I've been hanging around here doing tons of reading and research lately. Great forum. I'm 34 years old and joining the forces has always been something I've wanted to do. When I was younger just out of college I had made my mind up to apply. Then before I could even tell anyone my older brother had joined. My mother was pretty stressed out about it so I thought I'd just keep my mouth shut and forget about joining. I didn't want to be the little brother who can't make up his own mind and just wants to sign up because his older brother did.
Fast forward 15 years and I finally decided that it was time. I wanted to do this for me. Most of my friends and family are against it but my wife is supporting me 100% and says she's prepared for the lifestyle that comes along with it. So on October 20th, 2009 I printed off all the forms online and got them ready along with all the required documents and went into my local recruiting office to sign up. MSEOP has always been #1 on my list. And I've always pictured myself in the airforce. The recruiting officer told me that if I wanted to go MSEOP I would have to go into the army element. Then he proceeded to tell me it was currently full but there were plenty of in demand jobs that he felt I was qualified for. ATIS seemed very interesting to me and I really like anything computer or electronics oriented. And he also told me that I had a reallly good chance to get in quicker if everything cleared. So after doing more research I decided to put ATIS at the top of my list.
They booked me for an aptitude test a month later. I did the aptitude test and scored well.
Then they booked my interview for another month later. They told me that they couldn’t book the interview until the aptitude test was complete and they couldn’t book the medical until I had the interview complete. So I did my interview in December just before Christmas. I was told that most of my background checks were complete and I did well on the interview. The only things waiting to be cleared were my medical and my credit check.
I go to Toronto for my medical in January. After being checked out I was handed a form to get filled out. I’ve had knee surgery in the past on both my knees. Just torn meniscus. One was 15 years ago and the other was 5 years ago. He wanted letters signed from the surgeons that performed my surgery and one from my doctor saying that I have no current pain or issues. So I got all the forms filled out and faxed them in to Toronto. I was told they would send them off to Ottawa right away and they should get looked at in about three weeks.
So it’s now February and I decide to give my recruiting office a call just to see if there’s any update. They told me my file was in “operation playmate” and put on hold because all of the trades I applied for were full. They wouldn’t be doing anything with my file until April when the new jobs get posted. The recruiting officer told me I could call back the first week of March to see if there may be any new updates. March 1st I stop into my local office again just to see if anything has happened. I was totally expecting them to tell me that my application was still on hold. However I was told that my medical had cleared Ottawa and it was back at the recruiting office. He told me that everything was cleared and I was waiting to be merit listed. I was then told that I should be merit listed in the next few weeks and to call back for another update in two weeks times. I left the office feeling pretty good. I was very happy that my medical was cleared. I get home and my phone rings. The recruiting office was calling to tell me I was being merit listed as of Monday March 1st and they said I could have a job offer very shortly with an official start date for BMQ.
So that’s my story. I’m so excited. I’ve been working at the same place for over 11 years now and I think about the forces all the time. Many people are telling me I’m crazy to leave my current job. I’m high on the list for seniority, the pay is great, I only work four days/week and I get just about any time off that I want. However I’m not happy there and I really think the forces is the right career path for me.
Sorry for the long post. Wish me luck.
Fast forward 15 years and I finally decided that it was time. I wanted to do this for me. Most of my friends and family are against it but my wife is supporting me 100% and says she's prepared for the lifestyle that comes along with it. So on October 20th, 2009 I printed off all the forms online and got them ready along with all the required documents and went into my local recruiting office to sign up. MSEOP has always been #1 on my list. And I've always pictured myself in the airforce. The recruiting officer told me that if I wanted to go MSEOP I would have to go into the army element. Then he proceeded to tell me it was currently full but there were plenty of in demand jobs that he felt I was qualified for. ATIS seemed very interesting to me and I really like anything computer or electronics oriented. And he also told me that I had a reallly good chance to get in quicker if everything cleared. So after doing more research I decided to put ATIS at the top of my list.
They booked me for an aptitude test a month later. I did the aptitude test and scored well.
Then they booked my interview for another month later. They told me that they couldn’t book the interview until the aptitude test was complete and they couldn’t book the medical until I had the interview complete. So I did my interview in December just before Christmas. I was told that most of my background checks were complete and I did well on the interview. The only things waiting to be cleared were my medical and my credit check.
I go to Toronto for my medical in January. After being checked out I was handed a form to get filled out. I’ve had knee surgery in the past on both my knees. Just torn meniscus. One was 15 years ago and the other was 5 years ago. He wanted letters signed from the surgeons that performed my surgery and one from my doctor saying that I have no current pain or issues. So I got all the forms filled out and faxed them in to Toronto. I was told they would send them off to Ottawa right away and they should get looked at in about three weeks.
So it’s now February and I decide to give my recruiting office a call just to see if there’s any update. They told me my file was in “operation playmate” and put on hold because all of the trades I applied for were full. They wouldn’t be doing anything with my file until April when the new jobs get posted. The recruiting officer told me I could call back the first week of March to see if there may be any new updates. March 1st I stop into my local office again just to see if anything has happened. I was totally expecting them to tell me that my application was still on hold. However I was told that my medical had cleared Ottawa and it was back at the recruiting office. He told me that everything was cleared and I was waiting to be merit listed. I was then told that I should be merit listed in the next few weeks and to call back for another update in two weeks times. I left the office feeling pretty good. I was very happy that my medical was cleared. I get home and my phone rings. The recruiting office was calling to tell me I was being merit listed as of Monday March 1st and they said I could have a job offer very shortly with an official start date for BMQ.
So that’s my story. I’m so excited. I’ve been working at the same place for over 11 years now and I think about the forces all the time. Many people are telling me I’m crazy to leave my current job. I’m high on the list for seniority, the pay is great, I only work four days/week and I get just about any time off that I want. However I’m not happy there and I really think the forces is the right career path for me.
Sorry for the long post. Wish me luck.
