The Importance Of Handwriting In The SSB

After the advent of computers and smart phones, most of our work is done by typing. We hardly take up a pen and write extensively on a piece of paper. This culture has resulted in diminution of our handwriting skills. From the point of view of the SSB interview, having a neat and legible handwriting is a must. Apart from having a neat and clean handwriting, it is equally imperative that you possess adequate speed of writing. We will be discussing these two aspects of handwriting in detail.

Any task which involves the use of your handwriting skills will prove to be a successful one if you have a good handwriting more often than not. In our school days we always had a friend who outscored us only because of his handwriting. We often blamed the teacher for giving extra marks for good handwriting. We must understand that handwriting is very closely related to psychology. We have signature experts, handwriting experts who give you the behavioural details of a person just by perusing (scrutinizing) his handwriting. In the same way, the psychologist in the services selection board comes to know a lot about you from the way you write. A neatly written note creates a palatable effect on the reader and a hideously written note makes the reader distraught. I am not telling you to be a calligraphy expert. A certain level of legibility is required so that reader doesn't have any uneasiness in comprehending what is written. A psychologist once told me that whenever there are swarms of applicants, the neatly written responses are shortlisted first, and then their responses are evaluated. This implies that even if you possess a balanced psychology, you might not get through because the psychologist wouldn't have understood what you had written. The easier you make it for the assessors to construe (interpret) your responses, the better will be the chances of your recommendation.

Your writing speed plays a pivotal part in your selection. All the tests in the SSB interview are timed ones. Whether it is GPE, Psych or PIQ form filling, you have to finish your task comprehensively within the stipulated time. You may have a very good handwriting but it will prove to be futile if you do not possess the speed to complement it. Legibly written twelve stories are better than beautifully written eight. Writing too fast can also affect the legibility of your responses.Your speed should be such that you complete all the tests within the given time. Speed is one thing which can be achieved through practice, if you think you lack in speed, you can start practicing. The more you write, the better you get.

To summarise I would say that yes, a beautiful hand writing is always welcomed but there are no extra marks for it. Only the quality of your responses matter. However, you must write neatly and cleanly with enough speed to complete all the tests in time. Also, avoid any cutting and overwriting in your responses. Too much of overwriting in your responses reflect your apprehensions.

I hope this article has thrown enough light into the aspect of handwriting from the point of view of the SSB interview. Stay tuned to SSBCRACK for more such articles.
JAI HIND