CDS Selection Process: Written Test and SSB Interview

In this article, we will be discussing the CDS selection process 2022. Before starting your preparation for UPSC CDS it's important to check out the selection process and the stages involved in CDS Exam. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts the "Combined Defence Services" (CDS) Examination twice a year (UPSC CDS 1 & UPSC CDS 2) for recruiting candidates for the Indian Military Academy, Officers Training Academy, Indian Naval Academy and Indian Air Force Academy. The Notification is usually released in the months of October/ November and June/ July, and the examination is generally conducted in February and November respectively. Candidates can check CDS 01 2022 Notification for detailed information about the upcoming CDS Exam. Check the CDS exam selection process given below:

 

 

Conducting body	Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)
Official Website	https://upsc.gov.in/
Mode of Exam	Offline
Stages of Exam	1. Written Exam 2. SSB Interview
Vacancies	417

Candidates can read CDS Eligibility Criteria here in detail before applying. 

CDS Selection Stages

CDS Selection is a two-stage process wherein, the first stage is a written exam to check your knowledge regarding English, General Knowledge, and elementary mathematics (Not applicable for OTA candidates). Whereas, stage 2 is the SSB Interview where aspirants' mental and psychological aspects are checked. Let us learn these stages one after the other  

Stage 1

1.       CDS written exam will be objective in nature, time allotment for each paper is of 2 hours.

2.       A candidate who will qualify for the written test will be eligible for the second stage of CDS i.e. SSB Interview.

3.       For admission in the Indian Military, Naval, and Air Force Academy separate written tests for three papers - English, General Knowledge, and Elementary Mathematics are conducted in the first stage of the CDS 2022 selection process.

4.       For admission to OTA (Officers’ Training Academy), only two papers are conducted – English and General Knowledge.

 

Stage 2

1.       Services Selection Board (SSB) Interview is the second stage in the CDS Selection Process.

2.       CDS SSB Interview is a 5-day process where aspirants' personality is checked by various tests that are conducted in these 5 days. Candidates are judged physically, mentally, and psychologically as well.

3.       On day one, prospects have to undergo Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) & Picture Perception and Description Test (PPDT), before undergoing stage 2.  Candidates are scrutinized for their verbal and non-verbal abilities 1-day program. Details of day 1 and interview schedule thereafter is give in the successive paragraphs.

 

Officer Intelligence Rating

The Officer Intelligence Rating test is the first part of the Stage 2 selection process in SSB Interview process. It comprises two sections - Verbal and Non Verbal Reasoning. In this test, around 55 to 60 questions will be asked from both sections combined together.

Verbal Reasoning Section: The total number of questions asked in the Verbal Ability Reasoning section in the Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) test is 50. In this test, candidates will be given 30 minutes to complete the test and thereafter candidates have to write the Non-Verbal Reasoning Section.

Non-Verbal Reasoning Section: In this section candidates are given a  time period 25 to 30 minutes to attempt 50 questions of Non-verbal reasoning questions in this SSB CDS Interview Stage 2.

After the students are done with this test, the second set of the test is given to the applicants, i.e., Picture Perception and Description Test (PPDT).

Picture Perception and Description Test

After aspirants complete their OIR test, then they have to undergo a PPDT test. This is a quite challenging test since it examines candidates’ memory retention along with the abilities to comprehend the situations. The candidate is given only 30 seconds to observe a hazy picture and expound on it within 3 minutes. Within this limited period, candidates have to focus upon seven basic parameters and write a short story. Basic parameters on which this test lies  

• Age
• Sex
• Mood
• Character
• Past (what happened in the picture situation just before the click)
• Present (what events currently take place)
• Future (what will happen next in the picture)

 

CDS Day-wise Interview Schedule

Day 1 - Reporting, Filling of forms, Picture Perception and Description Test (PPDT)

Day 2 - Psychological Test- This includes TAT (Thematic Appreciation Test), WAT (Word Association Test), SRT (Situation Reaction Test). SD (Self- Description)

Day 3 - The most important leg of the CDS Interview is Group Tasks wherein candidates have to prove their physical as well as mental prowess. Also, Officer Like Qualities are judged on the basis of these tasks. The tasks allotted to candidates include Group Discussion, Military Planning Exercise, Progressive Group Task, Group Obstacle Race, Half Group Task

Day4 - Individual Obstacle Task (IOT), Command Task, Final Group Task (FGT), Personal Interview, and Individual Lecturette

Day 5 - Conference and Document Verification

 

Postponing SSB interview

• Requests for postponing the SSB interview will only be considered only for very genuine circumstances. It will be considered if it is convenient for which Army headquarters /Air Headquarter /Naval HQ will be the sole deciding authority. Such kinds of requests should be sent to the Selection Centre/ from where the call for interview has been received.

