Group Discussions TECHNIQUES for a successful INTERVIEW

GROUP DISCUSSION

What is Group Discussion?

It is a test to find out the leadership qualities in a person. It is a test of analyzing a person’s behavior in a team. We often find that when ever there are a group of friends or classmates one particular person dominates the whole group. That person takes most of the decisions and yet convinces you as if you were also a part of the decision making. These are the people with the best leadership qualities. In order to find out the leader among a group, a group discussion would be the easiest and most successful method to use.

How will this test be conducted?

A group of candidates will be asked to sit in a semi circle or a circle with or without a table (in SSBs there are no tables). The group will be given a topic for discussion sometimes before the discussion to facilitate preparation and often at the group discussion assembly itself to assess spontaneity. Sometimes interview panels give two or three topics to choose from so as to ensure that all members in a group are comfortable with the topic. The time given for the actual discussion may range from 15- 30 minutes. During the discussion, the interview panel assesses the following:

1. Role behavior : it is believed that when individuals are placed in an undefined circumstance or environment they adopt roles that they are most comfortable in. Hence, in a group roles emerge- the role of a leader is an important one. IT IS OFTEN MISCONSTRUED IS THE ONE WHO TALKS THE MAXIMUM. I have seen groups where all the members are out-talking the others with no one listening! This approach is all wrong. The leader is the one who initiates the discussion if the group is frozen in the beginning. There is a misconception that who ever speaks the first will be judged the leader. This is wrong. The leader will initiate only when no one is volunteering to open the discussion. If there are members who initiate the discussion then the leader is the one who shows his stature through content and quality of his or her contribution to the discussion. The leader is one who listens just as much as he or she contributes. The leader also plays an important role in ensuring that everyone in the group gets a chance to speak. He or she will also help in maintaining the psychological and emotional health of the group in case of disagreements and arguments. The leader offers alternatives and solutions to differences.

2. Communication skills: A group discussion throws up the individual’s ability to put forward ideas forcefully, articulately and logically. THE COMMAND OVER THE LANGUAGE IS ESSENTIAL FOR SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION. The ability to listen and integrate other viewpoints with one’s own is also assessed.

3. Content: Very often group candidates feel that it is the quality of speaking which matters and not the qualitative content. They are mistaken because interview panels give a lot of importance to content. The content is measured by the depth of knowledge the individual has on the subject and how logically and clearly it is put forward. Bluffers can be detected immediately and are instantly rejected.

4. Emotional stability: Candidates in a group are under quite a bit of pressure especially since all are aspiring to be selected. An immature group would build this pressure up by being inconsiderate to other group members. Some members become argumentative, dogmatic, over-bearing, biased or emotionally aroused and excited on one hand while others become insecure, quiet, withdrawn and nervous. Interviewers look for a balanced individual who is cool and composed, yet assertive enough to hold ones own point of discussion.

MOST COMMONLY ASKED QUESTION IN A SSB INTERVIEW

What improvement you want to make in your unit. (you are serving as an soldier

evrybody says to be truthful during the full ssb period . when asked to give one`s negative qualities should we be truthful here too ?

What type of people u like often meeting and why,What type of people u avoid meeting ?

You R The DC of your District,What steps will u take for the over all development of the area ?

why to join indian army

tell me about indo china relation ?

why india making ties with iran

tell me about ur stay ?

why india making ties with iran

tell me about indo china relation ?

why u want to become an officer ?UR presently serving as soldier.

what is the impact of ur name on u? eg Akash

what is punching?

what is insertion sort?

what is merge sort?

what is the difference between maoism ,naxalism ,and communism?

tell me about ur teachers whom u like more and whome u dislike

tell me ur relation with father, mother and siblings

what steps india shouid take as china is pushing borders or rising chinies incrusion in to indian territory?

what u will do for indian army as a mechanical engineer? Suppose in your family there is someone who is in contact with some terrorist group and you have been informed the he/she is responsible for mumbai terror attack then what you will do? Why do you want to join defence, however there are many options for your carrier like Engineering, doctor etc.? who was the india first prime minister what is the difference between maoism ,naxalism ,and communism? what is look east and lok west policy of india? what is maoism, naxalism and communism?

