Often this question arises whether a person has Officer Like Qualities in him to be an officer if a person is looking for a job in Indian Armed Forces. Most of the times the answer to this question is not found or the person gets discouraged at the very beginning of starting the hunt for the job, for the want of an apt answer to this question. Although SSB (Service Selection Board) looks for these qualities in an individual to select him in service, and these qualities are not the very extraordinary requirements that a person finds difficult to have but are some of the basic one’s which can be developed over the period or an art of presenting them is what matters the most if you have got them in you. Thus you must be able to showcase the Officer Like Qualities that you have in you in a systematic way so that you are selected in the forces to serve the country.

The utmost importance is given to leadership qualities of an individual in Indian Army, Navy or the Air Force. Only a successful leader has the capabilities to guide the group or the followers as and when they seek a proper guide for the task at hand mostly in the serving nation for betterment for saving the country’s pride. All these qualities are such that make him stand tall among all others. The Officer Like Qualities that they are looking for are as follows

The quality of Initiation:

The motivation others can get to work is with the quality of initiation their leader has in him to make others be part of the work their leader has initiated. There is a possibility of others getting a thought that they may be misleading if there is an absence of initiation by the leader itself. Therefore, an applicant going through the SSB interview needs to show his quality of initiation. This quality should be visible all throughout the 5 days interview program designed for selecting candidates into armed forces.

The quality of Resourcefulness:

The universal law being ‘all resources are limited’ an officer of Indian Armed Forces obviously gets very limited resources in many instances to accomplish his task and has to make the optimal use of resources available to him, thus he has to be resourceful. Thus a candidate needs to show his resourcefulness to the SSB board to crack the interview.

The quality of Communication Skills:

Clarity of thoughts and effective communication are a must quality to bring the effectiveness in the proper implementation of the orders given by a leader. Followers may get mislead because of confusions created by the lack of communication and a person won’t be able to be a great leader. All the officers conducting the interview will specifically look for this quality of a candidate to allow him to serve the Armed Forces.

Self Confidence:

Self Confidence is something that forms a part of leader’s qualities; unless he is self-confident he cannot pass effective orders. His confidence also matters to his followers who have to follow his orders, unless he is confident they won’t feel confident to do the task at hand. Thus this is one of the main Officer Like Qualities a candidate must present to the SSB board in order to get selected.

The quality of Decision Making:

With the power of an officer there comes the decision making ability that he must have by which he gives various orders to his subordinates and cause to implement the work, this quality is also responsible for there being any scope for major and minor mishaps, damages or accidents and can be avoided by taking right decisions at right time. Various tasks and activities are so designed in the process of an interview SSB that this quality is tested and a candidate is selected if has it in him.

The quality of Persuasiveness:

One of the qualities amongst all other Officer Like Qualities is the quality of Persuasiveness that forms the base to be a great leader. If the officer is not able to persuade his followers in getting the work done then he cannot be a great leader. Thus it is not wrong if a candidate is rejected for lack of this quality of persuasiveness, this is tested in tasks like Commander Task which a part of SSB interview where a candidate has to act like an officer and give commands to the other candidates acting as his subordinate to get the work done.

The quality of Liveliness

To gain the trust and confidence of the subordinates an officer has to be lively. The group needs attraction of liveliness a gloomy, clumsy, dull leader often fails to impress his subordinates. At every stage, all throughout the service an officer needs to maintain this liveliness because followers definitely look up to the officer and gather their motivation. This is tested in a candidate all throughout the interview process that he undergoes for five days at the center.

The quality of Human Understanding:

Stepping into the shoes of another person and knowing what it is to be at his position is what is human understanding is and an officer most often has to showcase this quality while giving orders. An officer can reach to the excellence of leadership if he has this quality in him. Human understanding is an essential feature of a human which he has in him by the very fact that he is a human being and having this quality doesn’t need any special quality. The interview board sits there to examine how good a human being the candidate is, and whether he fakes being a good person and having that understanding.

The quality of Delegation of Responsibility

A leader is not expected to handle all the responsibilities by him and often needs to hand over the responsibilities to others. He may not even get enough time to do all by himself hence he has to delegate the responsibilities to other capable subordinates. This feature is vital for an officer to be a successful leader. This does not mean he has to delegate all his responsibilities but it has to be done to an extent. It is but obvious that a candidate is tested for this quality in him during various activities and tasks given to him by the SSB board while conducting an interview.

The quality of Integrity and loyalty

Not only the officers in Indian Army, Indian Navy or Indian Air Force need to showcase these qualities but all the officers or servants of a government of India or also the employees of any private organization need to have a quality of integrity and loyalty. This is a basic quality a worker has to have towards the organization or owner he is working for.  An officer is expected to be loyal, faithful so that he can protect this country and the countrymen living here, to make them feel safe and secure. Various tests like Psychological Tests bring out a true character of a candidate and can be judged for loyalty and integrity even if he tries to fake his personality.

The quality of Unselfishness:

A selfish leader may harm the country to an extent possible to satisfy his self and may even create security threats. So only those officers who are not selfish are preferred and remain for long in service of the nation. Selfless leaders can prevent the attack on the sovereignty and independence of a country, and there won’t be a fear of intrusion or attack. The candidates getting selected as an officer are accessed for this quality and are recommended to be in service.

The quality of Basic / Fundamental Intelligence:

An officer need not have super intelligence and also may not be required to have extraordinary qualities but what is required is the basic or the fundamental intelligence to get the tasks at hand completed. Thus the basic and fundamental intelligence is an Officer Like Quality required to be in this service and candidates need not struggle to showcase extraordinary intelligence, they can get selected even if they have bare minimum basic intelligence.

The quality of Knowledge:

Any service requires a good amount of knowledge in an individual and the same goes with an officer working for Indian Armed Forces. This is another factor which is very helpful in leading the subordinates working for the officer by being able to take right decisions. Therefore a candidate is examined for the good amount of knowledge by the SSB Board.

The quality of Practical Intelligence:

It goes without saying that an officer who has to perform more of a field work or work having an ultimate effect on the field to have the quality of practical intelligence and a good amount of experience in it makes him a great leader for no doubt. No amount of theoretical knowledge can work in getting success unless an officer has a practical experience of using the knowledge in his day to day life. This is what is tested in a candidate amongst all other things mentioned in this article during an SSB interview.

The quality of Physical Fitness:

The hallmark quality required in Indian Armed forces is physical fitness long with good mental health and lack of it can exclude a large chunk of people dreaming of being in service. Candidates are initially tested for their physical fitness and can go further only they pass this test but may not be checked very strictly at SSB interview.

The job of an officer in the Indian Armed forces is very challenging and has repute. The officer like qualities required in an individual are some such qualities which are usually required to be present in a true leader and who leads a group or a community as a successful leader. The requirement in SSB to crack the interview is that a person shows all the Officer Like Qualities in him.