All about screening process in SSB

We all know whole SSB selection process is conducted in two stages followed by medical examination. In this blog lets understand why stage 1 is conducted; what all are conducted in stage-1; as stage 1 is also called as screening you can expect the words to be used alternatively. 

Why stage-1/screening?

Screening is the process of filtering started in late 90s. It is done only with a purpose of filtering down the reportees number to the capacity of the stay at the centers. It is also done to gauze the competence of the candidate. after all there is no point in testing an incompetent candidate. 

What does screening(stage -1) in SSB consists of?

The screening process in the SSB consists of two tests in it. One, OIR(officers intelligence rating), second, PPDT(picture perception and discussion test)

OIR(Officer's Intelligence Rating): 

This is a basic intelligence test consisting of two sets of papers namely verbal and non-verbal. number of questions may vary from 30 to 50 in each set and the time is kept accordingly. in general you will get 30 sec. to solve each question. As the level of questions are fairly easy anyone with average IQ and fair practice can solve all the questions. Before the test, interviewer/invigilator will explain the type of questions, mode of answers etc. so do not worry much. Pay attention and exercise your logical brain before hand with daily practice.

From where can I prepare for OIR?

Well for SSB OIR, Indiabix is the right place to practice online.

Some books: R.S.Agarwal, OIR e-books from SSBCRACK, AFCAT books from Arihant

What are they testing by OIR? 

OIR is just a test of basic intelligence. By OIR they are testing how fast one can solve logical problems.

As there are no negative marks try to answer as many as you can; If you are unable to answer certain questions guess it. It is essential to score at-least 80% in the OIR to be in safer side.

PP&DT (Picture Perception and Discussion Test):

In this test basically a picture is shown for 30 secs., you will have to write a story around the picture and discuss with the group of 10 to 20 candidates and come to a common consensus. details of the conduct are given below.

1)All the candidates are made to sit in the testing hall; and given with instructions.

2)Answer sheet will be distributed and a black and white picture will be shown for 30 secs. The show picture will be deliberately blur.

 

3)One minute will be given to note down the characters and to write the action of the story.(you can see this in sample paper given below)

4)Then approximately 4 minutes will be given to write the story. the part of instruction given for the story writing is;

"write a story of 70 to 100 words; let free your thoughts; keep in mind to express the feeling, emotions and thoughts as free as possible without paying attention to the beauty of the expression; The story should contain what lead to to the situation, what is currently happening what is most likely outcome";

Some facts while writing the story on answer sheet given: 

In the answer sheet given, there will be a rectangular box given in the top corner of left hand side. there you need to encircle the spot of the character which you have seen first; inside the circle you are suppose to mark the gender of the character( M- male, F-female, P-person/gender cant be determined), age of that character and mood of the character. If you see more than one characters mark them with dot or cross. You are also expected to write the action visible in the picture. For better understanding, go to sample sheet given at the end of the blog.

5)after writing down the story the sheets will be collected back; and generally there will be break of 15 to 30 minutes before the discussion; (you will be advised not to discuss the story among others)

6) Now the discussion part; for discussion candidates are split in to group of 10 to 20 (based on number of reportees) and made to sit in semicircular fashion according to chest numbers.

7)After candidates are made to sit in-front of assessors general instructions will be given. This part of test consists of two sub-parts story narration and discussion; 

Story narration: candidates have to narrate their story in crisp, one after other within 1 minute.

Discussion: Once the last person finishes the narration; the discussion to form common story starts. I am re-stating  Once the last person finishes the narration; immediately the discussion to form common story starts.

Note: be ready for heated discussion.

The three assessors sitting, will be 1)GTO(group testing officer), 2)IO(interviewing officer), 3)Psychologist. The maximum chunk of the evaluation will be done while narration, while narration Psyc. officer will judge format of the story( he checks, is the story practical/sensible). while IO check the way candidate narrated the story( he check has the candidate narrated the story confidently, is the story understandable, is the English/ language used is fair). While GTO tests the group behavior during discussion.

A sample picture and story is given below:  

SAMPLE OF ANSWER SHEET

SSB: GPE (Group planning exercise); a main testing tool of GTO

Group Planning Exercise(GPE) or sometimes called Military Planning Exercise(MPE) is one of the early group tests done at the SSB procedure. It is generally conducted on day 3 of 5 days SSB procedure. GPE consists of solving and discussing multiple real life problems given in the form of story; The process/conduct of GPE is given as below

1) The group of 10 candidates are made to sit in-front of a wooden model( map of a town/village will be drawn on a wooden board).

2) Group testing officer will explain the map in detail and he also narrate the problem story.

3) later group will be given the story card and 5 minutes to read the story again and relate it with the map given.

4)you will be given with the blank paper and time to write your individual solution.

5) then 15 mins of time is given to the group to discuss the plan and come to a common plan.

6) Group has to nominate a person to narrate the common story.

How to write GPE solution : General approach

while solving any bunch of problems, we need to consider below constraints;

1) Problems with priority: 

we need to identify number of problems and list them according to severity.

example: imagine there are two problems where one of the guy is profoundly bleeding and second one is a cattle is missing; it is obvious that injured guy needs first and immediate attention.

2)Time constraint: 

This factor is kinda inter-coiled with first one and this helps in prioritizing the tasks/problems; In the problem story generally time constraints will be given. 

for example; a bomb is planted and it is expected to explode at 1500hrs etc.

3)Resources:

To solve any of the problems we will have some or the other kind of resources; some of them will be directly given and some of them we will have to assume sensibly.

ALL THE ABOVE WILL MAKE SENSE ONCE YOU SEE THE SAMPLE PROBLEM GIVEN AT THE END.

Solutions:

Based on above three factors we need to make an effective/ sensible solution to various problems in our way. generally the GTO says the number of people in the story are equal to number of candidates in the group present there at GT. The number of people in the group in generally will be 10.

Split the group effectively and then solve the problems one by one. Make sure the end primary goal in mind.

A sample GPE and solution is given below refer to it write your own solution and compare with the sample solution.

MAP:

PROBLEM STORY:

SAMPLE SOLUTION FOR ABOVE GPE: