Jamshepdur, Oct. 11: Only the best and the brightest can defend the country’s borders, students learnt at a workshop today.

ADLS Sunshine School organised a workshop for students keen on a career in defence, roping in New Delhi-based Wing Commander Sanjeev Chatterjee for tips to crack the Services Selection Board entrance test and interview.

Class XI and XII students from the host school, Loyola School, Kerala Samajam Model School, DBMS English School and Rajendra Vidyalaya took part in the interactive workshop at the Centre for Excellence.

Chatterjee did not just inform students about the application process and way to prepare for the entrance tests, he also expertly fielded students’ questions.

“National Defence Academy (NDA) attracts lakhs of aspirants for just 300 seats in three wings — army, navy and air force. About 1,500 are selected on the basis of written tests, and 1,200 are pruned during interviews,” he said.

The key to success, he said, was being true to oneself. “The panel comprises an assessment psychologist, a group listing officer and an interview officer, who analyse an interviewee’s personality. So you cannot pretend but have to be who you really are,” he said.