Finally some contact!

[dbrks88]

So I applied online back in December 2014. I received an email stating that my application was received. After that I have not heard a thing. No emails or anything.
I kind of just forgot about the whole thing due to work/life and what not, but recently decided I should look into it. Today I emailed the application management team and apparently my application ran into some form of error. Whoever I spoke to sent an attachment to contact Kingston to set up an appointment. I am assuming this would be for CFAT or something. Regardless, I sent the email. Hopefully I hear back soon with a date and what it is for. I have wanted to join for about 6 or 7 years. So to finally get this ball rolling feels good. I have a letter of recommendation from a Master Warrant Officer to bring with me. I don't know if that will help my case much but I guess it can't hurt.

Now to sit back and wait. At least I have a good paying full time job to keep me occupied during this process. As much as I hate working there lol.

 

[dbrks88]

Well, more contact today. My CFAT/TSD is booked for June 3rd. Jesus, I did not expect a reply this quickly 

 

[eharps]

Everybody's wait time is different.

I went into the application process hoping for a quick series of steps, but prepared for a lot of long waits, and my process has not been too bad. Depending on how many extra forms or checks have to be performed, if you have all your paperwork ready and you have done your homework on the process, it should not be a bad process.

I started my application in February 2014 and I just received my confirmation of dates for my medical and interview, my excitement is starting to ramp up a lot faster now!

Also, if you have a full time job, the time will fly by. I have read on these forums many times that while you should be dedicated to your application, you shouldn't hang all your life's expectations on it. If you carry on your regular routine throughout the application, the wait will fly by!

Cheers and best of luck,

eharps 

 

[dbrks88]

Yeah that is pretty much what I am doing. My CFAT is two days away. I am a bit nervous as I am terrible with math. I have tried to do some studying with the GED book, most of the explanations makes no sense to me so I go on youtube to watch videos of certain math problems as I learn better visually. I just don't think I have had enough time for this. I could always reschedule the CFAT. But at this point I am just going to go in and do my best. I am prepared for the bad news that I either did not qualify for my selected trades, or worse, I did not qualify for anything.

I see so many stories of people failing this test that I just have this feeling like I am going to do horrible. I am by no means a stupid person, I just do not like math at all. I can pretty much do the basic stuff, long division, integers, some fractions. Every day normal knowledge when it comes to decimals and percentages. Anything higher than that, you've lost me. My arithmetic is terrible, and I have a feeling that is going to hurt me for time during the test. I hope you at least get a piece of paper and a pencil. 

In the end, all I can do is try. For 7 years or so this has been in the back of my head. I am finally going through with it. So on Wednesday we will see what happens. That will be the point in which I will know if I have a chance at some type of career with the CF. I am strictly sticking with Air Force trades. So if I don't qualify for anything decent in that branch I am prepared to walk out of that office and continue on with my life and forget all about this. I am hoping that it is one of those things where you worry so much and then once you do it you look back and you're like "that wasn't so bad, why did I sorry so much?". And that all of these people I hear of that fail, are just really stupid lol.

I'll post back with results after Wednesday. Wish me luck, I'll probably need it.

 

[eharps]

Breathe. Relax.

I felt the same way going into my CFAT but as soon as I went to the room an overwhelming sense of calm came over me and I felt like I aced it, without studying for it. You are your own worst enemy when it comes to thing like this because we always seem to psych ourselves out.

If I can give you any tips for it, they would be as follows. Relax. Don't have any energy drinks or coffee or anything like that, they raise your blood pressure and make you feel on edge, what you want for this is to be calm and collected. Wake up early, maybe go for a run (helps me clear my head and calm down a bit, as well as wake me up) and be early to the CFRC.

Just take it easy, don't race through the test and you will do fine.

Cheers and best of luck, let me know how you do!

eharps

 

[dbrks88]

Thanks for the tips. I'll report back on Wednesday. 

 

[GraemeCaughill]

Thanks for the tips. I'll report back on Wednesday. 