 

Note: In case a qualified candidate does not get the interview call letter before the date then candidates should write to-

Army HQ/Rtg. (CDSE Entry/ SSC Women Entry for Officers Training Academy)

175, West Block-III,

Ramakrishnapuram, New Delhi- 110066

OR contact on telephone No. 011-26176028

For similar queries by the Navy/Air Force candidates, having the first choice should write to Naval HQ or Air HQ (in case of non-receipt of call letter).

 

 

After CDS Interview

 

What is the process after CDS Interview?

After the interview process of CDS is completed, the candidate’s verification takes place which includes the document verification. Candidates who qualify the interview will have to present their required set of original documents along with the two self-attested copies at SSC (Services Selection Center) after the interview.

List of documents required

Given below is the list of documents that have are needed at the time of the selection process.

(Original certificates will be returned after the verification. Note - Certified true copies or Photostat copies of the certificates will not be accepted in any case.)

• Qualification Certificates
• Proof of Identity (Pan Card, Aadhar Card, Voter ID, etc.)
• Birth Certificate
• Passport Size Photographs
• Category Certificate for the Reserved Category Candidates
• Proof of Residence

Medical Examination

Medical Examination is the last but very important step. This step is held to verify that the selected aspirant is physically fit for the officer cadre or not. This verification is must. For final recruitment, you have to clear all the verification formalities.

Telangana Police SI Syllabus

 

Telangana Sub Inspector Syllabus 2021

Candidates preparing for Telangana Police SI Recruitment 2021 must clearly understand the subject-wise syllabus of SI exam. Firstly let us know the type of written tests, there are two written tests for the Telangana Police SI Recruitment Exam, a Preliminary Test (PT) and there after a Final Written Exam (FWE).

The PT consists of two Objective type question papers on Reasoning/Mental Ability and General Studies for all posts. Whereas the Final Written Exam (FWE) consists of four papers for Sub Inspector posts which includes two Objective type question papers on Reasoning/Mental Ability and General Studies along with Descriptive Type questions on English Language and Telugu or Urdu. You can go through the detailed subject-wise syllabus prescribed by Telangana State level Police Recruitment Board (TSLPRB) for both stages as per notification is given below:

Telangana SI syllabus for Preliminary Written Test 2021

Arithmetic & Test of Reasoning / Mental Ability (Objective Type) (100 Questions):

Arithmetic Syllabus
Number system	Simple interest
Compound interest	Ratio & proportion
Average	Percentage
Profit & loss	Time & work
Work & wages	Time & distance
Clocks & calendars	Partnership
Menstruation
Reasoning Syllabus / Mental Ability Syllabus
Analogy	Similarities and differences
Spatial visualization	Spatial orientation
Problem-solving	Analysis
Judgment decision making	Distance & Directions
Classification	Blood Relations
Visual memory / Embedded Figures	Mirror Images
Number Series	Number Ranking
Alphabet Series	Coding Decoding
Arithmetical Reasoning	Cubes and Dice

General Studies Syllabus (Objective Type) (100 Questions)

General Science

• Contemporary developments in science and technology and their implications including matters of everyday observation and experience,
• Contemporary issues relating to protection of environment as may be expected of a well educated person who has not made a special study of any scientific discipline.

Current events

Current Affairs and events with respect to national and international importance.

History of India

History emphasis will be on broad general understanding of the subject in its social, economic, cultural and political aspects. And also Indian National Movement.

Geography of India.

Indian Polity and Economy

Polity and economy syllabus includes the Country’s

• Political system
• Rural development
• Planning and economic reforms in India.

Telangana Movement and State Formation

• The idea of Telangana (1948-1970)
• Mobilization phase (1971-1990)
• Formation of Telangana State (1991-2014).

---

TS SI Exam syllabus for Final Written Examination

Candidates who qualify in the Physical Efficiency Test will be required to appear in a Final Written Examination having four papers (each of 3 (three) hours duration). It may be noted that, Papers I and II are qualifying in nature and the marks secured in these Papers i.e., I & II will not be taken into account for final selection. Those Candidates who do not secure the minimum qualifying marks in these papers, will not be considered further in the selection process, irrespective of their performance in papers III and IV. Let us now learn about the Telangana Police SI Syllabus for FWE.

PAPER I: English (Objective Type) 

Paper 1 (English) is held to test the candidate’s understanding of the English language, its correct usage and their writing ability would be tested. This is a qualifying Paper in English and will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard. Questions asked as per the standards of SSC / Matriculation seeking to ascertain the Candidate’s knowledge of Usage, Vocabulary, Grammar, Comprehension and other language skills will in the Objective Format.

