Four days activities at ISSB

The aim of Inter services Section Board is to ascertain the qualities among young man and woman those who will be able to undergo the military training in services academies to be a commissioned officer in armed forces of Bangladesh. The test and interview pattern are different then of any civil profession recruitment procedure. Bangladesh services selection boards has the origination in the united kingdom. Right after the independence it was felt to establish ISSB for the selection of armed forces officer, since independence a good deal and research and analysis have been carried out by the ministry of defence for development of officers recruitment and it is a continuous process.

For appearing ISSB one does not need full fledged coaching like University and Medical coaching as the tests are conducted on the basis of situational awareness as such an effective guidance is essential for a candidate to face the ISSB with confidence. The psychological and physical capabilities, leadership qualities, officers like qualities thoroughly probed and tested by a group of dedicated ,experienced assessors. Bangladesh ISSB has excellent standardization of procedure for selection would-be officer of Armed Forces.

Till now there not a single guideline available in the market to provide appropriate guidance to the candidates. Candidates are still in apprehension and gets various information from different corners and wrongly guided and influenced. A proper and suitable guidance is therefore considered necessary for overcoming of such feelings. During my days working as deputy president in ISSB I felt the necessity to have to have such guideline for the candidate. As I have experienced many good candidates got rejected filled with wrong guidance given by coaching centers run by non-professional, solely business orientated and baseless. Here in this book I have endeavored to offer complete, constructive and practical instructions to assist the candidates preparing to face Inter Services Selection Board.

SYED AHMED KABIR,fawc,psc
Wing Commander (retd)
Ex Deputy President ,ISSB

A candidate selected for ISSB should take thorough administrative preparation and plan out everything in detail well before his arrival in ISSB.

Bio data: A candidate is expected to receive a sms in this mobile phone well before his day of reporting . In sms a link will be given to fill up the bio-data form and send the same to ISSN online. This is an important correspondence that you do with ISSB as such you must ensure the form is filled up properly with will relevant information. Please do not give any wrong and sketchy information try and provide all true information as much as known to you if need take help from your parents and relatives. Thereafter at least 10 to 15 days before you will receive another sms about your reporting date along with admit card you must take the print out of the admit card which you will have to carry and produce at the reception of ISSB on your reporting date .

After a candidate receive an sms about the reporting date he should focus his preparation such as gather all documents like academic certificates, mark sheets, testimonials, any certificate related to hobbies and extracurricular activities. If the academic certificates are deposited in the colleges/universities then the photocopy should be collected.

As soon as you receive the admit card and joining instruction make a thorough and detailed study of it. Start preparation immediately and do not leave anything for the last day. Pack your cloths , the dresses you will be wearing first day, outdoor activities and the dress you are going to wear during DP interview. You should not make any extra shopping and buy expensive cloths to wear in ISSB. Your available cloths are sufficient but ensure it is properly washed and pressed. You should have proper haircut a day before your reporting date.

Candidates outside Dhaka should reach keeping sufficient time in hand, at least two days before. On arrival in ISSB after the breakfast you will be suitably grouped after a roll call and Chest numbers will be given to you. Throughout your ISSB duration 4 days you will be known by that chest number. This will be followed by an address by a deputy president of ISSB. You will be informed various aspects of ISSB during this talk.

After Deputy President address the screening test will commence (IQ and PPDT). Screened out candidates will depart after the lunch and rest of the candidates will stay for 4 days and go through the total selection process. Towards the close of the fourth day the result will be given to the candidates ( generally after lunch) by the deputy president personally.

The tests and interview take four days in ISSB for both long and short courses. The candidates form all three services long and short courses need to go through the full module including AMC (Armed Forces Medical corps). The assessment system is same for all the candidates.

