It's been a long time since I visited and posted. I hope everyone is doing well and I wish you all the best for 2003.
The last year has been not been the best. I was laid off from work and have been unable to find employment in high tech. I went through all the ups and downs, self-reflection, career reflection etc. I started pursuing a new career path, it started last May 2002. I applied at the Fire Department. It's a fairly long process, there are 4 steps.
1) (May 2002) Application, resume, CPR/First Aid training. 2) (September 2002) 2 written exams (exams are about 2.5 hours each) 3) (November 2002) Orientation for the CPAT (Candidate Physical Abilities Test) 4) (January 2003) The actual CPAT.
Well I made it through all the steps and I am an eligible candidate. Now I wait for the interview stage. I am so happy, I have always been physically active and technically minded so I am hoping to make it in as a Technical Specialist, if not I will still join as a regular recruit. There were 1500 people who wrote the exam, 325 passed the exam, out of the 325 about 250 passed the final CPAT. So my chances are pretty good. The City of Ottawa recently amalgamated with all the other smaller Cities (Nepean, Kanata, Gloucester etc) and are in the process of hiring new Firefighters. I really hope I make it in, it�s the perfect career for me.
Anyways thanks for reading and I will be sure to be around the board regularly.
Barry
[ 26. January 2003, 10:41 AM: Message edited by: Barrance ]
Posted by 2002Z4CSS (Member # 1393) on 24 January, 2003 10:03 AM:
Welcome back to the board. Good luck on the job. Posted by poSSum (Member # 119) on 24 January, 2003 10:20 AM:
Welcome Back.
Congratulations on making it as far as you did. Good luck with the rest of the process. Posted by HTWLSS (Member # 117) on 24 January, 2003 11:23 AM:
Nice to see you again!
Posted by DanA_F99_1977 (Member # 118) on 24 January, 2003 11:36 AM:
Hi Barry, Good to hear from you again. Glad to hear that you are on a path to something that you like. Best of luck. I finally found a new job after 15 months of being out after Alcatel let us go. Check in more often. I'll be sure to let you know when I come up that way to visit Jim again.
Posted by JohnS (Member # 1073) on 24 January, 2003 11:38 AM:
Good luck with your job search.
It's nice to have Eastern Ontario represented on the board, eh! Posted by Barrance (Member # 581) on 24 January, 2003 01:39 PM:
Thank you all for your responses. It is nice to be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel.
I just found a temp job today at a car & truck parts company working in the warehouse, just to fill the time.
Dan; Congratulations on the new job. It was nice to be off work at first, now I am going out of my mind. Do let me know if you make it up here, it would be great to get together again.
Barry
Posted by Hawkeye (Member # 88) on 24 January, 2003 02:04 PM:
Welcome home. Posted by Harry P (Member # 533) on 25 January, 2003 07:57 AM:
Me too... I haven't been here in a while, even though I was always more a lurker than a contributor. I never find the time to add a whole lot to the already lively conversation, but am always entertained by it. It's great to "see" all the old faces and know that you are all still kicking, sharing amongst one another life's experiences beyond the original reason why we came here in the first place.
Best of luck Barry... With well defined goals and the drive you obviously have, I don't think you have too much to worry about.
Happy New Year to all.
Harry Peachey
Posted by MaryandRalph (Member # 244) on 25 January, 2003 10:29 AM:
Barry, welcome back and congrats on your career choice.
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