# EVERYONE WAITING FOR A TRADE TO OPEN IN 2011 READ THIS THREAD UNTIL THE END



## brizzy (11 Apr 2011)

Hi guys! Long story, grab a coffee, have a smoke! 
So 2008 I was sig op and got out (voluntary). Last year, january I applied for steward.
I did the interview medical (I didn't have to do the aptitudes test because I had already done it and passed it for every trade except supply postal and RSM). He reviewed my file and told me there were 15 positions left and that I should be fine. As I waited for him to call me, he had gone on some course, during his course (figures) all the positions got filled... So when he got back I called him and he offered me other trades. I decided to simply wait till this year because the reason I got out the first time was because I was in a trade I didn't want to be in there for I was not going to make that same mistake again. So I waited until this year. 

My spouse got posted to halifax there for in july I got all my docs transfered to halifax from ottawa. Once I got confirmation that all my docs were here I was told to wait until janurary to come back and double check my docs in case anything changed, so I went, everything was fine and I was again tol to wait until april, as nothing was open until then.
April 2011 comes around and I show up asking what's going on with my file... They tell me steward is open and there are 50 position available. They advise me to just wait because they are loaded with applicants and that my file will be reviewed.I call again to make sure everythings ok (yeah I know, annoying) and they tell me my file is in the booking cell and that there is 25 positions only across canada. Then a week later I call the booking cell and they tell me steward is closed, so I get off the phone and call the recruiting center front desk and they tell me no steward is open... 
Now I just don't know what to do... I'm willing to wait for steward but I mean how hard can it be? Is there miscommunication. I just have no idea wether to prepare myself to wait another year or... I'm just so lost and I'm getting mixed signals from the RC. 

Some people don't want steward but have no other choice and they get in fine. What about the people who actually want steward (like me ) 

I'm not complaining I'm just a little confused, can anyone help!? Or advise me on what's going on. Is it just halifax? What should I do...

Thank you for your time. I appologize for the loooong story...


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## Scott (11 Apr 2011)

Here's the best tip I can give:

Just because you want it doesn't mean you get it. Just because someone else doesn't want it, and gets it, doesn't mean they won't do well or that you're somehow more deserving.

Them's the breaks


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## brizzy (11 Apr 2011)

Scott I  agree with that I just don't want to get stuck in the same thing that I initially had, as in going into a trade that I don't want... I know a lot of stewards and I know the instructors but it doesn't make me any better then them, I agree, and I am not pointing things out just to state I am better then anyone else because I'm not...


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## aesop081 (11 Apr 2011)

brizzy said:
			
		

> Scott I  agree with that I just don't want to get stuck in the same thing that I initially had, as in going into a trade that I don't want...



Easy, dont get back in unless it is for steward. It realy is not complicated.


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## brizzy (11 Apr 2011)

Wow, you guys are really not understanding what I'm trying to get through here... Thought someone might be able to guide me properly, I guess not. CND aviator, OBVIOUSLY I'm going to wait for steward to get in... Nevermind guys I guess I'll go somewhere else for info...


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## Scott (11 Apr 2011)

You're getting excited for nothing.

I do not understand what sort of "help" we can give you, other than what has been stated. We could tell you to keep in touch with the RC, go in and see them, call, is that what you were looking for?

This is now one of those threads I wished I just had have glossed over and forgotten about.

So, because I'm involved now, *tell us what you're trying to get through* or *what sort of guidance you're looking for*. Because beyond the obvious, which has been stated, I don't see much.

Or are you just going to get pissy and stamp your feet any time someone tells you something other than what *you wanted to hear?*


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## brizzy (11 Apr 2011)

What has got into this site?? It used to be a great site back in the day... What the heck happened. I'm not mad or "stomping my feet" clearly you could care less about my situation so why would I want help from you...forget it, as I said I shall get my info elsewhere. Thank you oh so much for your time though, such precious time... Ugh! Sooo disappointed... Thought this was a quite professional website... I even looked at other peoples posts, it has gotten BAD! I'm in dibeleif...


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## George Wallace (11 Apr 2011)

I think this topic should be stickied.

It gives several examples of what happens if one:

a.  Picks a Trade that they do not like;

b.  Takes a Release thinking it can get them into another Trade faster than doing it through the proper process of doing an OT;

c.  Doesn't read the topic "Trades Open/Trades Closed; and

d.  Takes a conniption fit if they do not hear what they want to hear.


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## Scott (11 Apr 2011)

I don't often flat out lose my rag, but this thread has done it.