FIRST DAY

1. Reception of the Candidates: Candidates are generally received at the reception center on the main entrance of ISSB. Candidates need to show their admit card on arrival and after scanning their luggage they are allowed to get inside ISSB premises. Normally reporting time is 0730 hr. in the morning. You should try to reach at least 15 minutes before and wait the reception. Wear formal dress with sober color clothing with clean and polished shoe. For female candidates sober color salwar–kamiz is advisable. Remember if you late by 5 minutes will not be allowed to get inside ISSB as such keeping the traffic jam at Dhaka in mind you should try to reach in time.
2. Chest numbering and Grouping: After you get inside the ISSB roll call and chest number will be given but grouping for PPDT will be done after the IQ test. Remember throughout your stay in ISSB you will identified with that chest number. Again in the evening during the photography session new grouping will be made among the IQ and PPDT qualified candidates.
3. Address of Welcome: The welcome address generally delivered by a Deputy President on behalf of President, ISSB. Please pay attention to the opening address. A summary of total activities will be briefed here. Some guidelines will be also given including ‘Dos and Donts’. Some administrative instructions will mentioned as well.
4. Screening Test: Screening test are conducted in two phases: IQ Test and PPDT (Picture Perception and discussion Test). Candidates who will qualify in IQ test will sit for PPDT only. Students failing in IQ test will be sent back. Candidates not qualifying in PPDT will also sent back after the lunch. Rest of the candidates (IQ and PPDT qualified) will stay back in ISSB in next three days and attend the full the module.
• IQ Test: IQ test will be conducted online using Laptop in the testing hall. A psychologist will brief you on the test with some examples. Test will be conducted in two parts. First part Verbal IQ, there will be hundred questions need to be answered in 35 minutes. Then Matrix (Nonverbal IQ) will be 38 questions need to be answered in 22 minutes. After that immediately result will be given in software and failed candidates will leave the testing hall.
• PPDT Picture Perception and Discussion Test): This is a second phase of screening test. This test also conducted in two part. First part is perception part and second part is discussion part. Only IQ qualified candidates will attend this test. Candidates failing this test will also be screened out however nonqualified will leave after the lunch break.
5. Essay Writing: This test is to check your writing ability by Deputy President. After the first part of PPDT you will be given two topics one in Bangla and another one in English. Both the topics are on contemporary issues on Bangladesh. These are mainly common topics, for Bangla you need to write for 10 minutes and for English one you need to write for 15 minutes. Remember you should try to write simple sentences with good sentence construction and spelling mistake free. These two essay will be checked by Deputy President before conducting Interview.
6. Psychological Test.: Qualified candidates in IQ and PPDT will sit for psychological test in the afternoon. Remember you will not be given time for shower, you can just freshen up settle down in your room and come for Psychological test. On arrival in the testing hall a Psychologist will brief the candidates or the test. Pay attention as because we will have to appear numbers of tests each are different from the other and detailed psychologist will brief you before all the test. The full session is likely to continue around 6 to 7 hours with tea breaks in between. Psychological tests are as follows:
• Thematic Appreciation Test. In this test four clear pictures will be shown on the screen, each picture will be shown for 30 seconds. You will get three minutes time to write story for each picture. Two picture need to be written in Bangla other two will need to be written in English
• Word Association Test. In this test one by one words will be shown to the candidates at interval of 10 second. Within 10 seconds you will see the word and make a short sentences. 80 English word will be Shown for this test.
• Situation Reaction Test. In ISSB it is also known as beginning line test. First line of a story will be shown to you as situation you need to complete the story. Total four beginning line will be shown to you each has to be completed in 3 minutes. Two in Bangla and two in English.
• Sentence Completion Test. This test is in the form of fill in the blanks, you need to fill up 20 English sentences in 5 minutes and 25 Bangla sentences in 6 minutes.
• Situation Judgment Test. This test will be conducted in Laptop. You will be given 36 hypothetical situation with probable five actions to handle the situation. You need to prioritize the actions in percentage wise. Total 72 minutes will be allotted in computer to complete the test.
• My Life. 12 questions will be given on your personal, socio-economic of your family, life style, education etc. 45 minutes are given to complete all the question. This full test is conducted in Bangla
• Self-Assessment. Here you to have discuss about you, your merits and demerits. You need write 6 questions in 15 minutes time. This test is conducted in Bangla.
• Happiest moment. Here you need to write the happiest incident you have experienced so far. Time allotted 5 minutes, need to write in English.
• Most bitter experience. Here you need to write the bitterest incident you have experienced so far. Time allotted 5 minutes, need to write in English.

THIRD DAY

Planning Test: It is the first event conducted by GTO on third day morning. Planning test is conducted in two phases, first phase is written and second phase is presentation. In first phase all candidates will appear in testing hall and second phase is conducted in outdoor hut in group wise. Generally two modules are followed where a written situation is given with number of problems. Candidates need to find out all the problems and will have to come out with workable solutions. In second phase candidate will present his solution after group wise discussion.
Command Task: In this test each candidate will get a chance to act as a commander of a small group of candidates (normally four candidates). The task is to carry certain materials across obstacles along with himself and the candidates.
Mutual Assessment: This is an informal task where GTO will tell the candidates to write one negative trait of the group mates on a given slip. Generally this is no assessed task
Deputy President’s Interview: Deputy President will interview rest of the candidates of the group after lunch. Duration of the interview normally 40 -50 minutes
Psychometric Test: This is a newly introduced test in ISSB started from 2018. Off late the software has been developed by ISSB to conduct this test. This is computer aided test conducted in testing hall for a duration of two hours. Four types of test is conducted verbal reasoning, numerical, abstract reasoning and memory test. Each type will have set of questions are to be answered in laptop with different timing.

Four days activities at ISSB

FIRST DAY

THIRD DAY

FOURTH DAY