PAPER II Telugu / Urdu (Objective Type) (200 Questions)

In this paper candidates can choose to have one of the languages i.e., either Telugu or Urdu and should indicate their choice as and when asked for by the recruiting authority. Option once exercised will be final and a candidate will not be allowed to change it subsequently.

Paper 2 is also a qualifying Paper in Telugu or Urdu and this will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard. Questions of the standard of SSC / Matriculation are asked to ascertain the Candidate’s knowledge of Usage, Vocabulary, Grammar, Comprehension and other language skills will be asked for in the Objective Format

PAPER III: Arithmetic & Test of Reasoning / Mental Ability (Objective Type) (200 Questions)

Arithmetic’s syllabus for Prelims and Mains exams remain the same, where as the level of questions largely vary between both exams. Candidates preparing for Mains exam should have greater understanding of the concepts and they have to ensure practicing next level of difficult models in each topic as compared to that of Preliminary Written Test.

Arithmetic Syllabus
Number system	Simple interest
Compound interest	Ratio & proportion
Average	Percentage
Profit & loss	Time & work
Work & wages	Time & distance
Clocks & calendars	Partnership
Menstruation
Reasoning / Mental Ability Syllabus
Analogy	Similarities and differences
Spatial visualization	Spatial orientation
Problem-solving	Analysis
Judgment decision making	Distance & Directions
Classification	Blood Relations
Visual memory / Embedded Figures	Mirror Images
Number Series	Number Ranking
Alphabet Series	Coding Decoding
Arithmetical Reasoning	Cubes and Dice

PAPER IV: General Studies (Objective Type) (200 Questions)

Again this paper syllabus is also same as that of Preliminary Written Test with little difference, as said in above paragraph, the level of questions will vary when it comes to Final Written Examination / Mains exam. Candidates have to prepare for Preliminary and Final exams simultaneously with greater depth in understanding the syllabus during the initial preparation. Check out the Final Written exam syllabus:

General Science

TS SI science syllabus consists of:

• Contemporary developments in science and technology and their implications including matters of everyday observation and experience,
• Contemporary issues relating to protection of environment as may be expected of a well educated person who has not made a special study of any scientific discipline.

Current events

Current Affairs and events with respect to national and international importance.

History of India 

In Sub Inspector History syllabus, emphasis will be on broad general understanding of the subject in its social, economic, cultural and political aspects. And also Indian National Movement.

Geography of India.

Indian Polity and Economy 

TS SI Polity and economy syllabus includes the Country’s

• Political system
• Rural development
• Planning and economic reforms in India.

Telangana Movement and State Formation

• The idea of Telangana (1948-1970)
• Mobilization phase (1971-1990)
• Formation of Telangana State (1991-2014).

Personality test (the questions will be from Ethics, Sensitivity to Gender and weaker sections, social awareness, Emotional Intelligence).

For regular updates about Telangana Police SI Syllabus visit our site regularly (or) visit TSLPRB website www.tslprb.in

https://www.rankershubindia.com/course/si-constable/

SSC CGL Tier 2 Preparation Strategy

In the previous post we have discussed in detail about the SSC CGL tier 1 preparation tips and strategy, now let us discuss about CGL tier 2 preparation tips. In case of SSC CGL Tier 2, speed is the most important factor that plays a important role, in Tier 2 the number of questions are more as well as the difficulty level is high, these have to solved in lesser time. Along with speed, candidates have to focus on accuracy also.  Now let us understand the paper pattern of the SSC CGL Tier 2.

Sl No	Subject	Questions	Maximum marks	Duration
	Paper 1 & 2
1	Quantitative Aptitude	100	200	2 hours
2	English Language & Comprehension	200	200	2 hours
	Paper 3
3	Statistics	100	200	2 hours
	Paper 4
4	Finance & Accounting	40	80	2 Hours
5	Economics & Governance	60	120

Note:

• Paper 1 & 2 exam are compulsory for all the aspirants.
• Paper 3 exam is only for all those aspirants who have applied for the post of Statistical Investigator.
• Paper 4 exam is conducted only for those candidates who are interested in the post of Assistant Audit Officer (AAO).
• SSC CGL Tier 2 Exam is conducted online.
• Negative Marking: The negative marking for the Paper 1, 3 & 4 is 0.50 marks and for Paper 2, it is 0.25 marks.
• Aspirants have to have a clear idea about the syllabus of Tier 2 before starting their preparation. For detailed syllabus of Tier 2 Exam click here.