PREPARATION BEFORE INTERVIEW

One of the most fundamental factors that contribute to the success of an interview is the time and quality of preparation made by you. The degree of preparedness before an interview helps reduce the uncertainty and anxiety prior to the interview. The amount of effort you wish to put into preparation is directly proportional to the importance of the interview. Simply put, if the reason for giving the interview is important enough the more would be the effort required. Let us consider some of the things you must do to prepare yourself for an interview.

LEARN ABOUT THE ORGANISATION

It is important to have a background of the company you apply to. Selectors cannot comprehend why and how a person can say he is keen to join an organization about which he knows little or nothing. In most countries there is a surplus of manpower and a few jobs. People apply without bothering about the nature of the organization. All they want is a good job. However, from the interviewer’s point of view the good applicant is one who has done some homework about the organization. What you must know is

1. A brief history of the organization.
2. Its main divisions/sub-divisions/sub-business.
3. Location of its other units /locations,
4. Nature of its products and services.
5. Any important of the organization that has been news worthy.
6. The nature of job applied for.

The sources from where the above information can be obtained are:

1. Company balance sheets available at head office of the company/ internet/newspaper.
2. Speech of the chairman fro m the last general body meeting.
3. Brochures and pamphlets available at any sales office of the company.
4. Talking to employees and to ascertain as to what kind of employees they require.

REFRESHER ON THE SUBJECT

It is but natural that interviewers would quiz you on your field of specialization. Hence, if you have studied economics, electrical engineering, personal management, office administration or whatever, you must go back to the principle text books and refresh your knowledge definitions, formulas, concepts and other related issues. An interviewer judges your ability to grasp and retain what you will be taught by the organization in future on the basis of how did it in the past with your past education and experience. The interviewer also ascertains your knowledge and intelligence by this.

CERTIFICATIONS AND THOROUGH KNOWLEDGE OF CLAIMS MADE

You must always strive to list your achievements, academic qualifications, prior experience and extra curricular activities. Such achievements, or claims, must be authenticated by certificates or photographs. The important ones may be photocopied and attached with the bio-data while the originals of all certificates should ne neatly catalogued in a folder and kept at hand for reference should the interviewer ask. Through this process interviewers ascertain your authenticity, honesty and achievement orientation.

NAMES OF SELECTION PANEL

Nothing is more precious to a person than his or her name. as part of the preparation processit would be an added advantage to know the names of those of those on the selection.

DON’T MAKE THE PREPARATION KNOWN

It is important not to let the selection panel know the efforts made by you towards preparing for the interview through your responses. Don’t flaunt your preparation openly, especially in SSB interviews. This will prove that you are only acting or altering your ways of answering the question which you would have answered otherwise. By gradual discovery of your knowledge of the organization the interviewer will judge your commitment, keenness and sincerity.

SSB INTERVIEW

Services Selection Board (SSB) is the Personality and Intelligence Interview spread over 5 days which scientifically analyses each candidate's potential and compatibility for commission into the Armed Forces of India.


There are numerous ways of earning Commission as an officer in Indian Armed Forces, both for civilians (after 10+2, graduation, post graduation), as well as for serving personnel. Whatever be the mode, SSB is the step all have to clear, except for the medical corps. There is no limit on the number of attempts that can be made and the SSB Assessors encourage candidates to appear again for SSB.

The interview exercise is mainly a psychological assessment of the personality of the candidate, to gauge his/her potential as a future officer in Indian Military. The tests conducted by the SSB aim at selecting individuals with OLQs (Officer Like Qualities).

These qualities include effective intelligence, sense of responsibility, initiative, judgment (under stress), ability to reason and organize, communication skills, determination, courage, self-confidence, speed in decision-making, willingness to set an example, compassion and a feeling of loyalty to the nation.

