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Questions about Joining

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-Skeletor- said:
You decide on the job you want during the application process, then at the end of your testing they will tell you if you qualify - they will tell you which ones you did qualify for

The Recruiting Centres know what trades(jobs) are open...  do not worry about this.. the recruitering staff will handle all of this for you.

BMQ comes after you have picked a trade and qualify for it and there is a position for you. You will not goto BMQ, unless you actually have a position in a trade.  This is the same for the Reserves as well.  So you are clear, you pick the job you want before you attend BMQ


Theres still time to get your marks up, just have to put in an effort.  Don't think the Military is just a last ditch hope to get a job.

okay that makes more sense, so currently at this time, is getting into the military a long shot? or is it still pretty common to get into?
 
Michael O'Leary said:
Put in your application, see how you do. And be patient, it can take a while.

Would you suggest i apply now, even though i'm not out of school for another 6 months? seeing as how it could take a while anyways, but then again... they won't be able to see my next semester grades if i apply now
 
jaykay said:
okay that makes more sense, so currently at this time, is getting into the military a long shot? or is it still pretty common to get into?


I can not say yes/no to you getting into the CF,  best thing for you to do is to visit a recruiting centre, talk with them, fill out a application and see what happens.

The Military is not impossible to get into,  but don't expect it's a guarentee as you may or may not qualify for the job you want, or it may not be open so you will have to wait untill a spot opens up for you.  People are still getting into the CF right now,  but only for suitable applicants for trades that are open. 
 
okay makes sense, i guess the only thing left for me to do is talk to a recruiter, i'll probably do that soon seeing as how winter break is coming up and i will be out of school for a bit.

But the reason i thought marks didn't matter was because you have to do that aptitude test to get in right, so i thought they just looked at those marks, i don't remember where i read that now, but it was a while ago, so i kind of slacked off in school thinking i'd get in anyways, which i regret now, i'll start doing better next semester when i start fresh with new classes
 
jaykay said:
okay makes sense, i guess the only thing left for me to do is talk to a recruiter, i'll probably do that soon seeing as how winter break is coming up and i will be out of school for a bit.

But the reason i thought marks didn't matter was because you have to do that aptitude test to get in right, so i thought they just looked at those marks, i don't remember where i read that now, but it was a while ago, so i kind of slacked off in school thinking i'd get in anyways, which i regret now, i'll start doing better next semester when i start fresh with new classes

The aptitude test is primarily used to determine whether or not you qualify for a particular trade. Your marks in high school will primarily be used when ranking applicants for a particular trade after they have qualified for it via the aptitude test.

Of course, certain trades also have requirements to take certain classes in high school, in addition to just completing a particular grade level, so your transcripts will also be used to determine whether or not you're qualified based upon that.
 
gcclarke said:
The aptitude test is primarily used to determine whether or not you qualify for a particular trade. Your marks in high school will primarily be used when ranking applicants for a particular trade after they have qualified for it via the aptitude test.

Of course, certain trades also have requirements to take certain classes in high school, in addition to just completing a particular grade level, so your transcripts will also be used to determine whether or not you're qualified based upon that.

Ah i see, this is a lot more complex then i thought  ;D But, i've always wanted to join the military, so i'm determined to do this, its just as of lately i've been looking into it more

I just have a quick question that is somewhat off topic, but i don't feel as if i should make an entirely new thread just to ask it... is the Navy similar to the Army in the sense that they both go to the same BMQ, and do the same aptitude test? Also, would i go to the same recruiting center here if i was joining the Navy rather than the Army? I'm only asking this because i'm just curious to see if the Navy has more openings in it than the Army, because it sounds to me as if the Army doesn't have to many openings... and that worries me
 
Same place, same test, same BMQ........

www.forces.gc.ca

Please...visit that site and read it..............please
 
jaykay said:
Ah i see, this is a lot more complex then i thought  ;D But, i've always wanted to join the military, so i'm determined to do this, its just as of lately i've been looking into it more

I just have a quick question that is somewhat off topic, but i don't feel as if i should make an entirely new thread just to ask it... is the Navy similar to the Army in the sense that they both go to the same BMQ, and do the same aptitude test? Also, would i go to the same recruiting center here if i was joining the Navy rather than the Army? I'm only asking this because i'm just curious to see if the Navy has more openings in it than the Army, because it sounds to me as if the Army doesn't have to many openings... and that worries me

Yes, the aptitude test and BMQ are the same for the Canadian Army, RCN, and RCAF, and you go to the same recruiting centre. My understanding is that the Navy has higher personnel requirements than the Army, although I cannot guarantee that will be reflected in recruiting spots opening, once they open up again for the next fiscal year, as training spots available must also be taken into account.
 
jaykay said:
I always thought the military was easy to get into, as long as you are in shape and have a 10th grade education or higher, but the more i read on this forum, the more difficult it seems to get in... My grades aren't the best (currently in Grade 12) i have about a C or C- average, do they look at grades when recruiting? i was always told they didn't.

They let me in, didn't they? Although I'm constantly looking over my shoulder wondering when they've figured out the mistake they've made.
 
If you haven't even applied yet you still have time to take a couple of extra high school courses and boost your mark. I made the mistake of thinking marks didn't matter much with the Canadian Forces and in relation was informed at my interview that I did not meet the cutoff line for infantry, due to how competitive it is. If I could go back, I would have applied myself much more (for many more reasons than just being a more competitive applicant). It's never too late!
 
dapaterson said:
ROTP students, on the other hand, finalize occupational chocies after a year or two (I am not current with the process as it stands now).