The aptitude test is as much to map out your brain and its processes as it is to gauge your intelligence in basic English and math skills
Know your word comparisons and be prepared for a lot of spatial questions.
like above, Breathe and relax. your as much out of your element as the guy or girl sitting next to you in the testing room. i had no idea how well i did until they went over my results.
Good luck, and best wishes on qualifying for your trade. the Aptitude is an exciting and important part of the recruiting process.

Cheers,
Graeme

 

[dbrks88]

Well my appointment is tomorrow. I can't find my birth certificate. I literally just ordered a new one like 4 or 5 months ago. I figured the wife knew where it was as she usually deals with our important documents, and it was just a matter of getting it from the spot where the rest of the crap is. Apparently it isn't where everything else is. So if I can't find it today I am screwed.

I was lucky enough to have the school get me an official transcript by today, so I have to go pick that up in an hour. Everything is so last minute due to work and now I can't find the birth certificate so now I am screwed. Hopefully she can find it today while I am at work. fml.

 

[eharps]

I also had the same sort of issue. I was lucky enough to order a new birth certificate and express ship it. It arrived in less than 24 hours. Perhaps this is an option?

If not, you will be required to reschedule.

Best of luck,

eharps

 

[dbrks88]

Yeah that is not an option. I have to leave around 6:30 in the morning and drive to Kingston RC for 8am. I did find my old Birth Certificate, it has a small chunk missing from the bottom middle. You can still see my name, DOB, Certificate number and what not. I hope they accept it. Looked high and low all day for my new one, and I can not find it anywhere. I might have accidentally thrown it in the garbage once when I was cleaning out the car or something. Why I didn't take it out of the car or put it away I don't know. If that is even what happened. So besides that set back, I have all my documents and paperwork ready for tomorrow morning. Jus tgoing to try and relax, go in and do my best. Whatever happens happens. Plan B is an apprenticeship, and Plan C is stay at my current job. We shall see..

 

[eharps]

Best of luck. Keep me posted.



eharps

 

[dbrks88]

Well I just got back. They didn't tell us if we qualified or not. We have to wait for an email I guess. I am pretty sure I did terrible. There was words I have never even heard of and I found the math problems were a little hard. A lot of them I had to guess. I am not a stupid person at all and a lot of them had me stumped, or I didn't have enough time to properly figure it out. I was really hoping to find out how I did today. I now have to wait up to 10 days for an email. Oh well. Hope for the best I guess.

 

[Colta]

I thought I completely bombed it when I took it. Turns out I qualified for every NCM and Officer trade. So try not to be too bummed out right now. You'll get your email shortly and I'm sure it'll be okay. Just gotta stay positive!

 

[eharps]

As long as you did your absolute best, there is nothing else you can do. As for the results, they said up to a week to receive mine, but I heard back within a day. Beleive me, they do not want to leave you hanging, they want to process you, either way!

I am sure you will do fine.

 

[dbrks88]

Thanks guys. I am hoping I did good enough. I certainly don't want to be a cook or steward lol. And I really want a spec pay trade. But I guess I am willing to pick a non spec pay trade if I have too.
I am hoping i get an email soon lol.

Also, there was a kid that took it with us today. He picked infantry for all three trade selections. When we were done the test we had to go to the lobby and wait. He was the first called and was taken into the back, I assume to an office of some sort. I was the second last called and during all that waiting I didn't see him again. Was curious as to why they pulled him to the back and we all got to stay in the lobby.

 

[dbrks88]

Well, I am afraid I was right. I completely bombed my CFAT. Although I scored well enough for enrollment, the only available trade I got was Steward. I am now going to keep my application closed and move onto something else. I don't think I am going to bother with a re-write. I am going to start looking into an apprenticeship. Thanks everyone for the support. And good luck in your journey.

 

[eharps]

dbrks88,

I am sorry to hear that you didn't do as well as you had hoped. There is a large however here though. If the military is something you're truly interested in as a career, you should regroup and take the time to focus on what you can improve. What areas did you do poorly in? Practice those. Did the test make you nervous? Write some online to practice. If you give up at the first sign of trouble, you will have a hard time with any career choice you make. If you have the same issue in your apprenticeship, what then?