How to Prepare for SSC CGL Tier 2

To score high and attain qualifying marks in the exam, candidates have to prepare a strategy, whether you have prepared for SSC CGL Tier 1 or Tier 2 in class or online courses or on your own, preparing a strategy is quite important to attain success. Here are some of the guidelines to help you prepare at the best.

Syllabus and Exam Pattern

Firstly, it is important to know what is the syllabus of Tier 2 exam and paper pattern. This is the most important thing that you need to keep in mind before starting SSC CGL Tier 2 preparation. Without knowing the syllabus and exam pattern you will not get an insight about the exam and help you in making the preparation strategy. Aspirants have to know the important topics and focus on preparation accordingly. Know about the detailed exam pattern here.

Study Plan

After knowing the syllabus, second most important thing is to analyze your weak and strong areas topic wise and make a SSC CGL Tier 2 study plan accordingly. Allot more time to the weak topics. Prepare your timetable accordingly and ensure that you are not neglecting the other areas that you are confident.

Regularly Attempt Mock Exams

Success in exams depends on both mastering the concepts and simultaneously practicing mock exams. So first thing is to attempt as many mock tests as possible of different difficulty levels and keep practicing them until you get confident and get good score. Practicing regular mocks also gives you a feedback of your SSC CGL Tier 2 preparation strategy and you can check & boost your speed by minimizing the time used to solve the questions. In this way you can achieve command over your weak areas.

Practice Previous Papers

Secondly, practice SSC CGL Previous Year Question Papers, which will help you get the actual feel of the exam. This will also help you in understanding the changing trends to exam over the years. There are handfuls of resources today to get free content of previous years papers, try solving them as many as possible. 

Prepare Handbook or Notes

Thirdly, you must prepare a handbook or notes on your own for last minute revision. This handbook should contain all the important formulas, tricks and vocabulary words, which will help you at the time of the revision. Do not write any unnecessary stuff; write only the important things in this book

After knowing the basic strategy for CGL tier 2 preparation, let us now know the section wise preparation tips

Quantitative Aptitude Preparation Strategy SSC CGL Tier 2

Quantitative Section seems to be difficult for many candidates. As per the SSC CGL previous year’s trends also it is seen that the Quant section gave a tough call to the aspirants. The only way to overcome the fear about this section is only by having a good understanding of concepts and thereafter applying these concepts to the question asked, all this can only happen if you revise the topics and apply the tricks while practicing the questions. Let us check ssc cgl tier 2 maths topic wise weightage asked in previous years, this will help you immensely in chalking out preparation strategy for CGL Tier 2. 

SSC CGL Tier 2: Topic Wise Distribution Of Questions in Quantitative Aptitude
S. No	Topic	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
1	Number System /             HCF & LCM	7	8	7	7	10	7	8	7
2	Percentage, Average	10	8	10	9	10	7	6	8
3	Time & Work,                   Pipe & Cistern	6	6	6	5	6	5	4	5
4	Profit & Loss, Discount	10	11	11	10	10	9	9	10
5	Ratio, Mixture & Allegation	6	6	4	4	7	8	6	6
6	Time Speed Distance,     Boat & Stream Trains	4	5	6	8	4	3	4	5
7	Interest (CI & SI)	4	4	5	4	3	4	4	4
8	Geometry	18	14	15	13	15	12	13	12
9	Mensuration	11	15	11	13	10	13	13	11
10	Trigonometry,                   Height & Distance	9	7	10	9	10	9	11	10
11	DI	5	4	5	5	5	5	7	8
12	Algebra	7	8	10	11	10	10	5	8
13	Surds & Indices,              Simplification	2	4	0	2	0	3	3	4
14	Partnership	–	–	–	–	–	2	2	2
15	Coordinate Geometry	–	–	–	–	–	–	2	0
	Total	100 Questions

By analyzing the above data we can find that certain areas are having high weight age over the other and need attention by student. Therefore, while preparing for SSC CGL tier 2, topics like Geometry, trigonometry, Algebra and Mensuration from Pure maths area cannot be neglected at any cost. At the same time topics such as Simplification, number system, HCF & LCM, Ratios, Percentage & Profit loss and Allegations plays a vital role in clearing the section.

Key to success in this section lies in practicing as many mock tests as possible and while practicing, use short tricks to solve the questions.

How to Prepare English Language and Comprehension Paper for SSC CGL Tier 2

SSC CGL Tier II English Language Paper has 200 questions carrying 1 mark each. The duration of this paper is 2 hours. 0.25 marks will be deducted for every incorrect answer. So if you are not confident about a particular question, it is preferable not to attempt it.

