# Officer qualification after CFAT



## AA (6 Oct 2009)

Before I went in for my CFAT test My job choices were limited to my level of education (Grade 10).  When I completed the Med/CFAT and interview I was told That I scored high enough for "Officer qualification".  Does this open new opportunities that I should take advantage of now or later?  I applied for NESOP and am just waiting for the Security clearance should be another week before it arrives back to Victoria.


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## Jammer (6 Oct 2009)

Go back and finish school!
You don't stand a snowballs chance if you think you have what it takes with grade 10 for any trade...Officer OR NCM.


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## Dante_Of_Canada (6 Oct 2009)

My highest grade was 11 or Sec 4 in Quebec and I got 86% average in Apt test and she told me I could do officer, but I needed to finish my grade 12 or sec 5 , so I suggest if you really want to be an officer , you should finish school and get the pre req for your trade, such as Med you need Grade 12 + Biology + Chemistry + Physics.

It not true that you don't stand a chance with just Grade 10 for NCM, this recruiter whom I was talking to, got in NCM and finished high school afterward + did officer training.


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## gcclarke (6 Oct 2009)

AA said:
			
		

> Before I went in for my CFAT test My job choices were limited to my level of education (Grade 10).  When I completed the Med/CFAT and interview I was told That I scored high enough for "Officer qualification".  Does this open new opportunities that I should take advantage of now or later?  I applied for NESOP and am just waiting for the Security clearance should be another week before it arrives back to Victoria.



Well, it would open up new opportunities if you had completed and done well in high school. A university education is a requirement for the majority of officer entry plans, the exception being commissioned from the ranks, which is typically only offered to rather senior NCOs.

Should you wish to re-open that particular opportunity, I suggest looking into completing your high school education. If you do this after you have enrolled, you may qualify for a program called University Training Program for NCMs (UTPNCM), which takes selected NCMs, and pays for their degree on the road to becoming an officer.

If you get your high school finished before you join up, you may be eligible for the Regular Officer Training Program (ROTP), where candidates start out as an officer cadet, and the forces pays for their degree, with training in the summer. 

Should this be appealing to you, please keep in mind that these are all competitive programs, and are contingent upon acceptance to the university in question, so it would be best for you to do as well as you can in finishing off your high school diploma.


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## Jammer (6 Oct 2009)

That being said....
Dante...you aren't even in a lane to comment authoritatively on this.
The key word being "competitive". This applies to ALL potential enrollees. The CF doesn't want to waste time and resources.


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## gcclarke (6 Oct 2009)

Jammer said:
			
		

> That being said....
> Dante...you aren't even in a lane to comment authoritatively on this.
> The key word being "competitive". This applies to ALL potential enrollees. The CF doesn't want to waste time and resources.



If we were talking about a 16 year old kid who was planning on dropping out of high school to join the Navy, I would be in complete agreement with your first post. Get thee back to school! But a quick look at his profile reveals the fact that we are talking about someone who has been out of school for over a decade. He has presumably been working that time, and has built up a number of various life skills above and beyond what he may have gained in that extra two years of school. He has, in all other respects, been deemed an acceptable candidate, and his CFAT results seem to indicate that he has a good has a good head upon his shoulders. 

From where I sit, whether he finishes up his high school diploma before he joins, after he joins, or never, it doesn't really matter all that much. As long as he's bright enough to pass his trades training, that's good enough for me.


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## Roy Harding (6 Oct 2009)

AA:

I see by your profile that you're 28, long out of high school.

The CFAT measures APTITUDE - not qualifications.  Others have outlined various routes available to you (most include finishing high school), and I won't elaborate on them.

Perhaps, however, a few words from one who has been in your position (long out of high school - looking at career options).

Although I joined the CF with only a Grade 10 education, I did (eventually) complete high school - and then went on to an undergrad degree.  I did this whilst serving - and it wasn't fun.  I missed a LOT of time with my kids (Daddy can't play right now - he has homework to do), and it sometimes interfered with work (which, to be honest - went fairly well, I retired a Warrant, which is nothing to sneeze at - I must have been doing _something_ right   )

However - if I had it all to do over again, I'd finish high school - and probably achieve an undergrad degree PRIOR to having a career and family.

I don't know your circumstances, beyond your age (as posted in your profile), so I don't know what imperatives may be motivating you.  I'll say this, however, if it is possible for you to finish high school PRIOR to embarking on a military career - then I'd recommend it.  Given your age, however, I can see that life may not allow you that luxury - only you know your circumstances, and only you can make that decision.

Best of luck to you.


Roy


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## Jammer (6 Oct 2009)

Fair enough, however being intimatlely involved in the training system now, we are dealing with soldiers who have "life expeience", who cannot retain even the basics of instruction. In fact some have been here over a year attempting (multiple times) to pass thier initial trades training.
How they manage to get past the CFRCs is beyond me.


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## gcclarke (6 Oct 2009)

Jammer said:
			
		

> Fair enough, however being intimatlely involved in the training system now, we are dealing with soldiers who have "life expeience", who cannot retain even the basics of instruction. In fact some have been here over a year attempting (multiple times) to pass thier initial trades training.
> How they manage to get past the CFRCs is beyond me.



Granted, but finishing off high school isn't going to be enough to guarantee that won't happen. Nor a degree for that matter. I was on basic with a guy who, despite somehow having gotten a civil engineering degree, had to be told 4 times how to take all the sheets down to the laundry. 

As for how they get past the CFRCs... well, that's what we have the CFAT for. If a candidate scores well enough on the CFAT, the recruiter can't just go and decide that, despite that, they think the candidate is actually as dumb as a pile of bricks. And for the most part, I'd still say it's more in the CF's interests to accept more candidates, and have some of them wash out of the training system, than be pickier and turn away ones who would have done well.


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## AA (6 Oct 2009)

Thank you for your replies/advice.  For the past ten years I've been a ticketed/Redseal Alberta Ironworker, Photographer, and hobby watchmaker. I do not have a family and I will consider completing my highschool through the CF.   :yellow:


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