UPSC CDS 1 2022 SSB Interview: Most Important Questions Asked

UPSC CDS 1 2022 SSB Interview Questions with Answers: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) successfully conducted the UPSC Combined Defence Services 1, 2022 Exam on 10th April 2022 for admission of 341 vacancies in the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Indian Naval Academy (INA), Air Force Academy (AFA), Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) (both Men & Women). In the UPSC CDS Written Exam, candidates were asked questions from three sections - General Knowledge, Elementary Maths, and English Language.

On 18th May 2022, the UPSC released the UPSC CDS 1 2022 Result on the official website. A total of 6622 candidates have qualified and been shortlisted for being the SSB Interview by the Service Selection Board of the Ministry of Defence for admission to (i) Indian Military Academy, Dehradun 154th (DE) Course commencing in January 2023 (ii) Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, Kerala, Course commencing in January 2023 (iii) Air Force Academy, Hyderabad (Pre-Flying) Training Course (213 F(P)) commencing in January 2023 (iv) Officers Training Academy, Chennai 117th SSC (Men) (NT) (UPSC) Course commencing in April 2023 and (v) Officers Training Academy, Chennai, 31st SSC Women (Non-Technical) (UPSC) Course commencing in April 2023.

In this article, we have shared UPSC CDS 1 2022 SSB Interview: Most Important Questions Asked.

UPSC CDS 1 2022 SSB Interview: Most Important Questions Asked

Q1. Tell me about yourself?

This question is usually the first question a candidate can expect. One should refrain from giving a mugged up answer from some source. Try to outline your answer in a chronological order under 60 to 90 seconds. Though there is no time limit to answer any questions however do not delve for longer on one question. Start with basic information like about your basic details, schooling, family details, etc in brief. This will give the interviewer their next questions.

Q2. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

For the answer to this question, ask your family members, friends, etc to get an understanding of your character and personality. Do a self-introspection and write down the attributes on a paper to narrow down the strengths and weaknesses.

Q3. Why do you want to join the defence services?

Keep your answer comprehensive, clear and concise. The question aims at assessing the degree of motivation and intent of a candidate for joining the defence services. One can use the following key points to frame their answer: Serving motherland, family background in armed forces, sense of pride and honour, respectable profession, respect factor, retirement benefits, etc.

Q4. Tell me about your family?

Keep the answer short and relevant. Do not add any sentimental or emotional details unless asked. State the number of members in your family, age, their occupation, etc. If the interviewer  

Q5. Tell me about your education qualifications?

State the educational institutions from where you pursued your schooling, graduation, higher studies. Mention your achievements, milestones, events where you represented your school/college, what subjects you were exceptionally good at, extracurricular activities that you enjoyed, were you active in sports, or were you a student good at debates, did you purse any arts or dance or music, etc. When and what made you realize during your education years that you would want to make your career in defence services.

Q6. Tell me about the competitive exams you have appeared in?

Answer this question in a chronological order, starting from the first competitive exam you appeared for (name of exam, year of attempt, result).

Q7. How did you prepare for CDS SSB Interview?

State the journey of your preparation for the UPSC CDS Exam and SSB Interview. One can tell that they joined a coaching academy. If this is more than one attempt, talk about how you improved your strategy than the last attempt. Speaking about how the whole preparation journey and attempts at UPSC CDS Exam has helped you discover yourself or be a better version of yourself can get you brownie points.

Q8. Do you have a plan if you get rejected in this attempt for CDS?

One should never say they don’t know what they will do next in such a scenario. State that in case they get rejected in this attempt for CDS, they will take away the learning points and come back in next time with improved strategy and learnings. In case, one has other professional plans or career field in mind, then they should also state that. It is not a negative thing to have another career plan if one gets rejected and they would want to divert their energy & talent towards other goals.

Q9. Who is your role model and why?

Avoid giving any cliché answers or fictional characters such as superheroes from movies or comics. Give an example of real life heroes or members from your family or friends or any one you have known directly or indirectly, etc. The interviewer is looking for an authentic and relevant and real life role model in your life. Summarise what do you look upto them for, identify the qualities you relate to or find admirable, or how you apply the qualities in your life to make it better, etc.

Q10. Share an instance where you were devastated and how did you overcome it?

Answer to this question will vary for every candidate as one must have faced different devastating situations in their lives. The interviewer intends to find out how do you handle yourself or respond to external adverse circumstances. Start by outlining the devastating situation you were in, keep it brief, describe your response or state of mind you experienced in those moments, then talk about how or what gave you the ray of hope to overcome the adverse situation where in you talk about your actions to overcome it, positive results, takeaways or learnings for life.

Q11. Do you have any questions for us?

Towards the end for the interview, the interviewers may leave the floor to you to ask any questions or queries you might have. However, one should refrain from asking if they are selected or not. It shows lack of professionalism and patience. One can put up questions regarding how will be the life and routine after selection or what more is expected of a candidate to make it through the academy or training, etc.

UPSC CDS 1 2022 Result