Canadian Forces Aptitude Test (CFAT) [MERGED]

[Jarnhamar]

IMO looks to me like a perfectly good waste of $50.

You either have a base level of knowlege / logic, or you do not. No amount of short term prepping will actually embed / impart any of same for any duration, unless you're of the University types who simply absorb - regurgitate, and then delete. You will however still require the base knowlege to work through the CFAT.

Nice slick looking website though.........snake oil in a different bottle.

I disagree.

Sometimes all you need is a little refresher. 

A good friend of mine, MCpl, had a CT for the regular force.  Air force tech job. He's not a dumb guy, it's just been a while since he was in school.  He had the CFAT coming up and we told him to study online or pay for one of the practice tests. He never bothered to get around doing it. Took the CFAT and failed the math portion "by a couple of points".
Would the $50 have made the difference?  Maybe, but now he's back on class A struggling to bring in money when he could have had a real chance of landing a full time job for at least 3 years, probably 20.

 

[Bluebulldog]

ObedientiaZelum

Fair enough. But in a round about way, you made my point.

Your friend missed on the math by "a couple of points" which he may have benefited from by getting a little refresher.

Said refresher on math can be done on many other sites, and by other methods not requiring putting up $50 to do so.

The Public Service Commission of Canada actually has tests available on their website

http://www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/centres/faq-eng.htm#toc10

Brian was looking for feedback. He's received that in spades. It's entirely up to him whether he realizes value out of laying down his $50 or not.

I am also firmly of the belief that in many cases, your (MCpl friend excluded), many hopeful applicants who are just out of school may wind up laying money down for nothing in the hopes that it will boost their scores, when they probably already possess the body of knowledge required.

Cheers.

 

[dogger1936]

And remember...you don't have to join the army to be a part of it!

http://forcesready.ca/2011/07/31/you-dont-have-to-join-the-army-to-be-a-part-of-it/

 

[Habs]

And remember...you don't have to join the army to be a part of it!

http://forcesready.ca/2011/07/31/you-dont-have-to-join-the-army-to-be-a-part-of-it/

What the hell?  :facepalm:

Yeah, that site is definitely worth the money. /sarcasm

 

[therickiness]

Agree not worth it. I took the test while in high school and passed for officers for this year. I was pretty stoned in high school. XD I am sure you're brighter than me in HS.

 

[Jarnhamar]

ObedientiaZelum

Fair enough. But in a round about way, you made my point.

Your friend missed on the math by "a couple of points" which he may have benefited from by getting a little refresher.

Said refresher on math can be done on many other sites, and by other methods not requiring putting up $50 to do so.

The Public Service Commission of Canada actually has tests available on their website

http://www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/centres/faq-eng.htm#toc10

Brian was looking for feedback. He's received that in spades. It's entirely up to him whether he realizes value out of laying down his $50 or not.

I am also firmly of the belief that in many cases, your (MCpl friend excluded), many hopeful applicants who are just out of school may wind up laying money down for nothing in the hopes that it will boost their scores, when they probably already possess the body of knowledge required.

Cheers.

For sure bro.  dropping $50 when you could use a little hard work effort and searching to find something free on the internet IS a waste of money.

Someone just out of school will have a way better chance of passing one of these than someone like me. I'm certain I'd fail the CFAT if I sat down in 2 minutes and tried it out.  Give me a day to brush up on my math and I'd rock the test.

I've always taken a big interest in recruiting. Getting people in and why they fail.

Without a doubt the biggest reason I've seen is people not putting that extra little bit of effort in. 
Someone *thinks* they can do 19 push ups no problem- they do 17 or 18 and fail because the tester didn't count 5 or 6 of them.
Someone *thinks* they can pass the CFAT easily and when they sit down and see BEDMAS and their mind goes blank.

I wonder if we could find some links to free websites that help prep people for CFAT type tests and make it a sticky in the recruiting forum here?

 

[seawolf]

I just wrote the CFAT at the beginning of the month.

I just got one of those "dummies" books from amazon.ca that covered all the American Armed Forces tests (Officer Candidate Tests for Dummies) and all the stuff in it minus the general science knowledge part. Think it cost me like $15 or something.

Very useful and a lot less then $50. The CFAT really isnt that hard. I'm just 30 years old and it had been 15 years since i was doing gr 10 math.

