Is recruiting still a pain?

[Wolfe]

Yes Thank you, well i guess i could consider my self lucky that my ex-country is OK, but also that i came in Canada at a very young age and also its the first time i applied for the regular and i never was in the reserve before. So i hope i will start basic in January.

Wolf

 

[Expat]

Well I've been out of the country for 2.5 years and got at least 6 more months. I got myself back into pre-university shape. I am great health and I would like to join the infantry.
Do I even have a chance at getting into the forces for being absent for such a prolonged amount of time?

 

[AverageJoe]

Expat if you are a Canadian citizen it doesn't matter how long you have been out of the country.....its just a matter of how long the security clearance will hold you up.

I can't speak to how long the clearance process will take but my advice is just apply and forget about it.......live your life.......eventually you'll get a call out of the blue telling you that you have a job offer

 

[Testify]

Question: I applied yesterday and everything is scheduled for the 25th of June.  If all goes well there, then I may still have to wait up to 2 years?  I figured because my medical and testing were booked so soon that the whole process would go quickly.

 

[Chris The Pirate]

Testify, keep in mind some of the dates of these posts were from 2005.

From what I understand, recruiting is a lot faster now than a few years ago. I'll bore you all with my recruiting story....

I applied in Feb 04 (reg infantry) and ended up on a bmq course Nov 04. I released june 05 to go to school (police foundations) and am coming back in as infantry (reg force) with some school behind me. Anyways, I re-applied in the beginning of May 2007 to the same recruiting office, did my medical and interview may 15th and am expecting a call this week. I'm getting a BMQ by-pass and should be loaded onto the next available SQ. In the old recruiting system, I had to do medical, cfat, interview, pt test, all of which had several weeks of wait time in between. Now, all that is being done is you apply, you do a medical, cfat and interview and the pt tests are held at st-jean or wherever you get sent I assume, theres no more pt test. The medical and interview I had on the same day, but the last time I applied I waited weeks in between the two.

You may be saying that is quite fast, considering the 2 year wait times some people here were experiencing, but I think even with me applying in May 07, and probobly starting course in June 07, it's the slowest it will get for my trade these days considering the need for infanteers. After my re-enrollment application (may 07) I had a VFS sent to ottawa. That means verification of former service. They request all my old files from Ottawa, which if you search around the forums here, usually takes people at least 1 or 2 months. It didn't even take that long, and it should have.

The point to all of this rambling is recruiting in my opinion has sped up quite a bit from when I originally applied in 2004. In my opinion, as long as you have no problems with your medical (you're physically and mentally fit for the trade) you do good in the interview (you're suitable for the trade, you're a good, well rounded individual) and you pass your CFAT (and qualify for your trade) AND there is demand in that trade of which you are an applicant, AND you meet all other requirements for your trade and the CF...... you'll get in in no time.

If my experience with the recruiting system hasn't helped anyone, or hasn't given you some insight into the speed of the recruiting system, all I have to say is stop asking questions here and ask a recruiter.

Like the saying goes though, hurry up and wait.

Chris

 

[AverageJoe]

The big source of hold up comes from the security clearance aspect of the application I think.......at least that is what I gathered from the posts I've read, not the paper push part. If you don't need that extra security clearance process done then I'm sure you'll get a job offer soon, if you are a good candidate that is

 

[Testify]

Tthe pt tests are held at st-jean or wherever you get sent I assume, theres no more pt test.

So technically I could pass medical, cfat and interview.  Get a job offer, get sent to BMQ.  Fail my pt test and get sent home?  Am I reading that correctly?

 

[camochick]

Why don't you do a search instead of asking the same questions that are asked on here ten thousand times a day.  >

 

[Michael OLeary]

So technically I could pass medical, cfat and interview.  Get a job offer, get sent to BMQ.  Fail my pt test and get sent home?  Am I reading that correctly?

Technically, and actually, yes.

 

[medaid]

Pieman... you worry me.

 

[Testify]

Why don't you do a search instead of asking the same questions that are asked on here ten thousand times a day.  >

While down at recruiting I could have swore he said pt test the same day and also reading a lot of the Application Process samples I saw that they all had PT test dates.  So I was just confused. 

I'm sure the admins will be glad that you're wasting bandwidth however, and then having me have to explain myself to you helps too.

 

[Chris The Pirate]

Testify -

Sure, you could do your whole recruiting process, show up to BMQ, attempt the PT test and be sent home. Now, don't quote me on this, because I did the old 10 week BMQ, but from what I have read all over the forums lately, is that you attend BMQ - in the first week attempt the PT test with the PSP staff (fit-french-civvies) and if you pass and meet their standards you move along in your training - from what I understand is that if you fail to meet the PT standards, and fail that test you get put onto a 'warrior' platoon, basically a group of other people who failed, and you all train together for a number of weeks before you reach the physical fitness standard, after which you are loaded onto another BMQ course and move along with your training as scheduled... However, I don't think you have an unlimited amount of "re-tries" for the PT test in St-Jean. I believe you get a few tries, then you are sent home if you are completely out of shape.

How do you avoid such a disaster as going through your whole recruitng process, only to find yourself back at home after a couple weeks of failure in warrior platoon?

Train before your course. Go to the training forum and read some of of the posts that are up, or ask your recruiting centre what standards you should be at before arriving in St-Jean.

Now Testify, you also mentioned that while at the recruiting office,
1) you could have sworn he said pt test the same day as your interview and medical, and
2) you read alot of application process samples and say they all had PT test dates.

You're confused. That's ok, I'll tell you...

1) The recruiter didn't say PT test the same day. Assuming you're going reg force (because I'm not sure if the reserves have to do a PT test) then you do your Pt test in St-Jean, as read above.
2) try to read when those application process samples were dated. For example, if you're reading about an application process from the year 2001..chances are you're setting yourself up for misinformation.

Try to do a search on this site for the info you require. Type in your happy word that you want to know about, like CFAT, medical, interview, pt test etc and then read okie dokie?

Hope this helps.

Chris

 

[camochick]

Wow I typed in "PT test" and I got this three topics down http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/57242.0.html

So now I'm going to waste bandwidth telling you where to find this information because you're too lazy to do a search. As someone in the recruiting process, it sucks having to weed through ten thousand posts on the same thing to get to the stuff I actually want to read because people can't take two seconds to do a search. Honestly,I wonder how you will make it through basic when you can't even use two fingers to type in like six letters.

 

[Testify]

Thanks a lot Chris.  I am aware of the search function and have been using it for the past month or so I've been registered here (I've seen that nasty comments that this forum has given to users who don't use that feature and this was my first question that I could have searched to answer I suppose)  Just when I read what you had said I was at work and had to get back to work so I thought I'd just quickly type that simple question out, so I could check when I got home .  It was just a yes or no question.  Nothing to painful for anyone to reply with.  I was basically jjust astonished with that because I had it set in my mind that I would be doing my PT test in a months time.  I really appreciate the time you put into that.  I seem to have upset camochick however. 

Mod edit : Inapropriate comment removed....try that again, i dare you.

 

[aesop081]

.....and were done.

Army.ca staff