ROTP students are offered a trade before swearing in just like the other entry plans. The only plan that you don't know your trade is RETP I believe. I remember there were two people in that plan at my swearing in and they didn't have trades.
 
so i kind of slacked off in school thinking i'd get in anyways, which i regret now, i'll start doing better next semester when i start fresh with new classes

I'm a high school teacher, but right now I'm going to do you a favour and not pull any punches.

NEXT semester????  Don't be a slacking idiot.  You're not finished this semester yet, and your final marks aren't in.  You, young man, have a full month left, so get your butt in gear tomorrow morning and fix this issue.  That's right.....TOMORROW.
Go and talk to your teachers.  Tell them you screwed up - no shame, everyone does at some point. Tell them what you want to accomplish, and ask what you could do to increase your marks.  Maybe there's some tests you can rewrite.  Maybe you could go in and get extra help from them. Maybe an extra project.  Maybe you spend your holidays doing a lot of work, but maybe your marks go up a lot.  We like to see kids learn from their mistakes, and improve.  Most of us will help you a lot just to see that happen.  That's WHY we teach.

It's not too late for this semester. If  you want this, make it happen.  Most people might not notice.  Your parents might not even notice a huge change.  But you, sir, will gain for yourself pride that will last you the rest of your life - pride from taking the personal initiative to fix your own problem, even when many others might not believe in yourself. It's a lesson that will serve you well in the military.

So get out there and fix it, and report back here.  For sure, I'll be watching to see you succeed.  ;)

 
RDJP said:
I'm a high school teacher, but right now I'm going to do you a favour and not pull any punches.

Where were you in my HS? 
 
As an aside, I'm curious how much of the current logjam of applicants are people that did the same as the OP; they figured they could coast through high school and just eventually join the army.
Now, that's not information that anyone in the world has access to, but it would be neat to know.
 
kenmnuggas said:
As an aside, I'm curious how much of the current logjam of applicants are people that did the same as the OP; they figured they could coast through high school and just eventually join the army.
Now, that's not information that anyone in the world has access to, but it would be neat to know.

I'm not going to lie, the Navy was a bit of a fallback plan for me. Not to say that I let my plans to join affect my grades while in school, but I was definitely a lot more picky about other jobs I applied for before I got word at NOAB that I was going to be given an offer. If that offer hadn't come, I would have had a lot of prime job search time wasted.

That having been said, this was back when we were bad enough off for engineering applicants that they were still offering signing bonuses, so I don't think my treating it as a "sure thing" was all that unjustified.
 
jaykay said:
I always thought the military was easy to get into, as long as you are in shape and have a 10th grade education or higher, but the more i read on this forum, the more difficult it seems to get in... My grades aren't the best (currently in Grade 12) i have about a C or C- average, do they look at grades when recruiting? i was always told they didn't.

This is the message that far too many members of the general public believe and propogate, including not just anti-war and anti-military supporters, but even some of our current politicians believe this. 



 
Sometimes when I look around, it seems like they will take just about anyone.  ;D Hell, I got in!

 
RDJP said:
I'm a high school teacher, but right now I'm going to do you a favour and not pull any punches.

NEXT semester????  Don't be a slacking idiot.  You're not finished this semester yet, and your final marks aren't in.  You, young man, have a full month left, so get your butt in gear tomorrow morning and fix this issue.  That's right.....TOMORROW.
Go and talk to your teachers.  Tell them you screwed up - no shame, everyone does at some point. Tell them what you want to accomplish, and ask what you could do to increase your marks.  Maybe there's some tests you can rewrite.  Maybe you could go in and get extra help from them. Maybe an extra project.  Maybe you spend your holidays doing a lot of work, but maybe your marks go up a lot.  We like to see kids learn from their mistakes, and improve.  Most of us will help you a lot just to see that happen.  That's WHY we teach.

It's not too late for this semester. If  you want this, make it happen.  Most people might not notice.  Your parents might not even notice a huge change.  But you, sir, will gain for yourself pride that will last you the rest of your life - pride from taking the personal initiative to fix your own problem, even when many others might not believe in yourself. It's a lesson that will serve you well in the military.

So get out there and fix it, and report back here.  For sure, I'll be watching to see you succeed.  ;)


This is good advice, never really thought of it that way  ;D but the thing is, theres only 2 more days of school left until winter break starts, then we'll be off for two weeks, so i don't think it would be fair of me to ask my teachers to spend their personal time putting together a project for me in less then a day by the time i asked, just because i decided to slack off earlier

but, during these 2 weeks i plan on getting all my missing math assignments done (theres a lot!) plus get caught up in geography, i know neither will boost my mark up by a lot... seeing as how assignments aren't worth much, but i'm not really able to re-do any tests, besides, even if i re-did them now i'd probably get an even worse mark than before!

I realized i have worse grades than i thought, i'm currently failing 3/4 of my classes...

History - 43%
Math11 (failed it last year) - 48%
Geography - 49%
Visual Arts - 75% (its an easy class, i haven't even shown up in like 2 weeks, its pretty much a spare block)

so, seeing as how its winter break, and after that theres only about 1-2 weeks left afterwards i think? i don't think theres much hope in me getting decent grades, my goal is to pass.

but, say i pass all my classes with about 50 this semester, then work reeeally hard next semester and try and keep all my classes 70% and up, would i still have a good chance of getting in?
 
You will still likely be questioned in your interview as to why you received poor grades. Have you considered staying an extra year and re-doing some compulsory courses/picking up an extra credit or two? There is no shame in that.
 
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