# how long does it take, really?



## seadog70 (30 Aug 2011)

Ok, no rants, although I am starting to feel some frustration. I applied back in 2010, end of March. CFVancouver recieved my file 2nd or 3rd week of April. Hit a snag, got held up when they stopped processing towards the end of the year, and seemed to only find out other useful "tidbits" when I finally got through to someone. Being 'remote' does have it's drawbacks. Now I've been 'merit listed', which was explained to me that they are waiting for a job , or position, to open up for me. Sounds good so far. I've been told that my file was placed on my career counsellor's desk with "for immediate placement" written on it, by my carer counsellor in fact, and have been told I was "very competitive', down to "pretty competitive" and now I'm "competitive, but there are a lot of competitive applicants for that job". So I am starting to get a little frustrated. 
 I have been told that processing should be done in a matter of weeks, not over a year. I have also been told that I will recieve a call, just have patience.  I have read on here that some have been waiting 2 or 3+ years, so I shouldn't be whining. 
 Ok, sorry, just read everything I wrote, and it is a rant, didnt mean too, but I did. 
 Does anyone have anything to say/add about the wait times associated with the application process?
 Should I just take a day off work and call my RC and find out everything that I can ( since you can only find out so much when you have 15 mins for a break)?
 Will someone out there tell me it's ok, it's all going to work out, and I can go ahead and quit my dead-end boring as h@ll job?


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## clarkyo (30 Aug 2011)

This is a question that is impossible to answer.  If you are a qualified applicant applying for a trade that the CF desperately needs filled then you should expect the process to only take a few months.  If you are applying for a trade that is very competitive (pilot) you could theoretically spend your entire life trying to get in as there would be a fresh batch of qualified applicants every year.  

Why don`t you just send the recruiting center an email outlining all the points you want covered?  No need to take time off work.


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## Fotoshark (30 Aug 2011)

I believe the term on here runs something like .. "hurry up and wait" ?  Friend of mine waited a full yr and then some before he got a call.  The 2nd set of my paperwork finally hit the mail yesterday so I'm waitin on the first call to get things rolling to "hurry up and wait" lol but here's hoping!!


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## Romanmaz (30 Aug 2011)

seadog70 said:
			
		

> Ok, no rants, although I am starting to feel some frustration. I applied back in 2010, end of March. CFVancouver recieved my file 2nd or 3rd week of April. Hit a snag, got held up when they stopped processing towards the end of the year, and seemed to only find out other useful "tidbits" when I finally got through to someone. Being 'remote' does have it's drawbacks. Now I've been 'merit listed', which was explained to me that they are waiting for a job , or position, to open up for me. Sounds good so far. I've been told that my file was placed on my career counsellor's desk with "for immediate placement" written on it, by my carer counsellor in fact, and have been told I was "very competitive', down to "pretty competitive" and now I'm "competitive, but there are a lot of competitive applicants for that job". So I am starting to get a little frustrated.
> I have been told that processing should be done in a matter of weeks, not over a year. I have also been told that I will recieve a call, just have patience.  I have read on here that some have been waiting 2 or 3+ years, so I shouldn't be whining.
> Ok, sorry, just read everything I wrote, and it is a rant, didnt mean too, but I did.
> Does anyone have anything to say/add about the wait times associated with the application process?
> ...


They vary alote, based on many different factors. Is that what you want to hear? http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/13064.0- 104 pages of people talking about their wait times.
Try calling your mom?


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## Searyn (2 Sep 2011)

I just took a promotion to Manager of my boring ass job because I've been in "hurry up and wait" mode since April 4th 2010. (the date of my first application. Re-applied February 2011, Merit listed in May/June 2011. Re-applying February 2012)

The best advice I ever received was, "Hope for the best, plan for the worst". In this case I'm hoping to get my call asap but I'm living my life as if it'll never come.

Bottom line(s): If you think it's worth it, just be patient while you collect your paychecks from your boring ass job, and appreciate it more when you DO get that call.

I know it's been tough for me waiting, but when I do get that call I'm going to go absolutely nuts. I hope I get it when I'm at work. The rest of the day is going to be a write off.


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## frank1515 (2 Sep 2011)

Reality check. It's a job, they pay you to do it, that's the trade off. You'll be doing stuff all your life that you might think seem useless and unimportant. Have you ever thought that you just don't see the big picture?

If you're going to do something, do it 100%, and don't complain. I'm sure some people would love to have the job you currently have.


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## TheNewt (2 Sep 2011)

Sorry Frank1515, you are right in the sense that some people would love to have the job but:



> You'll be doing stuff all your life that you might think seem useless and unimportant. Have you ever thought that you just don't see the big picture?



