Hi everyone. First post here and I need a bit of advice so bear with me even if my post is a bit long.
A bit of a background. I am a 24 year old female with average to below fitness (planning to work on this, to give context I can run 21 kms in 2:40 hours which I'm not proud of, 5km in 34 mins. Speed is the problem).
Currently I am in process of getting my PR -- I plan to sign up for a reserve spot as soon as I get my PR. I graduated UBC in Bachelor of Arts, Cognitive Systems so I'm not sure if that could count towards anything in the military. Anyways, I love IT, I was previously IT support + now work as a software engineer. I had always eyed military jobs, but never knew reserves were an option and this just sounds like a perfect opportunity to try out before I turn 30. I've got a few questions:
1. ATIS sounds very interesting and I think I'll learn a lot of things from it. However Vancouver seems to have Army units, so I'm interested in ACISS instead. This sounds more like a Signal Operator job / deal more with radios than computers. I want to mainly deal with computers, although radios do sound fun. Should I be aiming for IST then? When should I choose IST vs ACISS? Is ACISS the Army equivalent of ATIS?
2. So far my knowledge is that BMQ is available during the weekends and trades training will take a few months separately. In which case I would have to leave my daily job. How do people do this? Will I use my vacation, or is there a way to do it unpaid? Why does the IST page say "Information Systems Technician training takes approximately 12 months" and Sig Ops "Signal Operator training takes 19 weeks"? I can't find the page for ACISS, is it Sig Ops?
3. At what point is it an "impulsive" decision, and you know you've thought it through? What made you enroll? Not gonna lie, my friend signing up for the infantry reserve (in NZ) made me really think about signing up and here I am. I believe that being a reserve will teach me very valuable skills, I've always had the desire to do something similar in the back of my head, and I believe this is a great opportunity.. I only live once, and life is too short to ignore things you've wanted to try. But unsure if I'm signing up for something that is difficult to get out of, although I don't believe I'll regret the decision.
4. I will admit, I'm a small-sized Asian female. Do you think this will come at a disadvantage? I'm confident I will be able to learn the skills and get my fitness up. I'm not as sure if I will feel totally safe just because of the things I've heard people say (although I'm used to male-dominated environments because of my interest in IT since middle school).
If anyone could give more advice or words of encouragement, it would be great. But I want to know answers to my question, and want to be realistic about my goal. So any pointers would be appreciated, thank you so much!
A bit of a background. I am a 24 year old female with average to below fitness (planning to work on this, to give context I can run 21 kms in 2:40 hours which I'm not proud of, 5km in 34 mins. Speed is the problem).
Currently I am in process of getting my PR -- I plan to sign up for a reserve spot as soon as I get my PR. I graduated UBC in Bachelor of Arts, Cognitive Systems so I'm not sure if that could count towards anything in the military. Anyways, I love IT, I was previously IT support + now work as a software engineer. I had always eyed military jobs, but never knew reserves were an option and this just sounds like a perfect opportunity to try out before I turn 30. I've got a few questions:
1. ATIS sounds very interesting and I think I'll learn a lot of things from it. However Vancouver seems to have Army units, so I'm interested in ACISS instead. This sounds more like a Signal Operator job / deal more with radios than computers. I want to mainly deal with computers, although radios do sound fun. Should I be aiming for IST then? When should I choose IST vs ACISS? Is ACISS the Army equivalent of ATIS?
2. So far my knowledge is that BMQ is available during the weekends and trades training will take a few months separately. In which case I would have to leave my daily job. How do people do this? Will I use my vacation, or is there a way to do it unpaid? Why does the IST page say "Information Systems Technician training takes approximately 12 months" and Sig Ops "Signal Operator training takes 19 weeks"? I can't find the page for ACISS, is it Sig Ops?
3. At what point is it an "impulsive" decision, and you know you've thought it through? What made you enroll? Not gonna lie, my friend signing up for the infantry reserve (in NZ) made me really think about signing up and here I am. I believe that being a reserve will teach me very valuable skills, I've always had the desire to do something similar in the back of my head, and I believe this is a great opportunity.. I only live once, and life is too short to ignore things you've wanted to try. But unsure if I'm signing up for something that is difficult to get out of, although I don't believe I'll regret the decision.
4. I will admit, I'm a small-sized Asian female. Do you think this will come at a disadvantage? I'm confident I will be able to learn the skills and get my fitness up. I'm not as sure if I will feel totally safe just because of the things I've heard people say (although I'm used to male-dominated environments because of my interest in IT since middle school).
If anyone could give more advice or words of encouragement, it would be great. But I want to know answers to my question, and want to be realistic about my goal. So any pointers would be appreciated, thank you so much!