Forgive me if I sound condescending, I do not intend it that way, just hoping to help. No application is fast for the Armed Forces, and this should only be a setback, not a hope ender. Think of it as an amount of time to practice to try again next time, while you continue to better yourself.

That being said if you are completely disinterested in the Forces now, you should not force yourself to do something you aren't 100% behind.

So the next step is, what do you truly want to do?

eharps

PS After my CFAT, i originally received the email saying I hadn't been selected for further processing and that I could re-take the test in X months. It broke my heart, but strengthened my resolve. I went straight to CFRC, all the while thinking, "Shit, what am I going to do now? Rewrite in so many months, work on getting in better shape (I need to), practice tests, math lessons....etc" I, fortunately, just received the wrong letter, but all the same my contingency plans came into place.

 

[dbrks88]

Honestly I don't know what exactly I did horrible in. The verbal portion seemed like it was luck based. Nobody would ever know the answers to half of those words. I have never even heard those words in my life. The spatial portion wasn't THAT bad, it did get tougher towards the end with the patterns and what not. And the problem solving part was somewhat hard. I think what killed me the most was time. I just didn't have enough time to figure out the answers. A lot of them I had to half ass the math, get a partial answer or something close to what was listed for the answers, or use process of elimination and then guess the answer. I know I had a difficult time with the number patterns. 2, 4, 6, 8 etc, but it was more difficult that just counting by two. I just didn't have time for it. Now that I look back, I probably should have spent more time on trying to figure out the answers instead of guessing pretty much everything in the problem solving portion of the test. At least that way I probably could have gotten 15-20 answers actually correct and if I ran out of time at least I know I got those 15, instead of just quickly plowing through them all and hoping for the best. I guess I was more focused on answering all of the questions instead of actually trying to work them out. That was probably my down fall right there now that I think about it.

I emailed the RC, and asked what part of the test I did bad on. Hopefully they can give me some insight as to what I struggled with. Even though I just literally now answered my own question after I thought about it.

As for what I want to do, the military has been the only thing I have truly wanted to do for the last 7-8 years. When I got the email, I was reading it and it started off with thanking me for taking the test, and how I scored well enough for enrollment, at that point my heart was pounding and I was excited, then it said HOWEVER you didn't score well enough for your selected trades. That right there wasn't a huge shock, I thought to myself, okay well lets see what trades they have listed instead. I scroll down and see MOS ID 00165 STEWARD, and that was it. It was like getting punched in the chest. I didn't know I could go from happy to pissed off so quickly.

After cooling off today at work and thinking to myself. I will probably wait the three months and do a re write. What do I have to lose? Besides gas money and my time. I have a full time job that pays better than I would get starting in the military anyway, I'll just keep working and wait out the three months. This time I will actually study my math, because I didn't this time around, and I know the types of questions to focus on now that I have seen the test. So really, I should do better if I actually work at it. I mean, I could always just be a steward right? But I know I am better than that, and my standards are much higher. No offense to anyone who is a steward. You get what you give, and I gave nothing to prepare for this, and in return I received nothing. So it is my own fault. Live and learn. Now I know what I need to do.

 

[RelentlessTsunami]

I mean, I could always just be a steward right? But I know I am better than that, and my standards are much higher. No offense to anyone who is a steward.

What the fuck is wrong with you dude? You're not even a member of the CF yet and you're looking down on members filling a position who are currently serving the Country?

That's seriously disgusting and I hope you don't bring that shitty attitude to the CF. Have you ever thought maybe some stewards enjoy their jobs, and maybe even take pride in it?

The fact you followed up with "No offense to anyone who is a steward" shows that you know what you said was a slight towards them. Show some respect.

 

[dbrks88]

I am not trying to diss the trade. It just seems like that is the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to options with a low CFAT score. If someone wants to be a steward and they love their job, that's great for them. It's not my cup of tea and I am not going to take it just to get in. I am going to study this time around and aim for a higher score to get into a technical trade because that is what I want to do. Again, I am not trying to insult anyone who decides to go that route.