SSC JE 2026: 1,748 Posts, Paper-I on 2 to 6 November

SSC is hiring 1,748 tentative Junior Engineers and Scientific Assistants at Level 6, Rs 35,400 to Rs 1,12,400. The branches are Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Electrical and Mechanical, and Telecom, plus Scientific Assistant in the India Meteorological Department. The notice is F. No. HQ-C-3019/1/2026-C-3, uploaded on ssc.gov.in on 2 September 2026. The notice PDF is the source for vacancies, eligibility and the paper scheme.

The form closed at 11:00 pm on 22 September 2026. If you already applied, the next date is Paper-I from 2 to 6 November 2026, fixed by SSC's Important Notice dated 1 October 2026. That notice is for Paper-I, not Paper-II. The advertisement still lists Paper-II as December 2026. A later single-day Paper-II date has not been published on ssc.gov.in.

What the job is

You will not work for SSC. SSC only runs the exam and forwards dossiers. The user department that takes you decides posting, leave and confirmation.

In CPWD and Military Engineer Services you supervise buildings, roads and electrical or mechanical plant on government works. In CWC, CWPRS, Farakka Barrage and Brahmaputra Board the work is rivers, canals, models and barrage maintenance. Department of Telecommunications takes JE (Telecom) on telecom plant. IMD Scientific Assistant is laboratory and field science, not a civil diploma job. Border Roads Organisation posts are outdoor, men only, with a physical and medical test in Annexure-XVI. Fail those standards after allotment and SSC will not move you to another organisation.

Vacancies are provisional. SSC will put post-wise and category-wise figures on ssc.gov.in under For Candidates, Tentative Vacancy. It does not collect state-wise or zone-wise numbers. There is no ESM reservation on these Group B posts. ESM candidates still get the printed age relaxation.

Pay is Level 6. HRA, DA and other allowances follow the user department, not a single SSC package.

Age and qualification

Age is counted on 1 August 2026. Most posts stop at 30. CPWD and Lighthouses stop at 32. SC and ST get 5 years, OBC 3, PwBD 10 / 13 / 15, and ESM 3 years after deducting military service.

The essential qualification is a diploma or degree in the named branch, with extra field experience on some BRO, MES and DGQA rows. That experience must have been gained after the diploma or degree. Internship during the course does not count. Scientific Assistant is a science or listed technology degree.

The result must have been declared on or before 22 September 2026. Mere processing of the result by that date is not enough. Engineering awards through ODL or online mode are not accepted except where the statutory body and UGC allow them. IGNOU engineering awards for students enrolled up to 2009-10 remain valid under the Supreme Court order cited in para 2.2.

Notes in para 2 of the notice matter if you applied for more than one stream:

• A Mechanical candidate is also eligible for Electrical and Mechanical posts.
• A Telecom candidate may also sit Scientific Assistant or JE (Electrical) if the essential qualification matches.
• An Electrical candidate may also sit Telecom and Electrical and Mechanical posts, subject to the essential qualification.
• A Scientific Assistant candidate may also sit JE (Telecom) if the essential qualification matches.
• The subject you locked in the form cannot be changed.

Selection in brief

Two computer-based papers, both objective, in Hindi and English:

1. Paper-I, 2 hours (2 hours 40 minutes with a scribe): General Intelligence and Reasoning 50, General Awareness 50, and 100 questions from the engineering or science part you chose. Qualifying only. Negative marking 0.25 a wrong answer.
2. Paper-II, 2 hours (2 hours 40 minutes with a scribe): 100 questions, 300 marks, in the same part. This paper makes the merit list. Negative marking 1 mark a wrong answer.

Parts A to F run in one batch. Part-G (Telecom) runs in a separate batch.

Minimum marks in both papers: 30 percent UR, 25 percent OBC and EWS, 20 percent all other categories. Separate Paper-II shortlists are drawn for Civil, Electrical and Mechanical, Scientific Assistant and Telecom. Marks in multi-shift papers are normalised using the SSC notice dated 2 June 2025. Electrical and Mechanical papers for common posts are also normalised against each other. IMD Parts D, E and F are treated as different shifts.

A scientific calculator and, where needed, IS 456:2000 and steam tables appear on the screen. You cannot carry a physical calculator or printed tables. There is no re-evaluation.

The full topic list and a three-week Paper-I plan are on the syllabus page. Ten questions on the dates and the qualifying-paper rule are on the practice page.

If you have already applied

Treat the next three weeks as Paper-I week, then keep Paper-II notes running. SSC will not send the admit card by post.

City intimation. SSC usually uploads the city and the shift about 10 days before the paper on the regional website named on your application. If your name is missing a week before 2 November, write to that regional office with proof that you submitted the form. Use your registration number, roll number once issued, registered email and mobile.

Admit card. The download usually opens 2 to 3 days before your shift. Print it. Carry two recent colour photographs, the same as the one on the form if you still have copies.

Photo ID. Carry an original photo ID that has the same date of birth as the admit card: voter ID, driving licence, PAN, passport, college ID, employer ID, ESM discharge book, or another Central or State photo ID. If the ID has no date of birth, carry the class 10 certificate or a birth certificate as well. A mismatch on date of birth keeps you out of the hall.

Aadhaar authentication. Candidates who did not complete Aadhaar-based authentication must report two hours before the start.

On screen. Practise a scientific calculator on a computer this week. Civil candidates should know where IS 456 sits on a screen, Mechanical candidates where steam tables sit. Fumbling the on-screen tool in a 200-question paper costs more than a wrong formula.

After Paper-I. SSC will put tentative answer keys on ssc.gov.in. A challenge costs Rs 50 a question, not refunded. Representations by email or post are not taken. Paper-I marks only decide who sits Paper-II. Do not wait for that list to start the 300-mark paper.

BRO applicants. Read Annexure-XVI now. The physical efficiency test and the medical standards are not optional extras. A candidate who takes a BRO seat and then fails those standards is not reallocated.

What to revise before 2 November

Paper-I is 200 questions in 2 hours. That is 36 seconds a question if you try them all. The 100-mark engineering or science part is half of Paper-I and the whole of Paper-II. Finish those headings first.

Civil: strength of materials, RCC, steel, soil, fluid mechanics and surveying before environmental extras. Electrical: networks, machines, power systems, measurement. Mechanical: SOM, TOM, thermal, fluid machinery, production. IMD: the part you locked, D or E or F, at graduation standard. Telecom: Part-G at graduation standard.

Reasoning in this paper is the SSC verbal and non-verbal list: series, coding, figure classification, analogies. General awareness is environment, current events, everyday science, and India and its neighbours. It is not an engineering-magazine paper.

In Paper-I a blind guess on four options with a 0.25 penalty averages zero. In Paper-II the penalty is 1 mark against 3, so guess only when you can drop at least one option.

After both papers

SSC draws the merit list on normalised Paper-II marks only. Document verification is done by the user department, not by SSC at the exam hall. You will have to produce mark sheets for every year or semester, the degree or diploma, and the experience certificates where the post asked for them, with a result date on or before 22 September 2026.

Preferences you locked cannot be used to escape a BRO physical test or a medical standard you have already accepted. Rank only the organisations you would actually join.