Last Updated on August 7, 2023 by Vishnu Nambiar
This guide will be of help to SSB Interview aspirants. Here, I’ve provided details about how to fill up your PIQ (Personal Information Questionnaire) form correctly. The tips mentioned here will help you craft a PIQ form that will you impress your Interviewing Officers!
PIQ is a very important aspect of SSB Interview. Interviewing Officers use PIQ to study the candidates’ personality and traits. A badly filled PIQ will help them recognize liars and undeserving candidates early on! A well crafted PIQ will definitely create a good impression about the candidate on the Interviewer’s mind! Before heading to the meat of the matter – how to fill your PIQ form correctly – let me provide few links to some useful articles. Check out this guide for SSB Interview tips. Check out this guide for NDA written exam tips. Check out this guide for PABT tips.
PIQ form: Basic details
PIQ stands for Personal Information Questionnaire. It is a form that is used to collect vital details about the candidate. The candidate is supposed to fill the form himself/herself. Here are some of the details that a PIQ form collects –
- Personal details (name, address etc)
- Details about family (father, mother, number of siblings etc)
- Educational qualifications
- Participation in games and sports
- Participation in extra-curricular activities
Once the form is filled up correctly, it is collected by the authorities. PIQ forms are then studies by the Interviewing Officer, who the candidate will face in PI (Personal Interview). The information provided in PIQ is used by the Interviewing Officer to gauge the personality, character and traits of the candidate. He/she may even model questions based on the information provided in the PIQ.
Tips to fill your PIQ form correctly
1 Keep it neat and clean
Filling up the PIQ form does not involve rocket science! It is a pretty simple process. All you need to do is provide the details that have been asked. Don’t clutter things up in the form. Write down the details neatly. Space provided in the form for details might be limited. But try to accommodate your answers/details within the allotted space.
2 Never lie
Never lie while filling up your PIQ form! Candidates tend to lie about things such as games and sports as well as extra-curricular activities. If you have never participated in games or sports, there is no point in mentioning fake sporting achievements in the PIQ form! The interviewer may ask questions about the event/game and your lie will be caught immediately!
3 Honesty is the best policy
Candidates fill up the personal details correctly. It is in sections such as sports and games, extra-curricular activities, hobbies and positions of responsibility held that candidates tend to lie about. Yes, having held position of responsibility in a sports team will impress the interviewer. But you must also remember the fact that the interviewer has been doing his job for quite some time now.
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They have been through thousands of PIQ forms. They possess the experience to identify liars! They have tricks up their sleeves that will help identify the ‘fakers’.
4 Be yourself
Be true to yourself while filling up your PIQ form. It is okay if you don’t have major sporting achievements to mention in the form. It is okay if you don’t have any hobby to write about. At least you are being true to yourself! That is what matters at the end of the day. Honesty is appreciated by the Interviewers too!
5 Be knowledgeable about what you write
Suppose you write ‘reading books’ under the ‘hobbies’ section, make sure that you are knowledgeable about the field. The interviewer may ask questions such as – ‘Who is your favorite author?’, ‘Mention some of his/her works’, ‘What is your favorite genre?’ etc. If you are a casual reader, I wouldn’t suggest you to mention reading as a hobby in your PIQ form. If you want to mention, you must be knowledgeable about it!
6 Be precise and concise while filling up the PIQ form
Provide the correct information. Just provide details that have been asked for. Don’t overwrite.
I am Vishnu Nambiar a career and educational blogger from India. I am also a full time educational consultant having more than 12 years of experience in the educational sector.
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