Civilians in gainful employment can hold a Territorial Army commission. After the written test, a Preliminary Interview Board of serving officers decides who goes on to the SSB.
What a mock looks like in the room, step by step. The panel, its order, the form and the qualities are the real preliminary interview's; the words and numbers are illustrative.
The board has your application: your job, your education, NCC and sport. The Territorial Army is for people with a civilian career, so expect your job to be the first subject.
In the order the real one moves: opening, then your job, then awareness, then leadership, then close. Follow-ups come from what you just said.
Speak as you would in the room, or type. Your pace, long pauses and filler words are measured as you go — and, if your camera is on, how often you look toward it.
Scored on the 4 qualities this preliminary interview is assessed on, member by member, with every line of your Application form marked as held up, shaky or not yet asked. A practice estimate, never a forecast.
This board gives no marks of its own, so it is a practice index out of 100. For finding what to fix, not for predicting a result.
Nothing to buy first. Pick the round, fill in your Application form, and the board is ready. Your recording, if you ask for one, never leaves your device.
Face this board yourselfA board of serving officers, usually four or five, chaired by a senior officer.
The Preliminary Interview Board checks that a working professional has the motivation and the qualities to be worth sending to an SSB — and that the job and the commission can coexist.
The PIB is a gateway, not a merit list: clearing it sends you to the SSB, where the final decision is made.
A senior officer chairing the board. Opens with the job and the motivation, and closes.
An officer who asks what the candidate does all day at work and how they would manage embodiment training alongside it.
An officer who asks about defence and national affairs, always ending with "and your view?"
An officer who puts the candidate in a situation — a flood relief task, a dispute in a team — and pushes on the first answer.
Effective intelligence, reasoning ability, organising ability, power of expression — answering a rapid-fire set in order is exactly this.
Social adaptability, cooperation, sense of responsibility — how family, friends and teams come across.
Initiative, self-confidence, speed of decision, ability to influence the group, liveliness.
Determination, courage, stamina — what was stuck at, and what was done when it got hard.
The PIB does not publish a rubric; it screens for the officer-like qualities the SSB will test, so the SSB's four factors are used here.
The board has your application: your job, your education, NCC and sport. The Territorial Army is for people with a civilian career, so expect your job to be the first subject.
Every sitting — AI, real or peer — is scored on the same 4 qualities, so you can see a line move instead of weighing one opinion against another.
How it works, step by step: the mock interview guide.
The board reads your Application form, asks in the real order and scores you on what the real one assesses. Free, and ready now.
