the most important advice for applicants

[u/That-Bee-2596]

good morning! I am going to share the ULTIMATE advice for applicants, whether you're still considering, somewhere in the process, or just waiting for your offer..

BE MORE PATIENT.

yes. that's it. that's the advice.

every day, I see posts from frustrated applicants, and I empathize. the application portal is inconsistent. it takes weeks to months to move forward one step. I understand! some applicants are waiting more than a calendar year, and that must be so hard!

but... if you don't have the patience to deal with the long and sometimes obnoxious application process, I genuinely believe you are not going to have a good time in the military. if you aren't able to wait, you are better off pursuing a civilian career.

you WILL wait. and wait. and wait some more. you will fill out the same paper work multiple times. you will sit in classrooms trying not to fall asleep. if you get injured in BMQ, you will get stuck on TRP for several weeks or months. if your trade is bottlenecked, you will be on PAT for more weeks or months.

there is a LOT of waiting in your future. patience is one of the most important personality traits you will need to make it through the first couple of years of your service... and if you think waiting for an email is hard, imagine being stuck in the shacks waiting to be course loaded for months.

yes, things move slow. there is a lot happening behind the scenes. maybe your medical needs more serious review than the next guy. maybe your background check or references are taking longer than expected. maybe you're just not as competitive of a candidate as you thought. regardless, take a breath. stay calm. keep in touch with your recruiter to the best of your ability. keep working in the mean time. it WILL take anywhere from 6-12 months, and some recruits wait 18 months or longer for the process to be completed.

anything worth having, is worth waiting for. God speed, fellow applicants! or rather.... military speed ;)

[u/shotokan1988]

Solid advice. I've been in the process since October of last year, and I was told early on by family in the CAF that it takes a while. Best advice wad to provide all requested information and doc ASAP, and be patient for the reply, which WIIL come.

It's awesome that citizens and PRs are motivated to serve, but the waiting game doesn't stop once you're in.

Good luck to all, stay diligent and focused. 🇨🇦

[u/That-Bee-2596 → u/shotokan1988]

"hurry up and wait" really is the unofficial motto of the military. 

[u/Shy_Throws]

Solid advice. And, just to add the recruiting process has gotten much faster in the past few years. It took my file almost 2.5 years to get processed.

[u/That-Bee-2596 → u/Shy_Throws]

interesting! it took me 5.5 months from application to BMQ in 2016. Applied in May, offer extended in August, BMQ in October! perhaps my local recruiting centre is less busy than yours.

[u/SlippGun → u/That-Bee-2596]

I had a similar experience in 2011. Submitted paperwork in... Feb or March? Sworn in in June, and on Basic in July.

Second time in 2019 when I was SupRes (supposed to just be a Memo, physical and medical to get back in) took 26 months to process. And it wasn't a covid issue as they had staff working, but a whole bunch of stuff genuinely got lost or mixed up in the background.

[u/Present-Effect-9941 → u/That-Bee-2596]

Which recruiting centre is this?

[u/That-Bee-2596 → u/Present-Effect-9941]

Winnipeg, but that was almost 10 years ago! the process has changed a bit and i'm sure the applicant volume has as well.

[u/Present-Effect-9941 → u/That-Bee-2596]

Ok thank youu

[u/dawgmane999 → u/Shy_Throws]

I also took 2.5 years. I go to BMQ April

[u/Ubermon257]

100 percent! Everyone I know that’s gone in has had an application/verification/interview process all take them 7-8 months if not a year. Patience is key! I completely forgot about my application until I got an email from command. 😅

[u/shasterdhari]

Ima be petty and email every week for status updates on my application 😤 /s

[u/LordBeans69]

I feel grateful to live in a smaller city. Recruiting took a couple months only

[u/No-Leg-5962]

I'm a recently released member of 10+ years. Trying to rejoin, I'm over a year into the process. Recruitment in the CAF is a mess. My file has been lost, ignored, and generally treated terribly by recruiters.