Most of the tests require average intelligence. The SSB attempts to gauge the natural responses of the individuals. The tests are graded into various categories of both individual and group variety and each batch of candidates goes through the subtle testing pattern in the course of a few days. They are under observation not only while they perform in various psychological tests but even as they conduct themselves during the course of their stay at the SSB headquarters, where they are billeted for that duration.

The SSB Board is not concerned with the number of vacancies. Its responsibility is to assess and then, recommend. After recommendation, the candidates appear for Medical Examination and after that is the Merit List. Those who finally make the grade join for training and hence become Commissioned Officers.

Origin of these type of testing belongs to first world war era. In first world war, large number of casualties on battle fields necessitated recruitment of best fighting talent in armed forces. For this need, psychologists designed some scientific based tests which accesses candidate's Officer Like Qualities (OLQs). Over the years SSB testing has been improved based on feedback and has been proved to be an effective and accurate way of selecting candidates who are capable of being at least an average officer after training although SSB is the world's toughest army test.

The candidate who are declared by UPSC as having cleared the written exam, as well as those shortlisted in Direct Entries are called through Call Letters to appear for SSB (Allahabad/Bangalore/Bhopal/Dehradun/Mysore/Varanasi/) at the Centre allotted to the candidate. There have instances when the call-up letter fails to reach the candidate and the onus lies on the candidate to be alert and contact the office after a reasonable amount of time if the letter is not received when UPSC written has been cleared. Similar is the way for service candidates, except for that their movement is intimated to their seniors via movement orders.

• Day 0 (Day of Reporting)

SSB is a two stage process. To qualify for Stage II, a candidate needs to clear Screening Test or Stage I. On the date of reporting, the candidates are picked from the railway station and during the evening, certain Forms and also the Bio Data forms known as “Personal Information Questionnaire” (PIQ) are filled. PIQ is very important- there must be no cutting and consistency in each of the four or five copies of PIQ you are to fill. Candidates are also briefed on testing schedule and general instructions, which must be followed throughout the duration of stay in selection center.

• Day 1 (Screening Tests)

On the next day, is the Stage I, in which candidates are given Intelligence Test (Verbal and Non-Verbal), then there is a Picture Perception test, in which a slide (hazy or clear) is shown and then each candidate writes their story and later have a Group Discussion. This sequence is popularly called PPDT- Picture Perception and Discussion Test. After the completion of these tests, results are announced and those who do not make it in this attempt are dropped back to the railway station and the successful ones are retained for 4 days of detailed assessment.

• Day 2 (Psychology Tests)

1. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)- Commonly known as Picture Story writing.
2. Word Association Test (WAT)
3. Situation Reaction Test (SRT)
4. Self Description Test (SD), or a variation of this like description from the eyes of parents, teachers, colleagues, neighbours etc.

• Day 3 and Day 4 (GTO Tasks)

Recommended dress for GTO Tasks

Group Testing Officers (GTO) Test (Third and Fourth day)

The following tests are conducted in this category :-

1. Group discussion
2. Group Planning Exercise (sometimes known as Military Planning Exercise)
3. Progressive Group Tasks
4. Half Group Tasks
5. Individual Obstacles
6. Group Obstacles Race or Snake Race
7. Command Task
8. Lecturette
9. Final Group Task

Note:Interview :- (Held during afternoon/evening hours on 2nd/3rd/4th day)

• Day 5 (Conference)

On the final day, every Assessor and the candidate sit together for and have a chat- the fate of the candidate for that SSB is decided by the Assessors collectively there. The candidates are required to appear before the complete Board of Examiners comprising of President,Deputy President, all the psychologists, all the GTOs and Technical Officer.

After the Board Meeting of every candidate is over,the final result is declared within ½ an hour. Selected candidates are required to stay back for their medical examination (takes about 3 to 5 working days) in the Military Hospital near by or at a different place and the remaining candidates are dropped at the Railway Station.

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