# I need advise after a confusing experience with recruiters.



## Usernametaken (12 Dec 2021)

So I want to say I am happy for the opportunity to serve Canada however I can. I will try to be brief with my experience. So I applied in may for infantry ( only infantry) . I had my cfat test in middle of July. I am bad at math so I did studying before hand. Anyway I did my test and once we were done we were told if we passed or failed. When I got my results I was told I passed. In pure surprise I say are you sure? The sergeant said yes I did. There was a quick talk and stuff and we left the test area. I went to the main area had to fill out some papers and that was it. One last time I said to the sergeant at the desk  I know I asked before but just want to be sure, I passed? He asked what I applied for I said infantry he looked at the results and said yes. Great right? I thought so. I then had my medical. That went good. Then I had the interview. That went good also. After the interview I asked some questions. One of which was possible changing career paths in the future and possible intelligence. My cfat score came up. I did great in verbal skills and spatial ability but he said my problem solving/ math wasn't the best so and I would need to improve if I wanted to go to intelligence at the end of my 4 years.. I said know I understand and then asked something like but my marks are still good I still qualify for infantry? I was told yes. Fast forward to yesterday. I got a call from a recruiter. he asked if I was interesting in two other occupations (cook and signal tech) He said this is because due to my math scores I am not super competitive for infantry so it would take longer for me to get selected. I explained that with cook I had no interest in cooking and with signal tech, I am terrible with technology. I would think about it but I still want to do infantry I researched infantry I am confident in infantry, I will however look into signal tech but honestly I don't think I'll take it because I'm pretty bad with technology. Then I asked him. Do I still qualify for infantry or no I need to be retested? He said I still qualify I just am not too competitive and it will take a while. I told him ok I will wait, part of the army is patients so I will wait I'm ok with that. he said ok and that was it. Then last night I checked my email. in it I got a email from a recruiter saying in short if I want to continue my application as infantry I will have to rewrite the test as I don't qualify.

I am very confused and have alot of questions. If I have to retake the test, why was I told multiple times I passed? why was I not told during my interview I would have to retake the test for infantry? ( The sergeant viewed my test score during the interview when I was asking questions making it the perfect time to bring it up that I didn't pass for infantry ) If I did pass like I was told multiple times why am I now being told I have to rewrite the test? And who can I speak to about this to get this figured out? Is there a specific department I can contact or does it have to be my recruiting office? If at the recruiting office is there someone specific I should speak to?

I just want answers so I know how to proceed properly. And I apologize if I seem rude I don't mean to, I just feel frustrated and confused. And if I did in fact not pass I feel like I stole an interview, and that makes me angry. I just want to get advise on to to speak to to figure this out. Thank you to anyone with advise and input.


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## brihard (12 Dec 2021)

In a nutshell, there’s ‘bare minimum’, which you meet, and ‘competitive enough to be selective’, which it seems like you’re not. Infantry is an occupation that a lot of recruits look it, because it’s what’s people think of when they think of “army”.

Realistically, if they’re saying you’re not competitive, take that at face value, and study up to do better on the CFAT. There’s no shortcut, you need to put the work in to do better.


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## OceanBonfire (12 Dec 2021)

I'm gonna try the ELI5 (Explain Like I’m 5):

As *brihard* said, you meet the minimum for the trade. But, there are so many applicants for that trade that have done better than you on the test that there is no chance you'd be selected, even in the future. If you want to be good enough to compete against the other current and possibly future applicants, you should re-do the test with a better score.


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## Usernametaken (12 Dec 2021)

Thank you very much Brihard and OceanBonfire. That explination does make sense. I have one more question. Due to my horrible math skills it's obvious I need to do serious math studies if I want to do better. If I ask the recruiter who emailed me for time to study and improve ( 1 or if possible 2 months) Would they understand and put my application on pause till I schedule a re write in a month or two? I ask because I haven't looked at math since my July cfat so if I am only allowed a week or 2 I will not be ready, will do worse then before and will be wasting the recruiters time. I don't want to do that. I'm getting a second chance to get it right and I want to make sure I do, I just need time.


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## brihard (12 Dec 2021)

No idea, sorry. I don’t know the nuts and bolts of recruit file processing


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## OceanBonfire (13 Dec 2021)

You can always ask the recruiter who will know more. Don't feel pressured to do anything right away if you're not ready. I don't know what the options are but they will definitely won't throw your application away.

FYI, the first time I applied I received an offer but I had to turn it down because I had another priority that just came up. I just re-applied a few years later without any issue.


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## Usernametaken (13 Dec 2021)

Thank you OceanBonfire that's reassuring.  And I know I could always re apply but I don't want to do that. 1) I have made it this far and 2) I feel that if I do let my application close, I will have just wasted the time of the recruiters and everyone else who have been handling my file. I'm not a fan of wasting peoples time. Anyway wish me luck. and thank you both again for your input and advise. and thank you both for your service.
Cheers and Merry Christmas


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