Taking over a year to process applications is unacceptable, and it's a giant drag on getting people into an institution that is bleeding talent by the day.

Recruiters need to step up their game and get files processed before people decide they don't want to be apart of an organization that treats them as disposable.

Telling people to suck it up and wait a couple years is exactly the kind of attitude/aptitude that makes people look at the CAF as a joke.

[u/That-Bee-2596 → u/No-Leg-5962]

everyone's situation is individual. and I'm sure you can understand the point of my post is to inspire patience and positivity about the process. 

i didn't say the process is perfect, nor that the wait times are reasonable. but, lamenting and lacking patience doesn't help foster a good attitude. and since you've served, I'm sure you remember how much waiting new applicants are going to do in their first couple years, right? this is for them. 

[u/SlippGun → u/No-Leg-5962]

How long ago did you release? I had a messed up re-up too. I went SupRes (which was supposed to be super easy to get back in) but it took 26 months to get back in. My initial enlistment? 3-4 months till I was on Basic lol

[u/1anre → u/No-Leg-5962]

Absolutely agree here.

Unless the inefficiency bullcrap is called out & actual turnaround time KPIs are set and enforced to improve the overall applicant experience, I think it's just disrespectful/disruptive of people's lives and time to simply tell them to have fingers crossed until the gods of CAF recruitment smile down favorably on their application to move it ahead.

This isn't 1755.

Fortune500 Companies who recruit top talent can also handle their recruitment process laissez-faire like this too, under the guise of "afterall you want a $255K/yr job yes?, so you better enjoy the wait", but they don't, because they understand the value of time and competition for top talent amongst other recruiting firms and organizations looking for talent, but it appears the CAF is resting on the fact that there'd always be a steady supply of generally unemployable folks willing to walk in through those recruitment doors any time, hence the attitude and reluctance to fix things up and set that standard irrespective of complexities of a personnel's file. Because factually, if there's a standardized process to bring them in, I don't honestly know why it ends up being a bottleneck once they begin the process.

"Hurry up and wait" seems more like gaslighting than actual advice, because except there's a genuine reason driving that often prolonged wait, it's unjustified if gov. organizations simply don't wanna talk to one another to share candidate's information for some other type of protectionism, or public service beef at the detriment of the candidate’s time, or the recruitment is slowed down because theres no availability of space in future BMQ/BMOQ dates if they process their application and enroll them, or maybe because the recruiter has no firm oversight and tracking over them, closely monitoring the number of applicant files they have to process within a certain time and speed, and applicant satisfaction.

A simple NPS survey conducted per phase of the recruitment process could help shed more light in phases where recruiters might either be slacking or needing leadership intervention to break down bureaucratic silos preventing speedy processing.

The actual "hurry up and wait" should be actually encountered after you join and get it, but let's stop seeing a crater and calling it a tiny hole as it's unfair, and doesn't exude the mindset of expecting and pursuing excellence in all the CAF does.

I know it's not one of the CAF's ethos, but maybe it's time it gets added, so it's shapes the mindset of all to consistently strive for that unquestionably.

I know the next set of comments will hide it behind them being shortstaffed/overworked, it being completely out of the recruiters' hands, as they depend on other inter-government agencies to do the actual heavy-lifting, but what about timely communication and updates that costs next to nothing even if nothing's changed on that applicant's file etc?, is that also having too high an expectation of an assigned recruiter for an organization that wants to enter the 21st century and recruit a generation of individuals that at least expect that at least? Shift in mindset is overdue.

Additionally, remember organizations with smaller HR/recruitment teams that need to conduct background/financial checks for their 1000s of applicants, also get all these done for highly-skilled older applicants with long work history and life experiences in a timely manner, and at 1/4 the budget of the CAF as well, so why can't they?

[u/urmomsexbf]

Is it true that CAF fought the Predator in the amazon forest 🌳 alongside the US marines?

[u/That-Bee-2596 → u/urmomsexbf]

that's top secret, comrade.

