The interview: Part 1 & Part 2

The interview is the board's chance to look directly at the person behind the test scores. It is not designed to trick you; it is designed to find out who you actually are, and whether the impression you gave in the psychological tests and group tasks holds up in person.

Interview Part 1: your story

The first interview usually follows the bio-data form you filled in: your family, your education, your interests, why you want to join. Questions are straightforward but probing; expect follow-ups on anything interesting or unusual you write.

Interview Part 2: depth and pressure

The second sitting goes deeper: your motivation for a military career, your understanding of the service you are applying to, your views on current affairs, and how you would handle difficult or hypothetical situations. The interviewer may push back on an answer to see how you respond under pressure; this is deliberate, not personal.

The GTO viva

Besides the Deputy President's interview, candidates have a separate viva with the Group Testing Officer, usually shorter and more informal, covering participation in the group tasks and behaviour on the field. Both vivas feed the assessment conference; neither is a separate pass or fail.

What is usually asked

• Your background, family, education, and daily life
• Why you want to be an officer, and in which service
• Your strengths, weaknesses, and what your friends would say about you
• Current affairs, national and international events, and general knowledge
• Hypothetical situations testing judgment and integrity

Sample questions from the DP viva (Part 1)

The Part 1 questions follow your bio-data form, so yours will differ. These are the shapes the questions actually take:

• Tell me about yourself and your family.
• Why did you choose this subject at university / this job after HSC?
• How do you spend a normal day? What time do you wake up?
• Do you play any sports? When did you last play?
• What newspapers do you read, and what did you read this morning?
• Who is your favourite teacher, and why?
• Have you ever failed at something important? What did you do after?
• What do your parents do? Do they support your decision to join?

Sample questions from the DP viva (Part 2)

• Why do you want to be a commissioned officer instead of a civilian professional?
• Why the Army and not the Navy or the Air Force?
• What does an officer's life involve, in your own words?
• What have you done so far to prepare for this career?
• What is the biggest problem facing Bangladesh today, and what would you do about it?
• What happened in [a recent national or international event]? Give your view.
• You see a soldier behaving dishonestly. What do you do?
• If your group disagrees with your plan during a task, what do you do?
• Would you lie to save a friend? Why or why not?
• Tell me about your biggest failure and what it taught you.

What the GTO viva asks

The GTO viva is shorter and more casual, and it circles your behaviour in the group tasks rather than your life story:

• Which group task did you find hardest, and why?
• Who from your group performed best, and who contributed least?
• Your group did not finish a task. Whose fault was it?
• You stayed quiet during the Group Discussion. Why?
• What did you learn about yourself in the last two days?

These are illustrative, not a guaranteed list; every batch differs, and the interviewer follows whatever your answers open up. The pattern to prepare for is the one above: background, motivation, current affairs, and judgment under pressure.

How to answer honestly

• Answer what is asked, directly and briefly
• Admit when you do not know something rather than guessing
• Be consistent with what you wrote in the psychological tests
• Stay calm and polite, even when the interviewer pushes back

The most common interview failure is trying to perform a version of yourself you think the board wants. The board has already seen four days of your behaviour; the interview is where the two have to match.