I'll break it down for you.



			
				brizzy said:
			
		

> Hi guys! Long story, grab a coffee, have a smoke!
> So 2008 I was sig op and got out (voluntary). Last year, january I applied for steward.
> I did the interview medical (I didn't have to do the aptitudes test because I had already done it and passed it for every trade except supply postal and RSM). He reviewed my file and told me there were 15 positions left and that I should be fine. As I waited for him to call me, he had gone on some course, during his course (figures) all the positions got filled... So when he got back I called him and he offered me other trades. I decided to simply wait till this year because the reason I got out the first time was because I was in a trade I didn't want to be in there for I was not going to make that same mistake again. So I waited until this year.



No questions, or calls for advice here.



> My spouse got posted to halifax there for in july I got all my docs transfered to halifax from ottawa. Once I got confirmation that all my docs were here I was told to wait until janurary to come back and double check my docs in case anything changed, so I went, everything was fine and I was again tol to wait until april, as nothing was open until then.
> April 2011 comes around and I show up asking what's going on with my file... They tell me steward is open and there are 50 position available. They advise me to just wait because they are loaded with applicants and that my file will be reviewed.I call again to make sure everythings ok (yeah I know, annoying) and they tell me my file is in the booking cell and that there is 25 positions only across canada. Then a week later I call the booking cell and they tell me steward is closed, so I get off the phone and call the recruiting center front desk and they tell me no steward is open...



Nuttin' in this one, either.



> Now I just don't know what to do... *I'm willing to wait for steward* but I mean how hard can it be? Is there miscommunication. I just have no idea wether to prepare myself to wait another year or... I'm just so lost and I'm getting mixed signals from the RC.



Note the bolded part. You said you're willing to wait for steward.



> Some people don't want steward but have no other choice and they get in fine. What about the people who actually want steward (like me )



Agreed, and I answered by stating that whether or not someone else wants it makes not one bit of difference to *you* or *your* situation. Maybe you didn't like the wording...what I am saying is that it's just a nasty truth. Did you ever pause to consider that there might have been someone dying to get into Sigs and you took their position?



> I'm not complaining I'm just a little confused, can anyone help!?



What qualifies as "help" I asked this before and you just went into a blind rage at me.



> Or advise me on what's going on. Is it just halifax?



I suppose someone _might_ be able to shed light on that. My feeling is that you were just unlucky. Them's the breaks.



> What should I do...



You said you were willing to wait. So wait.

Canadian Aviator echoed what I said and then you come back saying you're looking for guidance but state, again, that you're OBVIOUSLY going to wait for Steward. So, pardon me, I just do not know what in the flying fuck you're after.

I told you you're getting excited over nothing. You are. Nowhere did anyone give you bad advice. "Hey guys, Steward isn't opening up and I am not going to take anything else...so what should I do?" Seems easy peasy to me. Pump gas until Steward opens up. Take up a hobby. Knit. How are we supposed to answer this without you flipping out again? None of what I am saying,to you right now is a slight. I mean it, do something until Steward opens up. Simple.

You're wrong, both CDN Aviator and I DID care. We answered you. Because you did not get the answer you wanted you then gave us a blast. NOW I coulsn't care less because you've acted like a child.

George, glad your post beat mine and gave me pause...I had something MUCH nastier typed out and then thought better of it.


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## Scott (11 Apr 2011)

I know what my post should have been!







Because I *DO* care.

In fact, I've changed my avatar so no one else gets confused.


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## Michael OLeary (11 Apr 2011)

brizzy said:
			
		

> What has got into this site?? It used to be a great site back in the day... What the heck happened.



It's actually quite simple.  What has gotten into this site (lately) is a seemingly endless stream of members asking about their chances of getting one of the few, or non-existent, spots in the trade(s) of their choice. The answer is simple.  -  Wait.

We have nothing else to offer.  The membership at Milnet.ca do not control the numbers or allocation of vacancies for CF trades.  Neither do we have any secret knowledge of when, where, or how those spots will be allocated when any do appear.

We were as surprised as each and every applicant, then and now,  when the Recruiting Centres basically stopped taking applications for certain trades.  We have been waiting just like everyone else to hear about new allocations in April. We've been just as surprised by how few vacancies have been opened. 

I would love to see us handing off the secret key to get to the front of the line, and then to get through training effortlessly with all training expectations of receiving units intact. Unfortunately, that secret key doesn't exist, it never has and never will. We'd love to have been able to watch another strong generation of applicants keep us informed of their progress through Basic Training, trades training and entry in unit life followed by becoming the recent experts on each stage of their training for those who follow them. But that hasn't happened, this is a new situation for all of us, both within the ebb and flow of CF recruiting and training, and for information sharing at Milnet.ca.

So, what has happened ... this ---> we've come up against a situation where no-one, not even the old guard at Army.ca, with all their years of shared and individual experience, has any answers or reasonable guesses as to what going to happen next. As an individual, you think you asked one thing and got rebuffed.  As a collective of on-line correspondents, you were one more person of many asking the same question that we still cannot answer. Believe me, Your frustration only mirrors our own - not at you, but at the same void of information we're all facing over the future of CF recruiting (you as an applicant, the rest of us as the leaders watching where our next generation of soldiers, sailors and airmen are coming from).


