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Hi, My name is Matthew, and I have been looking into the process of joining the Canadian Forces. I have been a member of Air Cadets for approximately 6 years now (turning 18 in November)
While it is not a firm decision yet, I have been playing with the idea for awhile now. Just this weekend, at the Boomer's Legacy Fundraising dinner, I met General Hillier , and he told me "to make up my mind before I end up 45 doing nothing." As such I've decided to take the mans advice. I took the opportunity this first week at cadets to begin discussing with the officers how the process would work, what I would need to get done, etc. They have already been very helpful in answering many of my questions, and have directed me to Forces.ca and here, Army.ca to begin investigating the process into far more detail.
I already had an general idea of what I wanted to get into; Armoured, more specifically the tank. However, upon looking at the job description, and looking at other opportunities, I also wouldn't mind the Recce Segment of the Armoured trade, as well as potentially getting into the Air Defence trade, specifically the ADATS (something about tracked vehicles... ).
Anyways, I've been cruising this site for the better part of two days, and have decided to sign up to ask some of my own questions that weren't answered in other threads.
While talking to the officers at cadets, they gave me the impression that the next time recruiters were in Comox, I could be in and out within a day, with everything completed except for my singing the dotted line, which would have to be saved for after cadets and after I am 18 (mother will refuse to sign for it). After looking at dozens of threads and hundreds of posts on this site, it seems to me that the general consensus is that the recruitment process, filling out all the forms, interviews, etc. occurs over many days, and it all can't be done in just one day when the recruiters arrive. (They come up from Victoria) What is the case? Can I have my aptitude test, interview, and all the initial paperwork completed within one day?
Another question revolves around the actual process. Much of the focus on the site seems to be on only the aptitude test and interview. The former I think I will do fairly well in considering my practice scores of 85 and 90% (some of the test links don't work), and a link to an IQ test I found earlier that gave me a score of 148 when most other people said they scored between 110 and 130. Yes the IQ score is trivial, but I still feel it is a good indicator. As for the interview, I know to go well dressed, but I am wondering more about the process. Will the questions be straightforward yes/no answers, open ended questions where I am free to express myself, or both? And more important than either of these, what else is involved during the recruitment day and/or overall process.
Alas, the biggest question is; What can I do to ensure I get into the trade I want? A long time employer and somewhat mentor said that I should only list what I want at the top of the list, and nothing else. Is this recommended, or should I add filler beyond the Armoured trade (and possibly Anti-Air) to my list of trade requests... If there even is a request list?
One more thing... for the sake of clairity; is this form something to be filled out and taken with me to the recruiting centre: 5th post down.
I ask because there seemed to be a whole lot of confusion around some paperwork in a thread dated for 2004 that wasn't clarified.
Thanks for your guy's help. If I missed the answers to some of these questions, please take the time to simply link me to the appropriate thread.
M. Bailey
PS. As a side-note, the family doesn't have a functioning phone, which I am rather ashamed to admit. :-[ As such I don't have the easy convenience of the local recruiting agency being only a phone call away. To make a call would be a rather laborious venture to town to make the call from a friend or officers house, which is about 45 minutes from here. Doesn't mean I can't E-mail, but I have found that E-mail and government agencies usually get me nowhere.
While it is not a firm decision yet, I have been playing with the idea for awhile now. Just this weekend, at the Boomer's Legacy Fundraising dinner, I met General Hillier , and he told me "to make up my mind before I end up 45 doing nothing." As such I've decided to take the mans advice. I took the opportunity this first week at cadets to begin discussing with the officers how the process would work, what I would need to get done, etc. They have already been very helpful in answering many of my questions, and have directed me to Forces.ca and here, Army.ca to begin investigating the process into far more detail.
I already had an general idea of what I wanted to get into; Armoured, more specifically the tank. However, upon looking at the job description, and looking at other opportunities, I also wouldn't mind the Recce Segment of the Armoured trade, as well as potentially getting into the Air Defence trade, specifically the ADATS (something about tracked vehicles... ).
Anyways, I've been cruising this site for the better part of two days, and have decided to sign up to ask some of my own questions that weren't answered in other threads.
While talking to the officers at cadets, they gave me the impression that the next time recruiters were in Comox, I could be in and out within a day, with everything completed except for my singing the dotted line, which would have to be saved for after cadets and after I am 18 (mother will refuse to sign for it). After looking at dozens of threads and hundreds of posts on this site, it seems to me that the general consensus is that the recruitment process, filling out all the forms, interviews, etc. occurs over many days, and it all can't be done in just one day when the recruiters arrive. (They come up from Victoria) What is the case? Can I have my aptitude test, interview, and all the initial paperwork completed within one day?
Another question revolves around the actual process. Much of the focus on the site seems to be on only the aptitude test and interview. The former I think I will do fairly well in considering my practice scores of 85 and 90% (some of the test links don't work), and a link to an IQ test I found earlier that gave me a score of 148 when most other people said they scored between 110 and 130. Yes the IQ score is trivial, but I still feel it is a good indicator. As for the interview, I know to go well dressed, but I am wondering more about the process. Will the questions be straightforward yes/no answers, open ended questions where I am free to express myself, or both? And more important than either of these, what else is involved during the recruitment day and/or overall process.
Alas, the biggest question is; What can I do to ensure I get into the trade I want? A long time employer and somewhat mentor said that I should only list what I want at the top of the list, and nothing else. Is this recommended, or should I add filler beyond the Armoured trade (and possibly Anti-Air) to my list of trade requests... If there even is a request list?
One more thing... for the sake of clairity; is this form something to be filled out and taken with me to the recruiting centre: 5th post down.
I ask because there seemed to be a whole lot of confusion around some paperwork in a thread dated for 2004 that wasn't clarified.
Thanks for your guy's help. If I missed the answers to some of these questions, please take the time to simply link me to the appropriate thread.
M. Bailey
PS. As a side-note, the family doesn't have a functioning phone, which I am rather ashamed to admit. :-[ As such I don't have the easy convenience of the local recruiting agency being only a phone call away. To make a call would be a rather laborious venture to town to make the call from a friend or officers house, which is about 45 minutes from here. Doesn't mean I can't E-mail, but I have found that E-mail and government agencies usually get me nowhere.