 

[bcbarman]

Without a doubt the biggest reason I've seen is people not putting that extra little bit of effort in. 
Someone *thinks* they can do 19 push ups no problem- they do 17 or 18 and fail because the tester didn't count 5 or 6 of them.
Someone *thinks* they can pass the CFAT easily and when they sit down and see BEDMAS and their mind goes blank.

I wonder if we could find some links to free websites that help prep people for CFAT type tests and make it a sticky in the recruiting forum here?

Brackets, Exponents, Divide, Multiply, Add, Subtract....  That took me a few minutes to scroll through the mental Rolodex

 

[jrst]

I can't speak much to that site, since I didn't look a lot through it, however...

I just wrote my CFAT a week and a half ago, and the biggest shock to me was that everyone else I wrote with didn't know it was going to be harder than the practice test that's available.  So based on that, you've already done the right step by being here and knowing that you have to study something.
I definitely did not have an extra $50 (or really anything) to buy a practice book or the online resources of some websites.  I did find a LOT of practice tests online for free.  Some of them have parts that aren't on the test (my best math test I found had graphs), but you just ignore those parts and do the rest.  Keep in mind, sometimes they are hidden in groups of tests called psychometric tests.
http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/psychotests.htm was my favorite site.  It times you and gives you feed back, as well as solutions when you're done, and helps practice writing on a computer.  I passed for Infantry Officer no problems using all free resources.

Best of luck!

 

[Chang]

The owner of that website seems to be confused about how the CF works. There are many references to the regular force being the army, the navy and the air force not being part of the regular force, and the reserves not being part of the military at all. I'd be highly skeptical of the study material they're offering on that site.

 

[aesop081]

Talk to this guy, i heard he does wonders:

http://Forums.Army.ca/forums/threads/43026.50.html

 

[cemalyukselir]

Hey Guys Im really new to this forum here , i only had one post that was about it.

I would like to ask you guys few questions regarding CFAT and Trades being open/closed.

Anyway. I  did my Aptitude Test on June 7th.2012 and unluckly the personel told me that i couldnt  qualify for Reserves Infantry. Biggest mistake i made was taking the test when i was really sick , i know i  should have re-scheduled it but i seriously thought i did good enough to  qualify. Personel told me i scored the highest on Verbal and Spatial ability unluckly my math was a little poor she said. My Old math Teacher Will be helping with the Math , i will for sure be passing the math portion of the test this time.

As this being solved , i spoke with the Sergeant at the Reserve unit (Loyal Edmonton Regiment) i been in touch with him since December, He knows how serious i am about getting the spot. Anyway few days ago when i spoke to him , he told me the infantry trade now is closed and it will be closed atleast till January he said. When i asked " So i have to wait until January to apply and cant apply this Sept?" than again he said " you gotta check back with me on Sept to see if its open or not than again i mean ATLEAST Jan". i seriously need an answer about this , because this basically leaves me to a waiting time of another 5 to 6 months. Im pretty confiused and stressed about it , because i was hoping i can apply on September and pass the Test this time and qualify for Infantry. Please i really want to hear What you guys have to say about this.

And for the Aptitude Test. When i was researching about it way before i got to do the test , things i seen about it never freaked me out..but math portion of it DID..when i posted something on the facebook page of CF regarding the CFAT , People told me its simple math i shouldnt worry about it and for Infantry i dont have to score really high and I am Hundred percent sure i did score atleast 30/60. Math portion of the test only got me struggled , the probelms i messed up mostly likely are  the long divions and fractions. Ill be honest im not so great with math..and i seriously need some advice before i see my teacher on September , Because if you guys can provide me with some information that i can use until September than while shes teaching me ill know much more and ill hopefully ace the test. Please guys and THANKS for taking your time to read over my post , forgive me if i made any mistakes on my grammar or spelling. Your Help means alot to me thanks once again people.

 

[brihard]

Hey Guys Im really new to this forum here , i only had one post that was about it.

I would like to ask you guys few questions regarding CFAT and Trades being open/closed.

Anyway. I  did my Aptitude Test on June 7th.2012 and unluckly the personel told me that i couldnt  qualify for Reserves Infantry. Biggest mistake i made was taking the test when i was really sick , i know i  should have re-scheduled it but i seriously thought i did good enough to  qualify. Personel told me i scored the highest on Verbal and Spatial ability unluckly my math was a little poor she said. My Old math Teacher Will be helping with the Math , i will for sure be passing the math portion of the test this time.