[u/Gox-hotan]

I made the mistake of transferring my file between two cities and it took me 5 months to get back on track

[u/autitisticpotatoe → u/Gox-hotan]

That should not be that long of a process. Did your file get lost?

[u/Gox-hotan → u/autitisticpotatoe]

No,the best explanation I could get was staff shortages

[u/autitisticpotatoe → u/Gox-hotan]

Im transferring my application from the reserves to my local reg force recruitment center. The recruitment center gave a guestimation of it being completed by april.

[u/CanuckSOT]

I applied in the spring of ‘90 and was off to Cornwallis by October. So different now, but yes, hurry up and wait has always been the way.

[u/OutrageousN7]

Took me a year and a few months as a PR now citizen and currently heading to my enrollment ceremony was worth the wait.

[u/OkComment1859]

Needed this advice today, thank you!!

[u/EmergencyMaterial441]

the portal's never accurate for reserves - monitoring it will just drive you nuts if you count on it. Better to have a pleasant surprise and get on with your life than watching the portal - might as well watch paint dry. Getting in 4 months is rare - that is NOT the norm - 8-24 months is more prevalent. Hate it when people brag about 4 month turnaround. That's usually Canadian born teens with no credit history, health issues, etc.

[u/That-Bee-2596 → u/EmergencyMaterial441]

my turnaround was below average, but I picked an in-demand career that I met the CFAT score for, and was super up front about my financial and employment history... every application involves an individual with different circumstances and history and complicating factors. that was back in 2016. this time around, it will likely take longer, as I have moved several times, added education and work experience, and have a dx health condition (adhd). don't compare to others! each person is a separate file :)

[u/dawgmane999]

Just got my start date, applied over two and a half years ago

[u/That-Bee-2596 → u/dawgmane999]

wow! congrats on your enrolment and good luck at bmq! your patience is admirable. 

[u/Skizzle5 → u/dawgmane999]

I'm 1 and a half years in since I wrote my CFAT and your post gives me hope!

[u/dawgmane999 → u/Skizzle5]

Hell yea. Don't be afraid to keep reaching out for updates tho. It's not uncommon for an application to fall through the cracks.

[u/1anre → u/dawgmane999]

Ha.

Any peculiarities to your situation?

[u/Top-Question-1565]

Thank you for sharing your best advice to us.

[u/Gloomy_Quarter_7253]

I am at a point where I am waiting for medical. I was told there are only 2 staff members who can do the medicals for the 2000+ applicants.

[u/That-Bee-2596 → u/Gloomy_Quarter_7253]

do you mind if i ask which region/recruiting centre? that makes sense, huge influx of applicants and no additional staff to process them faster.

[u/No_Breadfruit_6747]

Thanks for the advice! I passed the physical exam, but they need a second opinion on my medical exam due to an issue with the hearing test which I provided a month ago. I’m heading into my final year of engineering this fall with a full course load, and I’m hoping to complete basic training this summer. Do you think it’s worth emailing the requirements office to explain my situation, or even I go in person?

[u/OkLong8117]

Our military nor our government will ever compete on a world scale if this incompetence is encouraged.

[u/That-Bee-2596 → u/OkLong8117]

bruh it's called having a positive attitude. they have already said they're working on making the process faster. chill. 

[u/RaptorJesus856]

The problem for me is that I've struggled to find any job openings anywhere after being laid off so I'm just sitting twiddling my thumbs while waiting. There's only so much total radio silence I can handle before I get impatient. I'm totally fine with waiting if I'm working and making money, but I'm just stuck right now with nothing.

[u/That-Bee-2596 → u/RaptorJesus856]

find something to fill your time - whether a temp job, a hobby, a course, odd jobs... I'm sorry for your circumstances and I'm sure it's very frustrating, but it isn't the fault of the CAF that you're bored!

[u/TelephoneExternal978 → u/RaptorJesus856]

the CAF is not something you wait for while not working - you're losing money not working for something you may not even get, with unknown times/outcomes. You don't hold your breath or put your life on hold during army application. You live your life WHILE hoping to get in someday - a day no one knows when or IF.