In my case  I see the big picture, and it makes all the silly things that much more intolerable. This is why I am merit listed and hoping to have a career change soon. 

Some of us don't have a family yet where the family, children, become the big picture and why we go to the job we go to. Even then I would only say it is harder to change. 

We hold what would be considered an excellent jobs, in the eyes of most, with potential to climb. But what if we don't want to climb this ladder? What if I am not a person who puts high value on material possessions and holds their self value to the numbers on my pay check. 

I find it hard to work for a company that only exists to expand its bottom line. Sure they are good to us and share the profit well with the employees, but it is still only about money in the end. The reason d'etre is to make money and hopefully more money the following quarter and fiscal year. *I am not against this, nor think that it is a bad thing*, but it does not fill me with a sense of life satisfaction. 

Back in November I watched my grandfather die; my grandfather was a wonderful man, who lived a long and interesting life. Depression, World War (RCN - Iroquois, Algonquin) the 50s, owned his own company, raised kids in the baby boom grandchildren. When he passed I wondered, it must have been one hell of a life that flashed before his eyes. It was around this time that a few things in my mind really came together, the thought changed from "What do I want to do" to, "What do I want to do with my life", more to the point, "what don't I want to do with my life?"... "waste it" was the answer. I really started to look around for a different career with the mindset of - what is my life going to be when I pass, what will flash before my eyes.. I sure hope it wont be the same office, can't tell one day, one year one decade from another, the only difference being the computer that I would be using!

We only have one shot to do something spectacular with our life and, more or less, we control how our lives get directed. For me it is the big picture that I get. Seeing it and wanting to be part of something that is more in tune with my values. A place where the overall is what I want to be part of. I am not naive, I know that there will be lots of politics and silliness in the Canadian Forces, maybe more so than in the private sector. Being happy with the whole, the pride that comes with it, the person that it makes me, this is what is going to get me through the days of "useless and unimportant" with a smile and enthusiasm. I will always be growing.

In the end I think it is not just a job we get paid to do, rather it is my life, my career and who I am, who I will become. No amount of money is worth it if it does not make me happy, satisfied, allowing me to become the person I want to become.

Sorry to go off on a rant, it's just that your comment struck a bit of  a nerve with me and I empathise with what Searyn posted.

TheNewt


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## frank1515 (2 Sep 2011)

I see your point. Although I am of the thought that whether you like your job or not, you still need money to pay rent, bills and food. If it would be up to me, I would live the life I want as well. I'd travel, work in bars and pubs to pay for my plane ticket and travel the world for the rest of my life. But I also want a family, stay in Ottawa and serve my country in the Reserves. My girlfriend would also kill me if I came home with this big plan for a World Wide pub crawl, but you know what, I understand that work is work, and if I want to travel a bit in my lifetime, I'm going to have to work some jobs that are not fulfilling and that suck. That's life.

I'm not saying you shouldn't enjoy your job, but if your job was that fun, they wouldn't pay you to do it.

EDIT: Grammar mistakes


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## The Bread Guy (2 Sep 2011)

TheNewt said:
			
		

> We only have one shot to do something spectacular with our life and, more or less, we control how our lives get directed.


Until you get your chance for the brass ring, remember this story:


> One day a traveller, walking along a lane, came across 3 stonecutters working in a quarry. Each was busy cutting a block of stone. Interested to find out what they were working on, he asked the first stonecutter what he was doing. "I am cutting a stone!" Still no wiser the traveller turned to the second stonecutter and asked him what he was doing. “I am cutting this block of stone to make sure that it’s square, and its dimensions are uniform, so that it will fit exactly in its place in a wall." A bit closer to finding out what the stonecutters were working on but still unclear, the traveller turned to the third stonecutter. He seemed to be the happiest of the three and when asked what he was doing replied: “I am building a cathedral.”


If you can't consider yourself in the third stonecutter's shoes, maybe working at being in the second's shoes will hep get you through?


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## dlaverdure (30 Sep 2011)

Hello to all, Great site lots of info and it has helped me get through the silence during the application process.  So sit down grab a drink or whatever and listen to a dinosaur.

I honourably released from the regs in '86 came back from Germany and went on with my life after fulfilling the 3 year contract. I am now almost 50 and have just received (today) the call to sign the last paperwork and that my recruit course will start October 7.  I had applied on the 17 of February 2010 in the reserves.

The lengthy process started right there, paperwork held until April 2010 due to quota limits attained, CFAT done in April 2010 after that a missplaced file meant Ottawa never received a request for my service file, I called every three weeks, 1 year later in April 2011 I got the go ahead to have a medical, which is a story in it's own which has no need to be explained here. Papers resent to Ottawa, wait wait wait (that hasn't changed  :nod: ) wait wait wait, file back, got a call from recruitment for an interview in July 2011 went great, wait wait wait, and was told that I was recommended to my regiment of choice wait wait wait and finally after everything am going to start training October 2011 ;D.

Making this short and didn't want to rant I jumped a bit of details however, moral of the story stay on top of your request. It is your request, they didn't ask you to join, you asked them.  They have hundreds of you's to process. During the whole process I was treated honestly, and politely, except for one person (guess he was having a bad day) I felt frustrated at times, wondered what was going on but this site really helped as did those who job it is to process our files. 

For those who wait I hope this helps a bit  

_Don't just exist, live life while there is still life to live_


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## aesop081 (30 Sep 2011)

dlaverdure said:
			
		

> my recruit course will start October 7.



Welcome back.


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## seadog70 (2 Oct 2011)

hmmm, thanks for all the reply's. Some were ... interesting. TheNewt and Searyn, you guys I think hit it on the proverbial head. How we place value on ourselves is not neccessarilly based on the numbers on a paycheck. There is something called "self-satisfaction", also known as 'self-worth', or 'self- value'. Personally, I dont see how placing value on yourself ( or defining your self-worth) based on someone else's interpretation of what the task you are being paid to do is worth to them. Having been self-eployed for a number of years I was forced to pay guys what I considered an 'un-fair' wage, although few of them actually put forth the effort to show they were worth more, so I was paying guys unfarly, unfair to them ( as the jobs should have paid more) and unfair to me ( since they were not woth that much).
 No, nobody asked me to to join, I applied for it, just like any other job, although unlike any other job you can actually count on a time periodfor certain things ( apptitude test, medical, interview, merit listing, first contact, process times, etc) , and I was not whining, perhaps a bit of a rant due to what I percieved to be a longer than normal wait time. I applied in March, 2010, finished CFAT, medical and interview in June 2010, and while in continuous contact ( at least once a month, usually every 2-3 weeks) there was no progress. 
 I found out afterwards that CF recruiting was ordered to stop all processing in Nov 2010, and it did not resume until Feb 2011, at which point new information became available. It is still considered to be a "longer than normal" wait time. 
And no, I didnt call my mom, I did call her however when I recieved my job offer and let her know when my enrollment ceremony was, and that I'll be going into Basic on Oct 17th. 
Again , thanks for everyone's input, like I said, some of it was ..."interesting", and I never said, nor did I imply I was "owed" anything or "deserved" any special treatment.


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## BadGuffer (31 Mar 2015)

i applied to regular force infantry soldier around January 25th of this year since my reserves app was cancelled on my part. i haven't had any communication from a recruiter other than the local ones here in Vancouver about if they received my app. 
I'm a high school student wanting to come out of school and right into the military since i graduate this summer.

I meet all the requirements of the job i applied for and I am just wondering why its taking so long.


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## DAA (31 Mar 2015)

BadGuffer said:
			
		

> i applied to regular force infantry soldier around January 25th of this year since my reserves app was cancelled on my part. i haven't had any communication from a recruiter other than the local ones here in Vancouver about if they received my app.
> I'm a high school student wanting to come out of school and right into the military since i graduate this summer.
> 
> I meet all the requirements of the job i applied for and I am just wondering why its taking so long.



Have you checked the SPAM Folder for your email service provider online?


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## BadGuffer (31 Mar 2015)

Yes I've been through it multiple times


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## mariomike (31 Mar 2015)

BadGuffer said:
			
		

> I meet all the requirements of the job i applied for and I am just wondering why its taking so long.






			
				BadGuffer said:
			
		

> I applied janurary 25th, haven't received any emails from the Canadian forces.
> 
> I emailed them and they said they were taking care of bag logged emails and applications..


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## GreenWood (1 Apr 2015)

^ 

As stated by MarioMike, why would you ask a question you already know the answer too?  :facepalm: ???  :nod:


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## medicineman (1 Apr 2015)

GreenWood said:
			
		

> ^
> 
> As stated by MarioMike, why would you ask a question you already know the answer too?  :facepalm: ???  :nod:



To get a different answer...

MM


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## hyung7423 (1 Apr 2015)

Go to the CAF website, locate your local recruitment centre, and contact the recruitment centre. Send the recruiter a polite email about your application status, and he/she will be able to help you out. My application took ~1 year.


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## BadGuffer (30 Apr 2015)

Well finally I have been contacted, setting up an appointment date.


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