As this being solved , i spoke with the Sergeant at the Reserve unit (Loyal Edmonton Regiment) i been in touch with him since December, He knows how serious i am about getting the spot. Anyway few days ago when i spoke to him , he told me the infantry trade now is closed and it will be closed atleast till January he said. When i asked " So i have to wait until January to apply and cant apply this Sept?" than again he said " you gotta check back with me on Sept to see if its open or not than again i mean ATLEAST Jan". i seriously need an answer about this , because this basically leaves me to a waiting time of another 5 to 6 months. Im pretty confiused and stressed about it , because i was hoping i can apply on September and pass the Test this time and qualify for Infantry. Please i really want to hear What you guys have to say about this.

And for the Aptitude Test. When i was researching about it way before i got to do the test , things i seen about it never freaked me out..but math portion of it DID..when i posted something on the facebook page of CF regarding the CFAT , People told me its simple math i shouldnt worry about it and for Infantry i dont have to score really high and I am Hundred percent sure i did score atleast 30/60. Math portion of the test only got me struggled , the probelms i messed up mostly likely are  the long divions and fractions. Ill be honest im not so great with math..and i seriously need some advice before i see my teacher on September , Because if you guys can provide me with some information that i can use until September than while shes teaching me ill know much more and ill hopefully ace the test. Please guys and THANKS for taking your time to read over my post , forgive me if i made any mistakes on my grammar or spelling. Your Help means alot to me thanks once again people.

Cemal,

All of this has already been answered on the Facebook group where you've asked the same questions. You won't get different or more authoritative answers than what I've seen people give you there already, including infantry reservists and those involved in recruiting.

The recruiting sergeant has told you you will be waiting til at least January. There is no person in the military or on this site who is better qualified to give you information about the hiring for the Loyal Edmonton Regiment than their own recruiter.

You already have a plan, and now you've been given timelines. Get the math tutoring, work on it, and when the Loyal Eddies are again hiring throw your name in the hat once more. But you've already been given all the advice that can be of use to you.

 

[PrettyMaggie63]

i seriously thought i did good enough to  qualify

Unfortunately, it is not what you thought, it is what the RC thought that matters.

because this basically leaves me to a waiting time of another 5 to 6 months

If you were told you would have to wait 5 or 6 months, then you will have to wait 5 or 6 months. This is not an unreasonable time frame in the application process.

People told me its simple math i shouldnt worry about it and for Infantry i dont have to score really high and I am Hundred percent sure i did score atleast 30/60

"Simple math" as you put it is a basic life skill. IMHO, if someone is defending my country and my family, I would certainly hope they know more than 50%. Take the time frame you have been given and use it to improve your application. If, and I stress "if" you are given an opportunity for another try, aim for 100%, not just enough to "squeak by".

 

[gcclarke]

As well, I would suggest that you could use a bit of work on your written communication skills. Proper capitalization and punctuation is rather important. A little bit of effort can go a long way towards improving the legibility and comprehensibility of whatever you write.

 

[C.Balogh]

Hi! I know when you join the reserves you do your BMQ on weekends but do some people take the BMQ the same way regular force do?

 

[AgentSmith]

No, reservists do not go to St. Jean to do reg force BMQ. Some brigades might offer a full time BMQ course in the summer but it's only 4 weeks long. I'm not sure how long Naval reserve BMQ is.

 

[C.Balogh]

Okay thanks!

 

[MikeL]

RCN and RCAF Reservists do 13(?) weeks of BMQ in CFB Borden.  It's only the Army Reserve* that does it either on weekends in the fall or full time for a month in the summer.

*Not sure if the RCN and RCAF Reservists can do weekend BMQs or not,  I just know of the full time one in Borden.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

RCN and RCAF Reservists do 13(?) weeks of BMQ in CFB Borden.  It's only the Army Reserve* that does it either on weekends in the fall or full time for a month in the summer.

*Not sure if the RCN and RCAF Reservists can do weekend BMQs or not,  I just know of the full time one in Borden.

AFAIK Naval and Air Reserves do their training at CFLRS ST. JEAN..... no weekend or Army Reserve BMQ......

Naval Reserves seems hanged up on all those kit and quarters inspection times....Tried to get them to change that at the WB but not sure if they will go for it.....