Here's my PXR based on the eCFAT I sat on Tuesday and a subsequent conversation with my recruiter. I won't discuss specifics as it's not allowed and defeats the object, however, hopefully this general overview and advice may help somebody......
1. Make sure you read everything here first:
http://www.forces.ca/en/page/theapplicationprocess-106#step3-3
2. The downloadable practice paper gives you an idea of what to expect in terms of the style of questions, however, I found the actual test significantly more difficult. The practice paper below was fairly useful and the more prep you do beforehand the better frame of mind you'll be in. I'm 39 and it's been a long time since I sat in the classroom; those of you straight out of high school may find it easier.
http://www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/ppc-cpp/pract-test-examn-pract/gct2-ecg2-pratc-eng.htm
3. In my opinion, there's not a lot you can do to improve your chances on the first 2 sections of the test (Verbal Skills and Spatial Ability). You'll either have a good grasp of language or you won't - short of memorising a dictionary/thesaurus there's not much training you can do. Similarly, your brain will be able to formulate shapes and patterns or it won't - I believe that we're all hard-wired in this area, some will find this natural and some will find it a black art. That said, the factor which affected me the most on these sections was lack of time, I literally had seconds to spare at the end.
4. The final section (Problem Solving) is an area where you can help your cause beforehand. The math is no different than I did in school and provided you've remembered how to do fractions, percentages etc you should do fine. I personally found that there was plenty of time and I'd finished with 12 minutes left to spare. I used this time to go over my answers again to check for silly mistakes.
5. Timing, Timing, Timing……..don't get too wrapped up with any one question. If you're beginning to struggle then move on to the next. It's better to answer a few easier questions correctly, than waste ages on a difficult one which you subsequently get wrong. If you find you've got questions left and seconds to spare then make an educated guess; you've got a 1 in 4 chance of getting it right and you won't lose anything for getting it wrong.
6. Don't get disheartened, or start panicking, if you find you don't know the answers to all the questions, just do your best. For example, I'm enrolling as a
Vehicle Tech for which the current pass mark (subject to change) is
35. Presuming that this score is spread equally across the 3 sections then I would have needed roughly 9 out of 15 correct on Sections 1&2 and 18 out of 30 on Section 3. You can see that this is very achievable provided you answer as many as you can and don't spend too much time on any one question.
7. If you know your required pass mark don't just aim at that, aim to do your best and answer as many as you can. If you intend to make a career of the military then the 'just enough' approach may bite you in the *** later. For example, should you decide to change trade, or commission from the ranks, your CFAT score will be revisited and used in the decision making process.
8. Finally, If you want to know what score you got then just ask. What's the worse that can happen……? I asked my recruiter and he had no problem in telling me how I did and what I got wrong etc - needless to say, I was glad to hear I passed
Good luck
