What is more important in SSB Interview? Attitude or Aptitude?

Service Selection Board Interview is a comprehensive interview process which every candidate has to go through once they clear the written exams – Combined Defence Services (CDS) Exam or National Defence Academy (NDA) Exam. In last few articles, we discussed what are OLQs (Officer Like Qualities), what is the significance of PIQ (Personal Information Questionnaire) in SSB, and pros and cons of coaching for SSB interview.

In this article we will discuss what is more important – Attitude or Aptitude in the SSB interview. To understand the significance let us see what are Attitude and Aptitude first.

An Aptitude is a component of competence to do a certain kind of work at a certain level whereas ATTITUDE refers to a set of emotions, beliefs and behaviours towards a particular object, person, thing or event. Aptitude is an inborn potential and can be both physical and mental. Attitudes are result of experience and upbringing and have a powerful influence on behaviour. Attitude can be positive, negative or neutral.

Both Aptitude and Attitude play a vital role in achieving success not only in the interview but generally in life too. Success begins where attitude meets aptitude. Attitude defines how you work or proceed toward your goal. Aptitude, on the other hand, defines how much potential you have to learn specific skills or gain knowledge that will help you achieve your goal. If you have the right attitude but lack the required aptitude, success can be difficult.

Importance of Attitude

  • Positive attitude will produce Ambition, determination, and commitment. Right attitude is the key to success because it can push one forward or slow you down.
  • Your attitude determines how you cope and perform in challenging circumstances.
  • Right attitude can also influence other aspects like emotional intelligence, leadership, team spirit, fraternity, empathy, compassion which are core qualities of an officer.
  • Importance of Aptitude

Importance of Aptitude

  • Aptitude determines your potential to learn new skills and develop them over a time
  • Aptitude also helps identify person’s interest and core strength area.
  • Candidates with good aptitude can be trained to bring out their potential and necessary skill sets.

Even though studies show almost 40% of the candidates fail due to lack of attitude, an ideal candidate should possess both Attitude and Aptitude in correct balance. Both are equally important and complement each other. One cannot be successful if he or she lacks either or they are not balanced.

Other useful articles for preparation of SSB Interview: