Canadian Forces Aptitude Test (CFAT) [MERGED]

[Cbbmtt]

Are they even offering Firefighter to the public? Last I heard it was a remuster-only trade. Even then, the few individuals I did known that went FF both internally and externally (many moons ago) had extensive experience as volunteer firefighters.

Good luck, nonetheless.

From what I have heard there is a long waiting list of members with the Forces that want to remuster into the Firefighter role, however they do accept outside applications, but usually only the ones with training or experience in the firefighter role can make it in. It's something I want to do but the other two choices with the Air Force are what I'm hoping for.

 

[MNC]

I actually passed the CFAT and my physical yesterday and went through my interview, it was the biggest stress relief of my life. The officer who interviewed me was a great guy as well. The only thing left is my medical next monday and I'm slightly nervous for it because I'm about 10 pounds underweight, I'm nervous if they're going to hold me back because of that or anything, if anybody knows the rules for primary reserve and that type of stuff.

As long as you're generally healthy, there's no low/high weight limits for entry into the CF.  They may measure and calculate your BMI, but it's used more in a "big picture" sense of your overall health.  Remember, they're only there to screen for problems that might make you unable to do the standard tasks required generally of all CF members, and specifically for the trades you're requesting.  Most people who run into issues passing the enrolment medical do so because of significant or chronic medical problems, serious allergies, or poor vision (some trades require better vision than others).  In most cases the reserve and Reg Force medical standards are the same.  If you have a "borderline" medical issue, you'll usually be asked to have your civilian doctor provide input and clarification.  That happens to many, many applicants, so if it happens to you, don't panic.

Good luck!

 

[kylereserve1]

Thank you very much for the clearing that up, I wish I read it before I went in today worrying. But yes it was not an issue. Also, the second part of my test I did have to bring home a form to my family doctor for my hearing. I was told I had completely fine hearing, and I heard everything under 20 decibels. The only thing was he asked me if I hear any ringing in my ears, and I was being completely honest with him that I do hear some ringing when it's completely dead quiet, however people tell me it's' normal but he says it's not. So I just have to get that done with my family doctor. If there was any other medical concerns before they mail my stuff out to Ottawa that would restrict me from enrolling for my trade by the people who will review my files in Ottawa (if they do that), then I would be asked to bring any other forms for my family or civilian that you mentioned would be a "boarderline" medical issue, correct? It would be a big slap to the face if I got a call after that I was not medically fit weeks later because of any other medical concern they had about me that I was not informed about before they mailed my stuff out. Other than that I have overall great health, just maybe one or two things I brought up that I stated but was not a health problem slightly worries me.

 

[xtreme]

For people who are interested in if there is a correlation.

When I had first written the test (@ 21).  I did not qualify for Pilot,  I didn't even make Officer.

Ironic because later I graduated with a degree in Engineering & another in Physics -  with very high GPAs's.

As a result of my success in University, I was forwarded for psychometric testing (IQ) on the Stanford-Binet and Weschler Adult Scale, which were administered by professional psychologists.  I scored
close to the ceiling (145).  I made one mistake on a verbal question.

Several years later, often still wondering what happened on the CFAT.  I decided to write it again - after making a few changes in my life & attitude.

I qualified for Officer, with all trades about two years ago - including eligibility for pilot.

So what happened the first time?  How did I fail to make Officer - the first time?

#1.  Applicants with Mathematical/Science degrees, may have become overly reliant on calculators for the purpose of solving complex questions.  As a consequence their basic arithmetic is hindered.  Don't let your background make you over-confident.  Believe it or not, there ARE things that you did better when you were 14 than you do now.  We don't give basic arithmetic (multiplication, decimals, long-division)  much thought these days, because we're too focused on solving triple integrals and partial differential equations.  Whilst, you may still know how to do basic arithmetic, chances are your SPEED is horrible.

This is really important, because I was in shock, my recruiting officer was in shock and the Officer panel that interviewed me (in which I successful) were also shocked.  CF were so confident in my abilities, that I had my officer interview before the CFAT or Physical.  They thought I would ace it without a hitch.  That little pamphlet/flyer with 5  questions and my arrogance ultimately betrayed me.

Anyways, getting to the point - in terms of correlation with IQ.

When I had written the CFAT recently, I am positive that I made only one mistake - in the verbal section.  I had plenty of time to try to figure it out - but to no avail.  The rest of the test, I blazed through it with plenty of extra time in each section.

This *may* imply that the CFAT when statistically normed against legitimate psychometric IQ scales (Weschler, Stanford-Binet) - may have a ceiling of around 145.  Of course, this can be argued as scores on a professional psychometric test and the CFAT may not be comparable due to different population samples - I know this.  This is merely a hypothesis.

Therefore, to qualify for Officer, this may suggest a percentile score of 75% (top 25% candidates) - which may yield a minimum Officer IQ between 115-120, if you overlap this on Normal distribution (bell curve).

Before you go run off to write online IQ-tests.  Remember that online-IQ tests are hardly representative of real IQ scores.  IQ scores are standardized, normed on proper samples and tested in controlled environments.  You could try an online-IQ test for the sake of seeing whether - you are way off or not - in either direction.  But remember, it will hardly be a precise or reliable measure.

However, if you have been officially tested (for whatever reason, usually because of an Individual Education Plan (IEP) these days) - this may give you a rough benchmark.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Holy f*)@@!  Folks Dr. Sheldon Cooper has joined our forum!!!!!!

Psttttt.  I have a little story.  I quit high school before finishing Grade 12.  I then went back and got my *gasp* GED.  I went thru 3 years of college (yes, just college  :'().  I had to rewrite my CFAT about 7 years ago, because the trade I wanted to OT into didn't exist when I joined the CF.

I 'qualified' for Officer as well.  ;D  Welcome to the Elite Club!  Pull up a chare!!  8)

 

[Nostix]

But the masses demand to know: is there a correlation between IQ and crippling social ineptitude?

 

[xtreme]

LOL!

No discussion about CFAT details nor has this topic ever been discussed - based on my usage of the search function.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Dude I am sorry but everything you write now my brain reads it in either a "Dr Sheldon Cooper" or "Data" voice in my head.

Please refer to Example #1. 

 

[Towards_the_gap]

Why on earth did you think it was helpful to post this on this website?

Are you really that unloved at home that you need attention from an anonymous forum, and you think that posting your IQ stats will leave us all oooh-ing and aaaahhh-ing?

Guess what? I've met some pretty dense officers and some brilliant NCMs. I don't know, nor do I care, what they scored on the CFAT.

Get over yourself.

 

[xtreme]

Well, I understand that IQ is a controversial topic.  I'm also aware that most people don't want to acknowledge the existence of cognitive differences, whilst in the same breath have no problem discussing height differences/requirements.  Of which, both are fundamentally physical manifestations (brain and legs both being body parts).

Moreover, there many that defend the logic behind aptitude testing in the CFAT as being one of the most fair, objective mechanisms for unbiased selection. 

Yet, they fail to see that aptitude testing is just a covert form of IQ testing with a measurable objective, where results are directly correlated to the average results of members in a particular occupation/trade.  This is how they determine based on your aptitude what trade you are suitable for, by comparing the 'commonality' of your scores with the scores of people demonstrably successful in that trade over time/history.

Can it measure an excess or deficit of social ineptitude?  If that question proposed was an implication of my personal behaviour, the questioner should consider what measure of evidence is his hypotheses based upon, having no previous contact/knowledge/history with the subject to whom the question is directed to?

However, answering your question for the purpose of curiosity.  A test-maker could contrive of questions to reflect expectations of certain psychological response, of which the results could be tabulated and standardized against real-world measured responses, such as social-awkwardness, response to typical social scenario's, belief systems, etc.  Hope that answers your question.

No this is not about my IQ.  This about using knowledge of ceilings on standardized tests to develop a probable correlation.  If you don't understand this, then you don't understand the completely scientific approach I have attempted to use here, albeit with plenty of random variables.

 

[Towards_the_gap]

Can it measure an excess or deficit of social ineptitude?  If that question proposed was an implication of my personal behaviour, the questioner should consider what measure of evidence is his hypotheses based upon, having no previous contact/knowledge/history with the subject to whom the question is directed to?

This is quite possibly the funniest thing I've read on here in a while, considering nostix's comment.....


Listen, kid, I'll let you in on a secret.....NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR SCIENTIFIC METHOD. It's the CFAT, it's a test to make sure you have some cognitive ability (ie can breath and achieve locomotion unaided by man or machine). As long as you qualify for the trade you want who cares what the ceiling is?

Do you honestly think you'll show up to your first unit and your new CO will call you into his office, open a manila folder, and say 'hmm, says here you maxed out on the CFAT! Well, I'll be, I'll clean out my desk today and you can move in tomorrow'.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Part of me thinks  :facepalm: but..errr sorry....*whilst* the rest of me is doing this  op:.

Just let me get comfy here...thereeeeeeeeeeee we go.  Ok.  Roll 'em!  ;D


Wait...DAMMIT!  I knew I've seen this movie before.  It's a re-run!!

 

[xtreme]

Toward the Gap:

If you don't like the topic - you don't have to read it.  Like in the real world, if you don't like what somebody is saying - you can ignore it.  Unless of course, you are a jack-*** that has an uncontrollable compulsion and must add his two cents where not required - nor desired.

In the real world, you don't jump in screaming & yelling because somebody has said something to which you don't agree with.  If you absolutely must say something, there are ways to do so maturely. 

The compulsive behaviour you have just demonstrated is considerably worse, because Internet forums offer a huge degree of freedom to ignore, in which real life does not  i.e. stopping the sound waves from entering your ears.

If you don't like what I have to say - move on to another thread.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

If you don't like the topic - you don't have to read it.  Like in the real world, if you don't like what somebody is saying - you can ignore it.  Unless of course, you are a jack-*** that has an uncontrollable compulsion and must add his two cents where not required - nor desired.

You mean, something like this for example?  See what I did there??

 

[George Wallace]

This is the Recruiting thread and we surely don't want noobies to start running around in a  anic:

Can we all just  :chill:

I, like Towards_the_gap, live in a town where the Dunning-Kruger Effect has run rampant.  This topic may just fall into that category.

 

[Towards_the_gap]

Toward the Gap:

If you don't like the topic - you don't have to read it.  Like in the real world, if you don't like what somebody is saying - you can ignore it.  Unless of course, you are a jack-*** that has an uncontrollable compulsion and must add his two cents where not required - nor desired.

In the real world, you don't jump in screaming & yelling because somebody has said something to which you don't agree with.  If you absolutely must say something, there are ways to do so maturely. 

The compulsive behaviour you have just demonstrated is considerably worse, because Internet forums offer a huge degree of freedom to ignore, in which real life does not  i.e. stopping the sound waves from entering your ears.

If you don't like what I have to say - move on to another thread.

Ok, let me try a different tack, since your superior IQ has obviously not grasped the point I was making.

What possible benefit would any potential CF applicant derive from your original post?

 

[Tralax]

This is the Recruiting thread and we surely don't want noobies to start running around in a  anic:

Can we all just  :chill:

I, like Towards_the_gap, live in a town where the Dunning-Kruger Effect has run rampant.  This topic may just fall into that category.

I have my CFAT today and I'm freaked out now!

 

[xtreme]

Silly me, for introducing a topic on IQ.  I forgot that the nature of the bell-curve dictates that I am completely outnumbered.

I apologize if I hurt some feelings.  It was my sincere intention to use a psychometric as a device to - predict - success on another psychometric such as the CFAT.

Knowledge of their inherent connection would be a viable and valuable mechanism to aid in maximizing potential of applicants before writing the test - where an entire career and future is dependent on.

As I stated, in the original post, I had once failed it and on another occasion scored almost - perfect on it.  The existence of this major discrepancy demonstrates the evidence of contrasting and almost polar results on the CFAT - without and with preparation respectively.  This is contrary to what some other members here say, some of whom have went as far to conclude that preparation wouldn't make a difference.

My purpose is help others find other psychometric tests that could be utilized for preparation before writing the real & final career/life determining deal.

I confirm that an 'educated' person has effed up this test too, and have done this at the expense of my ego/pride.  Which I did not have to expend, but for the purposes of attempting to enlighten others on matters of correlation, I offered my honest admission of prior failure.  As a side-effect, I hope it may provide some relief to those who have been disappointed with their own performance results on the CFAT.

I am not an Elitist nor do I really believe IQ itself is a complete measure of an abstract concept as intelligence.  It would be foolish to assert that an IQ score is the end-all, be-all of a human, particularly when concrete and very important domains can not be tested on paper.

 

[George Wallace]

I have my CFAT today and I'm freaked out now!

Don't be. 

 

[63 Delta]

Silly me, for introducing a topic on IQ.  I forgot that the nature of the bell-curve dictates that I am completely outnumbered.

I apologize if I hurt some feelings.  It was my sincere intention to use a psychometric as a device to - predict - success on another psychometric such as the CFAT.

Knowledge of their inherent connection would be a viable and valuable mechanism to aid in maximizing potential of applicants before writing the test - where an entire career and future is dependent on.

As I stated, in the original post, I had once failed it and on another occasion scored almost - perfect on it.  The existence of this major discrepancy demonstrates the evidence of contrasting and almost polar results on the CFAT - without and with preparation respectively.  This is contrary to what some other members here say, some of whom have went as far to conclude that preparation wouldn't make a difference.

My purpose is help others find other psychometric tests that could be utilized for preparation before writing the real & final career/life determining deal.

I confirm that an 'educated' person with a confirmed 'high IQ" has effed up this test too, and have done this at the expense of my ego/pride.  Which I did not have to expend, but for the purposes of attempting to enlighten others on matters of correlation, I offered my honest admission of prior failure.  As a side-effect, I hope it may provide some relief to those who have been disappointed with their own performance results on the CFAT.

I am not an Elitist nor do I really believe IQ itself is a complete measure of an abstract concept as intelligence.  It would be foolish to assert that an IQ score is the end-all, be-all of a human, particularly when concrete and very important domains can not be tested on paper.

I think this guy use to be my Troop Leader...  :facepalm: