Cracking the SSC Selection Post: A Complete Guide

The Staff Selection Committee (SSC) is a competitive government examination to hire candidates for different departments. The exam is conducted to hire candidates for Group B and C posts. There are 37,049 SSC selection post lists for the CGL exam 2023.

Some of the SSC CGL post lists are asst. Accounts officer, Asst. Audit officer, Inspector of Income-tax & central excise, sub-inspector (CBI), Junior Statistics officer, Auditor, Senior Secretariat Assistant, Upper Division clerks, and Tax Assistant. Some departments hiring these positions are the Indian Audit & Accounts Department, CBDT, CBIC, ED, CBI, Central Bureau of Narcotics, Registrar General of India, and Statistics & Programme Implementation.

The SSC exam is conducted in two tiers. The first tier is an online MCQ exam. The qualified candidates from Tier 1 would be asked to attend Tier 2, a descriptive exam.

Eligibility criteria for SSC selection post

There are specific criteria that a candidate needs to qualify to be eligible for the SSC exam. Let’s look at the eligibility criteria.

• The candidates should be Indian. The candidates can be from Nepal or Bhutan. Tibetan refugees before 1962 could also apply for the exam.
• Candidates who moved from Burma, Tanzania, Pakistan, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Zaire, and Vietnam can apply for the exam permanently.
• The age limit for candidates appearing for the SSC exam is 18-32. Certain relaxations exist for SC/ST/OBC/PWD/NH category candidates.

Group	Post	Age Limit
A	Assistant Accounts/Audit Officer	18-30
B	Income Tax Inspector, Excise Inspector, Preventive Office, Examiner, Asst.Enforcement Officer, Inspector of Posts.	18-30
	Assistant Section Officer	20-30
	Superintendent/Assistant	18-30
	Divisional Accountant	18-30
	Sub Inspector	18-30
	Assistant	18-27
C	Junior Statistical Officer	18-32
D	Tax Assistant (CBDT)	18-27
	Tax Assistant (CBEC)	20-27
	Sub-Inspector ( Narcotics)	18-27
	Auditor	18-27

Category	Age Relaxation ( in years)
SC	5
ST	5
OBC	3
PWD	10
PWD+OBC	13
PWD+SC/ST	15
Ex-Serviceman ( SC/ST )	8
Ex-Serviceman ( OBC )	6
Ex-Serviceman ( General )	3

The candidate should have a bachelor’s degree from a recognised university. For different positions, there would be a set of other educational qualifications.

1. A Junior Statistical officer requires a bachelor’s degree in statistics as one subject.
2. For Assistant Section officer, candidates must clear the CPT (Computer proficiency test).
3. For Compiler, the candidates must have Mathematics, Statistics or Economics as an elective or compulsory subject for graduation.
4. The desired qualifications for an Audit or Accounts officer are an MBA in Finance, a Master’s in Business, Economics/Business Studies/Commerce, a CA, a Company Secretary, or a Management Accountant.

How to apply for the SSC selection post

The online application for the SSC post list will be announced on their official website. It is advised to check the website regularly for updates. Let’s look at the steps to fill out the application form for the exam.

• Visit the official website of SSC.
• Click on the ‘SSC Registration’ tab. Fill in all the required details.
• Click on the ‘Continue’ tab after filling in the details. It will direct the candidate to a new page.
• The candidate would receive a registration number and password on their registered email ID and phone number.
• Click on the link given in the email. Provide the registration number and password to open the application form.
• Continue with the details received in the email by uploading the photo and signature.
• Provide all the details and upload the required documents.
• Check the application form carefully before submitting it.
• The next page would be the payment page. The payment can be made through all leading payment gateways.
• Once the payment is completed, the candidate will receive the payment confirmation, and the application will be submitted.
• The application fee is Rs 100 for General candidates and NIL for SC/ST/OBC/PWD candidates.
• The candidate can take a printout for future reference.
• The candidates will receive the query in their mail if any modifications are required.
• The admit card will be issued after the application form is approved and some days before the exam.

Exam pattern for the SSC Selection post

There are two tiers for the selection of the SSC CGL post list. Let us look into the details.

Tier 1

• Tier 1 is a computer-based MCQ exam.
• The total time duration is 60 minutes. The time is 80 minutes for PWD candidates.
• The candidate has to answer 100 questions within the time duration. 25 questions are allowed for each section
• There are four different sections. The subjects are General Intelligence, General Reasoning, English and Quantitative aptitude.
• There is no sectional cut-off in the exam.
• 0.5 marks are deducted for every wrong answer.
• No marks would be deducted for unattempted questions.

Tier 2

The candidates who have cleared the Tier 1 exam are eligible for the Tier 2 exam.

