First point, never seen a bilingual thread here - always time for a first. Anyways, the Recruiting forum is generally for recruiting information; since this is a real good thread, I moved it into the CF forum for some better exposure.
Anyways, I'll offer my 2 cents, having gone through the grinder a couple of times.
The way I see it, there are a couple issues with recruiting.
The first is the ebb/flow of the process. There seems to be 5 (or 6) things that need to get squared away:
1) Aptitude Test
2) Interview
3) Fitness Assessment
4) Medical
5) Security and Reliability Check
(6) Verification of Former Service is a potential 6)
Now, here are a few outside observations:
1) Aptitude test is straightforward. Go in, do the test, pass/fail.
2) Interview is straightforward as well. Get interviewed, look like a good applicant or look like an asshat. The only criticism I have is the requirement for those generic reference letters - I think they're useless. First off, is any candidate going to submit a reference letter that makes them look bad? Second of all, do mostly civilian references have any idea of whether a person is suitable for a military environment? Sure, Johnny is a good guy in shop class, but is this really indicative of a platoon attack? FWIW, I think the interviewing Officer and socialization on Basic Training provide ample an enough picture of whether the applicant has what it takes or not.
3) Fitness Assessment. Straightforward. Go in, pass/fail.
4) Medical - seems to be one of the stumbling blocks; from what I understand, this is due to the CFMS playing turf war and not the CFRG. Perhaps, if the applicant is screened by the CFRC pers (given the basic medical and no serious problems - you know, the check boxes on that two-sided medical form), a waiver can be signed that will allow the CF to continue processing the applicant but can release/hold them if a problem develops with their Med File in Borden.
5) Security and Reliability Check - the other stumbling block; again, from what I understand, it is because law requires all government bodies (CF included) to do this through a centralized process with CSIS. Another point where centralization fails to deliver efficiency, but there is nothing we can do about it from where we stand. Perhaps, like the idea above, a basic screening can be conducted by CFRC (it is right in the application) and as long as you don't have any obvious ties to Al Qaeda or something, CFRC can proceed with your application and can dismiss/hold you/throw you in jail if your file has a problem down the road. IIRC this is what the Americans do when the FBI conducts background checks.
6) VFS - used to take long time, but I understand that it is now quite easy to do because of a computerized system that allows CFRC to bring up applicants old Pers File. Is this true?
Anyways, it seems that a problem is getting all these things done concurrently. Getting the ability to further process recruits on a conditional status might be worth looking at.
The other idea here is one I've posted before, which seems to have some merit in a) getting all the components done together and b) giving applicants a taste of military life, hopefully weeding out those who would otherwise quit a week into BMQ/BOTC at St Jean. Here it is:
Perhaps we need a system like the RM uses, holding a 3-day "Potential Soldier" course at cities around Canada. Run by a recruiting cell, applicants will come to these things for a 2-night stay and essentially "DAG" into the Forces. In the 3 days, applicants will be assessed and interviewed by a "Course Officer" - essentially a recruiting Officer, and administered by Recruiting NCOs.
A basic medical should be done at the CFRC when the applicant walks in the door - this should be done to ensure that people with medical conditions are screened before being thrown into a "Indoc Course" which may be a hazard to their health. Those who have no medical "hick-ups" should be immediately booked into an Indoc Course, which should probably be a bi-monthly or monthly affair.
In the course of the 3 day indoc course, they will be:
- Given a thourough medical examination (by a contracted civilian physician if need be)
- Given a basic PT test to ensure they can move on with the training.
- Assessed in a detailed interview by the Recruiting Officer
- Fill out the security clearance form for processing
- Write the aptitude test
- Be run through a battery of exercises and drill by NCOs to "acclimate" them to military discipline and the demands of a soldier.
- Be run through a series of lectures on career options, military life, pay, admin, what to expect, etc, etc.
Those who successfully navigate the 3 day "Indoc Course" will be issued a pair of boots to break in and be told when to expect to move onto St. Jean for BMQ (and thus offered a contract) - the onus is now on the training system to sort itself out and handle the influx of processed recruits. While the recruit is waiting to leave, the detailed background check is being processed - in the contract would be a condition allows the military an "out" if a potential recruit's background check fails.
Those who fail any aspect will be given the necessary advice on where to improve on and be booked for another "Indoc Course" a few months down the road. Some will not like the 3-day military experience and simply decline to move on - thus the recruiting end has done its part in screening applicants and saving the training system from having to deal with duds.
Like a Reserve Weekend BMQ, this can probably be run out of a high school gym if necessary (using the field for training), allowing for flexibility in roving recruiting teams to hold "Indoc Courses". The advantage of using this is that it does a "screens" applicant and groups all their requirements for processing into a single 3 day period. The CFRC has then done its part of the deal, and it is now the Training systems duty to deal with whatever influx the CFRC gives them (which is another problem and thread altogether).
The process shouldn't take more then a month to complete from the time a recruit walks into a door to the time that he is deemed suitable to be loaded onto a basic training course.
Here is a page explaining the Potential Royal Marine Course that the RM recruiters use:
http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/static/pages/2654.html
A second issue seems to be a disjoint between recruiting and training. I don't think it is so bad for NCMs, because St Jean gears up for them every month, but for Officer selection, there are very narrow windows to get into the CF, which can lead to very long wait periods and potentially driving off very good candidates. There is probably a handful of issues that lead to this (the way merit boards work, numbers of Officer Cadets, resources at St Jean and Gagetown/Moose Jaw/Halifax, etc, etc) but looking at why guys have to wait 8 months to get in because of narrow windows should be addressed.
My final gripe is with accountability in the recruiting system. My observations seem to indicate that recruiting is driven by bureaucratic inertia, which is a bad thing. Applicants are files, and that is that. Files get shuffled from here to there, some slip through the cracks, and some luck out and seem to end up on the top of the stack all the time. Applicants are left hanging for weeks or months not knowing what the hell their status is with CFRC. The onus seems to be on the applicant to ensure their file makes it through all stages.
Having dealt with the CF recruiting process at the same time as a good friend dealt with the American system, I can say that his recruiter seemed to pay alot more attention to his file. His recruiter was
his recruiter - he dealt with all aspects of his file and guided him through the process; he was ready to go in a month, and he was never left wondering what was next. Perhaps a quota system (as the USMC uses) is needed? Files (and the applicants) belong to a specific recruiter, and the onus lies with him (ie: he needs to reach his quota for a good evaluation) to ensure that they get done in a timely fashion. As I said before, there are blocks in the process that are beyond the control of CFRG, but more communication and concurrent activity seem to be in order (judging from the hundreds of threads in the Recruiting forum, I think there is evidence to support this).
Anyways, these are just outside observations, and I may be right out to lunch, so feel free to agree/comment/criticize/blast them out of the water.
Cheers,
Infanteer
to get answers to their and their parents' unanswered questions, most potential recruits would probably rule out the CF as a career option!
). This is especially pertinent to the reserve world where there is already limited training time and the clock starts ticking on the ancient reserve conundrum -- i.e. work-family-life-militia balance - do you want that limited time frittered away on basic training or getting the prior service guy working on something else that's going to benefit the unit more immediately? I'm not sure if this issue is precisely within your mandate - but it has worked against bringing experienced people back into the reserve system.