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## Bruce Monkhouse (12 Apr 2011)

With that sage advice I'm locking, "stickying" and renaming the title of this thread for all to read.

Thank you Mr. O'Leary


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## shawnbradshaw (10 Oct 2011)

Hello all, 

I Just had a quick question I was wondering if anyone with a little more experience and wisdom could point me in the right direction. 

I have been wanting to join the CF for about 2 years now, I was just never 100% about what trade I would like to go for. I build food processing equipment and do commercial and industrial plumbing and heating for a living now, I am 22 years young and very ambitious. 

Last year I went and got my PAL (Canadian firearms license) and have been target shooting and sport shooting since. When I was doing a little research on military trades I stumbled on the Weapons Technician Land and found out they get to repair and work on all kinds of things ranging from small arms to stoves I fell in love, a new challenge everyday and the option to grow and advance in my chosen field is very enticing to me. 

Upon contacting the CFRC I was told that most all trades were closed until the new fiscal year in April. So I decided to spend my time researching and preparing to make myself the best candidate possible. I am discouraged recently having read a fair amount of threads about people who have waited and applied for their trade for 2 or 3 years and still haven't been called! Now I understand all candidates are different in there test results and skills ect.. But I a still wondering what kind of demand there is in general for the weapons tech.? Is it one of the smaller trades that there in only people taken in small numbers every couple of years? or is there a large number of people taken every year because alot of them chose to VR or transfer?

Should I if offered another trade take it with the plan eventually to fall into the trade of my choice? 

If anyone has an insight on how this process works or what I should prepare for it would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance. 

- Shawn Bradshaw

Toronto Ontario.


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## aesop081 (10 Oct 2011)

shawnbradshaw said:
			
		

> Should I if offered another trade take it with the plan eventually to fall into the trade of my choice?



No.


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## clarkyo (11 Oct 2011)

CDN Aviator said:
			
		

> No.



I personally think that decision would depend on several factors.  If the two trades in question are very similar you might as well go for the second as opposed to the possibility of waiting several years for the first.  Also, if one's current job is lousy, pays poorly and has no pension then perhaps it would be a good idea to get your foot in the door.  The time spent would at least go towards your pensionable time. While this might not seem like a big deal now, you might have a different opinion 25 years down the road. 

I feel that in today's economy if you can land yourself a solid stable federal job you should probably go for it.


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## Craisome (11 Oct 2011)

Getting in with a job that you don't love is bad juju.

If this is really what you want to do then  it's worth the wait.


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## Scott (11 Oct 2011)

clarkyo said:
			
		

> I personally think that decision would depend on several factors.  If the two trades in question are very similar you might as well go for the second as opposed to the possibility of waiting several years for the first.  Also, if one's current job is lousy, pays poorly and has no pension then perhaps it would be a good idea to get your foot in the door.  The time spent would at least go towards your pensionable time. While this might not seem like a big deal now, you might have a different opinion 25 years down the road.
> 
> I feel that in today's economy if you can land yourself a solid stable federal job you should probably go for it.



Let me get something straight: you're an applicant as well, right? So what qualifies you to hand out this advice? I hate seeing people who think they should take anything to get in just because it's a "solid stable federal job" and the people who offer such advice are always suspect to me.

Why don't you, before you mash the reply button so as to tell me to go fuck myself, go and read where this advice has been given. Here's a hint: IT HAS NEVER BEEN GIVEN.

 :facepalm:


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## aesop081 (11 Oct 2011)

clarkyo said:
			
		

> I personally think that decision would depend on several factors.  If the two trades in question are very similar you might as well go for the second as opposed to the possibility of waiting several years for the first.  Also, if one's current job is lousy, pays poorly and has no pension then perhaps it would be a good idea to get your foot in the door.  The time spent would at least go towards your pensionable time. While this might not seem like a big deal now, you might have a different opinion 25 years down the road.
> 
> I feel that in today's economy if you can land yourself a solid stable federal job you should probably go for it.



Good points.

I always say "no" because i was one of those guys who joined anything, just to get in. I had to wait 10 years to be able to apply for another trade. Think about that......a decade. I had good times in my old MOC but i was, for the most part, unhappy.


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## clarkyo (11 Oct 2011)

I never mentioned that one should take a job that they knew they would not enjoy.  I was only talking about similar trades.  

I am an applicant that would be willing to accept 4 different positions in the CF.  There are obviously some that I would prefer over others.

We all have to work so accepting a position that may be 2nd or perhaps 3ed on your pecking order has to be considered, especially if it offers an improvement on an individuals employment situation.

I just don't think that everything is always cut and dry.  This applicant should weight the pros and cons before they look to pursue a different trade.


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