• The exam is conducted in three phases.
• The first phase is mandatory for all selected candidates.
• The first phase has three sections.
• The first section has Mathematics and General reasoning. The second section has English and General awareness. The third section has computer and data entry speed tests.
• There would be 150 questions. The questions need to be attempted within 150 minutes.
• 3 marks would be awarded for the right answer, and 1 mark would be deducted for every wrong answer.

Section	Module	Subject	Questions	Marks	Time
1	I	Mathematics	30	90	1 hour
	II	General Intelligence	30	90
2	I	English	45	135	1 hour
	II	General Awareness	25	75
3	I	Computer Knowledge	20	60	15 mins
	II	Data Entry Speed Test	2000 key impressions		15 mins
		Total	150	450	150 mins

• The computer and the data entry test are conducted after the candidate clears the section 1 and 2 papers.
• The second and third phase is performed after the candidates complete the first phase.

Paper	Subject	Questions	Marks	Time
II	Statistics	100	200	2 hours
III	General Studies ( Economics & Finance )	100	200	2 hours

• 2 marks would be awarded for every right answer, and 0.5 marks would be deducted for every wrong answer.
• Once the candidate has cleared all the rounds, they will receive the offer letter.
• The entire process takes around 1.5-2 years because of multiple rounds.
• There is no interview round for the SSC post list.

Topics covered in the Tier 2 exam

Subject	Topics
Mathematics	Number Systems, Fundamental Arithmetical Operations, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Mensuration, Statistics and probability
English	Vocabulary, Grammar, Spot the Error, fill in the blanks, spellings, improvement of sentences, comprehension passage, shuffling of sentence, idioms & passages, synonyms & antonyms, active & passive voice, close passage, one-word substitution, direct & indirect narration.
General Intelligence	Trends, semantic analogy, drawing interferences, figural analogy, semantic classification, embedded figures, problem-solving, social intelligence, Venn diagrams, space orientation, number series, number analogy, emotional intelligence, coding & decoding, word building, critical thinking, numerical operations, pattern-folding & unfolding, figural series.
General Knowledge	History, Civics, Geography, general Policy, Economic Sense and Scientific Research

Tips to prepare for the SSC selection post

Several eligible candidates apply for different positions yearly at the SSC CGL exam. The posts are limited, but there are many candidates. So, it is important to prepare well for the exam. Let’s look at some tips to prepare for the SSC selection post.

• Go through the entire syllabus of each topic in detail. It is important to understand the subjects and topics for the exam.
• Understand the exam pattern in detail. This will help the candidates to prepare for the subjects accordingly.
• Select the best books for each subject to prepare for the exam.
• Select the recommended study materials along with the books. This will help the candidates to prepare properly for the exam.
• Go through the previous year’s papers. Get to know the weightage of the topics. Give more focus on them. This will help in scoring more marks on the exam.
• Practice as many mock papers as possible. Solve the previous year’s papers. This will give the candidate a detailed understanding of the exam.
• Keep updated with current affairs through newspapers and journals.
• Prepare a proper timetable. This would help to cover all the topics uniformly.
• The timetable will help the candidate to complete the course on time. This will give ample time to revise and attend mock exams.

Admit card and result for the SSC selection post.

Let’s look at downloading the admit card for the Tier 1 exam.

• Go to the official website of SSC.
• Click on the ‘Admit card’ tab for the SSC CGL exam.
• After that, select the required CGL regional/sub-regional link.
• Click on the ‘SSC CGL Admit card’ link.
• Provide all the required details asked to download the admit card.
• The admit card is displayed. Download the soft copy on the system.
• Take a printout to be used during the exam and for future reference.

Once the exam is over, the candidates wait anxiously for the results. When the results are declared, knowing how to check them for the SSC CGL post-list exam is crucial.

• Go to the official website of SSC.
• Click on the ‘Result’ tab at the top of the homepage.
• Select the ‘SSC CGL Result’ tab.
• Provide the roll number in the box provided to check the results.
• The result is displayed on the screen. Download the result on the system.
• Take a printout for future reference.

Interview process for the SSC selection post

• The candidates for the SSC selection posts are selected through the Tier 1 and Tier 2 exams.
• The candidates have to clear all the exams in the different phases.
• The candidate must clear the computer proficiency and data entry speed tests to qualify for the SSC CGL vacancies.
• There is no interview for the SSC CGL post-list exam.

Conclusion

The SSC post list is a competitive entrance examination conducted by Staff Selection Committee (SSC). This exam covers all the important parts to grasp the candidate’s knowledge. The exam is conducted for several government positions in different departments. The candidates must clear Tier 1 and 2 to qualify for the positions.

To know the entire SSC selection post-process, Click Here

Frequently Answered Questions (FAQs)