# Some questions I have for you guys.



## chy52696 (19 Jul 2014)

Hi everybody , thanks for taking your time to read this thread of mine.
So I have been considering enlisting into the forces due to the fact that I feel like I could use a change of scenery and as well as learning some skills that may help me on later down the road...
I've done some researching online and came to conclusion that going into something with IT or any technical trade will help me in the future if I do decide to transfer over to the civilian life..
Some of the jobs I have looked at are : 
- Aerospace Telecommunication & Information Systems Technician
- Army Communication and Information Systems Specialist
- Electrical Generating Systems Technician

These 3 jobs looked very promising to me  due to the fact that they are trade skills I can carry along after the military career. 
Some questions that I have are, when you finish your specialist training  or the training in general to perform these jobs. do you receive a certificate? something that you can prove to the civilian employers? 
Or will I have to go back to school in order to get one?
If anyone can answer these questions or even tell me a thing or two about any of the listed jobs above that would mean a lot to me! I've read online and watched the videos but something coming from the members of the forces itself would be even better.
Thank you for your time.


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## Ludoc (20 Jul 2014)

chy52696 said:
			
		

> Some questions that I have are, when you finish your specialist training or the training in general to perform these jobs. do you receive a certificate? something that you can prove to the civilian employers?
> Or will I have to go back to school in order to get one?


While I can only speak for ACISS, I am sure the other trades are similar.

You will receive a certificate upon completion of trades training but it will not be of any use to you with civilian employers. Having a piece of paper saying you are "ACISS IST DP 1.1" qualified won't mean anything to a civilian employer. In fact, the training evolves so rapidly it is sometimes hard to keep track of what it means in the military.

While it is possible to attend industry led and certified courses later in ones career, it is fairly competitive to be selected to do so.

Generally, when guys get out and look for a job in industry they either go back to school on their own dime to get the qualifications they need or have their new employer pay for the training. Don't let all that discourage you. Even without possessing formal certification most businesses understand former military personal have the knowledge and work ethic to be great employees who can easily acquire any qualifications needed and are thus more likely to pay for them.


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## RADOPSIGOPACCISOP (20 Jul 2014)

Generally the CF doesn't grant civilian certificates.

Speaking from the ACISS/ATIS world though, you can and often will get technical training college courses in various software, for instance, newer versions of Microsoft Server, Exchange, VMWare and networking courses.

Things like MCSA and CCNA/CCNP  certifications can be challanged (pay a fee to write the exams without needing the training courses) if you know enough, or do some of the inexpensive online prep courses.

EGS is always a good choice, you learn a wide variety of electrical and mechanical skills. ACISS is becoming a good trade with transferability (unlike the old LCIS and Sig Op trades) in certain suboccupations (IST, LST).

Do note that ATIS offers specialist pay bonuses that can amount to $400-$600 a month on top of normal pay for trade qualified indviduals. ACISS may or may not be recieving specialist pay, it's currently being decided.


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## chrisf (20 Jul 2014)

For some of the tech trades, civilian equivalency varies by province (for example, a distribution tech wanting to get a electrician certification), for others, its federally regulated (an avn tech wanting to get an ame certificate), and other trades some employers will just accept your military qualifications and pay you ludicrous amounts of money (Lcis tech for example)

Word of advice, if there is some sort of equivalent or similar civilian occupation or certification, no one is going to "give it" to you, but its definitely worth your time to go through whatever steps as soon as possible, preferably whole still serving, even if it means you might have to do some distance courses, or spend a bit of leave in a class room or writing exams.


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