Officer Selection Board

[ProPatria05]

For those who are being reviewed by the Reg Force Direct Entry Officer Selection Board this month, were you given any information as to what period it covered? Specifically, is the board selecting candidates only for the IAP/BOTP course this September, or will it select for the January 2004 course as well?

Just want to get a sense as to whether or not it is possible that even if I am successful, if I still may not be going anywhere until January (which would suck in the utmost!)

 

[Tyrnagog]

They gave me no indication of what time frame for BOTP. I was told that they were even selecting candidates for the July BOTP, but I am unsure how true that is.

What occ are you applying for?

 

[Ralph]

I‘m 99% sure that next week‘s board is just for the September course. You either get an offer, be told that Borden wants to keep your file open (that‘s where I‘m at, after the delightful artillery board finished their offers the week before the January ‘03 course started) or politely asked to give up. So if you don‘t get in, you could be on a waiting list until, say, September, if the board meets around 3 mos. before each course starts. Trust me, I know how much the waiting game stinks.
Cheers,
Ralph.

 

[ProPatria05]

Tyrnagog (if that‘s your real name )--

Infantry. I recall from an earlier post that you are going CELE, for which the Army is desperately low - that would be why they want to get you in on a summer course (which is normally reserved for ROTP).

Ralph --
Did they tell you why you didn‘t get in? May be a bit of a personal question.

The board sits May 19-23, and the recruiting center says they should know by the end of the following week and will let me know ASAP. Same should be true for you guys, I would think. Good luck - maybe I‘ll see you on the other side.

 

[Tyrnagog]

You got me Murph... Tyrnagog isn‘t my real name...

 

[Ralph]

No, not at all - there was a hiring freeze on everything except Artillery, so I added that to my list of one (Infantry) so I could be looked at for January. No idea how that went in the boardroom, but it didn‘t help (me, at least) that the officer in charge of finalizing everything didn‘t finish until mid-January (it‘s true) so I didn‘t get the phone call to say I didn‘t get in until February - after the course had started. I had leapt to that conclusion already So this time around, all three combat arms are hiring, and hopefully it‘s as normal a route as the army takes.
I don‘t think they tell you one way or another why you didn‘t get picked if you don‘t get an offer - it could be just that there was a big backlog of guys from the last go-around. I did twist the re-interviewer‘s arm to give me my odds, and he said the only way I could be in a better position is if I was still in the reserve right now - which is where you‘re at, right? So just figure if you don‘t get in for September, the odds are good for Jan 04 because you‘ll be on the top of last round‘s heap - and by then they‘ll know how much money there is and more positions may open up.
Cheers,
Ralph.

 

[ProPatria05]

Ralph

You mentioned the possibility of backlogs from previous selection boards. Have you ever been told if the selection board gives any kind of consideration to good candidates who did not make the cut at a previous board?

For instance, lets say you were ranked #21 out of 200 applicants at the last selection board, but there were only 20 spots, so you didn’t get in. Would you be given ‘special’ consideration over a new applicant this time, even though they may have scored higher on the CFAT, interview, etc? Or is it a whole new ballgame, where you are simply rated alongside everyone else, including new applicants?

 

[Ralph]

Well, I‘m hoping that‘s the case, (for my own sake), but I honestly don‘t know. My guess would be that the leftovers for earlier boards would be put at the top of the pile when they start, and thus would have first crack. I hope they don‘t want to make extra work for themselves, and so wouldn‘t want to reevaluate from the beginning an older file that they had decided to keep open, and rather give it the thumbs-up at the start. That being said, there‘s no way that there are a lot of leftovers (or that a lot of them get in each board), because plenty of guys get called the first time they are eligible.
Cheers,
Ralph.

 

[Tyrnagog]

Has anyone heard anything from the board that sat in Borden last week?

How long does a person typically wait to hear from a board?

Yes, I know... whine whine whine... having to wait so long... blah blah blah...

But I wanna know! :lol:

Cheers!

 

[ProPatria05]

I talked to the recruiting centre last week. They said they should have the results back next week or the week after. However, I‘m applying the "rule of 3" that was stolen from the CF by ‘American Pie 2‘. They say 1-2 wks for results, I expect 3-6 weeks.

I know what you‘re going through. It‘s all I think about. I‘m starting to drive my wife nuts, I think. Good Luck.

 

[Tyrnagog]

Thanks... and good luck to you too..

I am sure I am driving my wife nuts as well... but not as crazy as other people asking "Have you heard yet?"

It was almost as bad as the week before our baby was born.. ugh.

Ah well... 1-2 weeks ain‘t so bad... 3-6 (while not ideal) is still passable.. I guess...

 

[ProPatria05]

Aaarrrgggghhh!!!!

I‘m going f***ing crazy! I put my transfer memo in last October and have waited this long, you‘d think another week or two to find out would be easy. Instead, it feels like Monday was 2 years ago instead of 2 days ago. I don‘t suppose anyone else has heard anything yet? Tyrnagog or Ralph?

 

[Tyrnagog]

I hear ya Murph... I‘ve been doing my ****dest not to think of it... but that still doesn‘t stop me from check my answering machine at home from work 2 or 3 times per day...

This has got to be the slowest week ever...

 

[Ralph]

HA HA HA!!! I saw that there were two more messages to this thread and I had to compose myself before I opened it up. Nothing from my end, either. At least my wife was somewhat prepared for it, me having gone through this for the last board as well. I checked my emails back then - the board was finished Dec. 6 and the first guy to mention he got a call posted Dec. 17th. So if the board takes a full week, and they didn‘t work Victoria Day, we‘re talking mid-next week. I hope I‘m wrong, but obviously as you say these things don‘t always run fast/smoothly.
Every time an outside line flashes, I cross my fingers the receptionist patches it up to me...
Cheers,
Ralph.

 

[Tyrnagog]

Sorry to get your hopes up Ralph...

So mid-next week, you think? hmmm...

You say you went through this before? So what was the first time like? Going through the board process etc... I mean..

 

[Ralph]

As bad as you can imagine. They were only hiring artillery, so I added my name to that list just to get looked at, and the officer at Borden, for whatever reason, didn‘t send the final list out to the recruiting offices until AFTER the course had started. So I had to wait from Dec. 6 until Jan. 16 (when the course started) to know for sure. I finally got called by CFRC in Feb. Obviously(?) the guys who got on were notified beforehand, but I was still waiting in early January and the CFRC couldn‘t say for sure one way or another that I wasn‘t on. I mean, I was guessing I wasn‘t, but it was not a pleasant experience.
Cheers,
Ralph.

 

[ProPatria05]

An update...

I talked to the Recruiting Centre today. The lady I have been dealing with there called Borden for me, and found out that the Board just finished today ! The comment from Borden was that they hadn‘t realized that last week was a short week. No further elaboration. I‘m speculating that they postponed it until this week, and ended up getting it done in 4 days anyway (which they could have done last week). Typical - I often wonder what I‘m getting myself into .

At any rate, they CFRC said they hope to at least have the "selected/declined" information by next week, with specific information on offers after that.

 

[Ralph]

Thanks for the update. My Leading Seaman file manager is sick of the sound of me...
Until next week,
Ralph.

 

[Tyrnagog]

Thanks Murph...

At least another week.... lovely...

ah well...

 

[Tyrnagog]

Ya know what.... I think that each and every recruiting office has different info.

It‘s getting frustrating.

Called my recruiting office, and the told me that the date they had to have apps. in was by May 20, and a decision would be made next week...

At the earliest.

Oi!

Just thought I would pass the word to all the other people waiting for the officer board..