In English, there are three types of questions: Vocabulary questions, Grammar questions and Reading Comprehension.

• To get in-depth grip on grammar-related questions, you should revise all the rules regarding, uses of tenses, articles, nouns, pronouns, subject-verb agreement, usage of conjunctions and prepositional phrases.
• For CGL tier 2 candidates have to Practice at least 5 passages daily, read the questions first then read the passage. 
• Read newspapers with attention to detail, it will not only enhance your general knowledge and vocabulary but will also help in your preparation for reading comprehension.

The pattern of this section is very similar to that of tier I but the level of difficulty is much higher. Nearly 40- 50% of the questions are based on grammar. Therefore, if you are adept in the language you will not face difficulty in attempting this paper.

Practice the questions given in the books on grammar and previous year’s question papers. SSC always repeats the questions in all sections including the English section of SSC CGL Tier-2. Let us check ssc cgl tier 2 English topic wise weightage as asked per previous years trends:

SSC CGL Tier 2: Topic Wise Distribution Of Questions and marks weightage in the English Language
S. No	Topic	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
1	Spot the error	20	20	20	20	20	20
2	Fill In The Blanks	5	5	5	5	11	8
3	Synonyms	3	3	3	3	3	4
4	Antonyms	3	3	3	3	3	4
5	Spelling /detecting misspelt words	3	3	3	3	4	4
6	Idioms & Phrases	10	10	10	10	10	10
7	One word substitution	12	12	14	12	12	10
8	Improvement of sentences	22	22	22	22	22	20
9	Active/Passive voice of verbs	20	20	20	20	20	25
10	Conversion into Direct /         Indirect narration	27	27	26	27	25	25
11	Jumbled Paragraph /            Sentence Rearrangement	20	20	20	20	20	20
12	Cloze passage	25	25	24	25	25	25
13	Comprehension Passage	30	30	30	30	25	25
	Total	200 Questions

SSC CGL Tier 2 Paper 3 Statistics Paper Preparation tips and tricks

SSC CGL Tier II Statistics Paper has 100 questions carrying one mark each. The duration of this paper is 2 hours. Each correct answer will fetches 02 marks while 0.5 mark will be deducted for every incorrect answer.

Focus on important topics like Measures of Central tendency and dispersion, skewness and kurtosis, correlation and regression, probability theory, time series analysis, sampling theory, statistical inference, etc. let us check the weight age of questions as per previous years paper

Topic	Weightage
Measures of Central tendency and dispersion	21
Moments, Skewness and Kurtosis	10
Correlation and Regression	6
Probability Theory	6
Random Variable	9
Sampling Theory	7
Statistical Inference	15
Analysis of Variance	6
Time Series Analysis	5
Index Numbers	7
Theory of Attributes	8

From the above data we can see that three topics have high weightage, if we master these areas then almost half the battle is won.  The three topics are Measures of Central tendency and dispersion; Moments, Skewness and Kurtosis  & Statistical Inference, these topics are on the easier side and can be easily covered.

SSC CGL Tier 2 paper 4 General Studies Finance and Economics: Preparation tips

Paper 4 has been added to CGL Tier II has been introduced for the new post of Assistant Audit Officer (AAO) and Assistant Accounts Officer. The duration of this paper is 120 minutes. It will consist of 100 questions of 2 marks each. 0.5 mark will be deducted for an incorrect answer.

Subject	Number of questions	Maximum Marks	Duration
Finance	40	80	120 minutes
Economics	60	120
Total	100	200	120 minutes

So we can see that, 40% of the paper will be from Finance Subject and 60% will be from economics. The exam has a huge syllabus but questions are generally of moderate to tough level. Although the syllabus is of graduation level, the questions are based on elementary applications and not on advanced ones.

On the other hand, this paper does not involve the application of formulae and tricks which takes a lot of time. It is easy to learn and score in Economics and Finance with accuracy.

Candidates should have the knowledge of basic topics of class XI and XII like national income and aggregates, foreign exchange demand, supply, economic development, the balance of payment, and national and international financial institutions.

Based on the previous year’s SSC exam pattern it is observed that 7 to 10 questions are asked from the topics mentioned below:

• Five Year Plans
• Indian Tax Structure
• Money and Banking
• Economic Terms
• Economic Reforms in India

Hope you got an insight of how to prepare for SSC CGL tier 2 exam.

All the best

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SSC CGL Exams Related Links

SSC CGL	SSC CGL Salary
SSC CGL Exam pattern	SSC CGL Syllabus
SSC CGL Preparation Strategy	SSC CGL FAQs

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