It’s one of those big government job announcements you hear people buzzing about on social media, especially around December every year. The Defence Research and Development Organisation, or DRDO — you know, the Indian defence branch that does all kinds of research — has put out a fresh recruitment drive called CEPTAM-11 for 2025–26. It’s for a total of 764 openings spread across different technical roles.

If you’ve been looking for a stable job in the defence research space, this might have caught your eye because it’s not a tiny number of seats — and the roles are technical, the kind people with science or hands-on training often go for.

The online application process started in early December — specifically 11th December 2025 — and the window stays open until 1st January 2026. I saw a few posts that mention the start date as 9th December, but most official sources I checked pointed to 11th December as the likelier live date for applications.

These applications all happen through the DRDO’s official recruitment portal — drdo.gov.in — and you have to register, fill in your details, upload a few documents, and pay the application fee online.

Now, about what’s on offer:

• The bigger chunk of jobs is for Senior Technical Assistant-B (often just called STA-B) — around 561 posts.
• The rest — about 203 posts — are for Technician-A roles.

These roles appeal to slightly different groups of people, qualification-wise.

For the Senior Technical Assistant role, you’re generally looking at a science degree (like a B.Sc) or a diploma in engineering/technology in a relevant field. That’s pretty standard. The Technician roles typically ask for an ITI certificate in the trade you’re applying under plus a 10th pass.

And yeah, the age rules matter here too. Most applicants need to be between 18 and 28 years old, though standard government reservation relaxations apply.

One of the neat things people usually check first is what the pay will look like. From what’s in the short notification:

• Senior Technical Assistant-B posts come with a pay scale roughly ₹35,400 to ₹1,12,400 per month (that’s the government pay matrix Level-6).
• Technician-A posts are on a lower pay level, around ₹19,900 to ₹63,200 (Level-2), which is typical for these kinds of technician jobs.

That’s not the whole story because allowances, benefits, and increments can change things a bit, but it’s a rough idea.

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Selection is not just one thing you do and land the job — it’s tiered. There’s usually a computer-based test (CBT) involved. For Technician roles, there’s often a trade/skill test after the main CBT. And I’ve seen mentions of further steps like document verification, sometimes a medical exam before your candidature is declared final.

If you’re wondering about the exam itself, it’s split into Tier 1 and Tier 2 for STA roles:

• Tier 1 tends to be general stuff — reasoning, maths, science basics, general awareness, and English.
• Tier 2 is more specific to the technical discipline you’re applying under.

For Technician posts, Tier 1 covers general ability and trade-related basics, and then there’s a practical skill test. That’s the kind where if you’ve actually done the trade in an ITI, your hands-on practice really pays off.

A couple of side details people often miss but that struck me while sifting through a notice and a summary: there’s mention of a correction window in January right after the main application deadline. So if you make a mistake filling out the form, there might be a few days in early January where you can fix it. That’s actually a relief for many applicants.

Another thing — fees vary a bit depending on your category, and DRDO’s notification spells that out. General/OBC/EWS often pay higher fees than SC/ST or women candidates, which is pretty standard for government job forms these days.

Some of the sources I skimmed also had breakdowns of how those 764 seats are distributed among many trades — for example fitter, electrician, electronics, draughtsman roles for the Technician posts, and various science and engineering streams for STA. That part is usually in the detailed PDF notification that they put on the DRDO site. If I had to guess, anyone serious about applying is already combing that PDF for exact trade numbers.

The vibe around this recruitment, online, is pretty energetic. Folks are talking about it because DRDO gigs are seen as decent stable jobs with good pay and a respectable work environment, especially compared to some other public sector roles. And with the scale — 764 — it’s big enough that a lot of engineering, science, and ITI-qualified folks are trying their luck.

Candidates can apply through the official DRDO recruitment portal:
https://drdo.gov.in

Anyway, that’s how it looks when you piece together a couple of official snippets and recent coverage — a big technical recruitment open now, a few weeks left to get your form right, and exams to follow early next year.