RAC advertises through DRDO/RAC Website (www.drdo.gov.in & www.rac.gov.in) & "The Employment News" for Direct Recruitment of Scientists 'B'. The prescribed Essential Qualification as mentioned in the advertisement are bare minimum and mere possession of same does not entitle candidates to be called for interview. In case the number of applications received in response to an advertisement is large, it may not be possible to interview all the candidates. RAC may, therefore, restrict the number of candidates for interview to a reasonable limit on the basis of qualifications/experience/ achievements higher than that of the minimum prescribed in the advertisement or by conducting a screening test named DRDO Scientists Entry Test (DRDO SET).

DRDO SET, whenever required, is conducted on all India basis in the month of September, depending on the requirements, in order to provide equal opportunity to all students from different educational institutions in view of the increasingly wide variation in the marking pattern of different educational institutions in the country. DRDO SET exam is of three hours duration consisting of two sections viz. Section 'A' of 100 questions to test the candidate's knowledge in the subject of their BE/ BTech (for Engg discipline) or MSc ( for Science Discipline) and Section 'B' of 50 questions to the candidate's ability in analytical and qualitative skills, current affairs and general awareness to test the aptitude and scientific knowledge required for Applied Research & Development. Based on the organisation's requirements, DRDO SET is conducted in Engineering Subjects such as Aero, Civil, Electrical, Chemical, Computer, Electronics/Electronics & Communication, Instrumentation, Mechanical, Metallurgy etc and Science subjects such as Chemistry, Physics and Maths/ Operations Research/ Statistics etc. These subjects are specified in the advertisement. DRDO SET exam is conducted only for those subjects where vacancies are sizable in number. Details of eligible candidates, examination schedule, result of the exam, schedule of interviews and list of selected candidates are made available from time to time on DRDO/RAC Website (www.drdo.gov.in & www.rac.gov.in)

In cases, where very few vacancies are available, no SET exam is conducted and the individuals after shortlisting are directly called for the interview. The advertisement generally appears during the month of April / May every year.