SSB is not an examination. It is an interview process for selection of men and women for Armed forces. You can get an entry into the Indian Army through Women Special Entry Scheme for Officers. To be eligible, you need to be between 19-27 years with a graduate or postgraduate degree in any stream.

Selection procedure:

Your application is first short listed by the Army Headquarters and then you are called for SSB interview. If you clear the SSB interview process you are required to clear medical examination. If you qualify in the medical examination, a final merit list is prepared based on your performance in the SSB interview process. About one third of the candidates whose name appears in the final merit list are selected for training at the Officers Training Academy, Chennai and subsequent posting as a Sub-lieutenant.

All the candidates short listed by the Army headquarters are put to intelligence and personality test by the SSB, popularly known as the SSB interview. This interview is a comprehensive test of one's personality, intelligence and suitability to be chosen as an officer in the Defence Services. SSB interview lasts for 3 to 4 days and has several components:

Personality tests - These tests are as follows

• Situation Reaction Test (SRT) - Sixty situations are given and the candidate is required to answer the reactions within 30 minutes.

• Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) - A set of 12 pictures are shown and the candidate is required to write a story in 3 minute for each picture.

• Word Association Test (WAT) - Sixty words are projected and the candidate is required to make a sentence, in 15 seconds for each word.

Group test - Group Test is conducted in batches of 8-10 candidates. The test consists of group planning, group discussion, outdoor group tasks. The candidates are asked to take lectures on certain topics.

Interview - This is to test the personality of the candidate. This includes general awareness.

Intelligence test - Engineers and other ground duty applicants go through the officers intelligence rating test. This test is designed to find out the basic intelligence level of the candidates. Only those who achieve a minimum acceptable level and grade are required to undergo the Personality Test which is common to all candidates.

These verbal and non-verbal intelligence tests are designed to test not only a candidate's intelligence but also their social traits and interest in current affairs. The candidate can get a maximum of 900 marks in these tests.

For application, look for advertisements published in Employment News and other leading newspapers in the months of June & December.