psychology have certain strengths and weaknesses. Trained and experienced assessors trust the other assessment techniques and benefit from the inputs of the other assessors to assess a candidate more comprehensively on the conference day.
Let’s have a look at some basic instructions for the SSB Conference:
• Dress well means your turnout and grooming should be like an officer. Also, wear your chest no. neatly.
• Control your fear or nervousness, sometimes candidates get nervous when they see men in uniform. Control your mind and stay calm, however, one day you will be same as them.
• Wish the person in front of you as soon as you enter the room. Mostly your interviewing officer handles you during the conference but sometimes some else from the board may take up the charge, for example, the president.
• Stay focus and listen to the questions carefully, be loud and audible to others while answering.
• Stand up gently and leave the room without much disturbance as soon as you get the instructions from IO/President.
• Prepare yourself for questions haven’t answered during the interview, you may face the same questions again in the conference.
Always remember that it is not the questions or answers that are important, it is the attitude and aptitude with which you answer that makes all the difference. They don’t expect you to know the answers if they are really tough. They don’t expect ready to go to war kind of candidates, they look for trainable candidates who are honest, confident and straight forward.
Now let’s have a look at some of the general questions that are asked in the SSB interview conference hall:
1. How are you? How were your stay, food and accommodation here in the last 5 days?
• Just state the obvious observations and feelings in the form of a well-structured answer.
2. Rate your performance out of 10?
• Assess yourself based on the performance that you have shown during last 4 days.
3. How do you rate your performance of three tests?
• Again, feel free to assess yourself based on the performance that you have shown during the last 4 days. Here, you can also project about which technique you liked the most and why.
4. How many friends did you make in these last five days?
• Just state truth and feelings in the form of a well-structured answer.
5. Any changes which you felt in yourself in these 5 days.
• State the behavioural as well as changes that you feel you will be making in your life from now on based on your performance in various testing techniques.
6. Why you were not selected in your previous attempts? (For candidates who were conference out earlier).
• Time to tell the weaknesses that you faced last time along with the actions that you have done to overcome them.
7. What you will do if you are not selected this time?
• It is asked basically to find out your Plan B for life.
8. Rate yourself in your group?
• Just state the obvious observations and feelings in the form of a well-structured answer by assessing yourself based on the performance that you have shown during the last 4 days.
9. What is your next plan?
• It is asked basically to find out your Plan B for the life and career.
10. Which test did you enjoy most in SSB?
• Just state the obvious observations and feelings in the form of a well-structured answer by assessing your conduct based on the performance that you have shown during the last 4 days in different tasks. Personally, I love GOR, IO and Interview.
11. In which test you think you could have done better?
• Just state the obvious observations and feelings in the form of a well-structured answer by assessing yourself based on the performance that you have shown during the last 4 days. I believe that GD was one task where I aimed to do better always by being a good listener.
12. Have you been out with friends? What all places you visited the city in which your Board is Located.
• Just state the common experiences you had.
13. Compare your performance with previous SSB attempt?
• Just state the obvious observations and feelings in the form of a well-structured answer by assessing your conduct based on the performance that you have shown during last 4 days in different tasks to that of the previous attempt.
14. Some SRTs or questions can be asked based upon your psychology.
• Any questions that were left unanswered by you in the Interview and any situational reaction questions that requires confirmation from the assessors.
15. Any suggestion for improvement of SSB?
• I believe you know the answer to this one.
You can prepare for defence entrance exams such as NDA, AFCAT, INET, and CDS by taking Written Online courses as they will not only give you access to full-length quality lectures but will also provide the facility to take standardized mock tests for better study and strategic growth in the exam. You can take multiple quizzes after each lesson to ensure the full understanding of the subject along with creating your customized lesson plans. You can check out the course content along with other important specifics at SSBCrack exams.
You can also access them through the SSBCrackExams App available in the google play store. Jai Hind
Can you post some failure to success stories of the nda or CDs cadets. The cadets who were not so good in studies but did rock in the uniforms