View Full Version : ATC Upper Age Limit. Self Sponser Training
Hi Folks
Considering a career change, well kind of being forced to a degree given that my wonderful Employers , bless their cotton socks have "outsourced" my Dept to India.
Ex Raf 9 (6 years) - Ground Comms/Flight Watch, then 15 years IT (various roles).
My question (s) is , is there an upper age limit in order to be considered a candidate for ATC and indeed getting on a sponsered training program. If over the age limit (I'm 39) could I self sponser (ie pay for the training myself) then approach prospective Employers, or am I too far over the hill to even be considered for this field of work.
Thanks
niknak
6th May 2006, 00:35
I think the age limit for NATS cadetships is 29, but I believe that they're not adverse to considering applications from suitably qualified folk over that age.
Self Sponsership? entirely admirable but very risky.
The aerodrome/approach and approach radar course will set you back around £40K, on top of that you have living and commuting expenses to worry about during the 9 - 12 months you are doing the course.
Assuming that you dont fail the courses at some stage, and lose all the money you've paid out so far, you'll come out with all the ratings but no experience.
You then have 12 months to convince an employer that you are worth them taking you on, instead of them training one of their own staff at less cost and being guaranteed a loyal employee for 3 - 5 years.
After 12 months, if you hadn't commenced training at an airport, you would have to undertake an assessment to retain the ratings you worked so hard to get.
Thats the worst scenario.
The good news is that there's a shortage of qualified atcos at the moment, and this will be the case for at least 3 years to come.
In your case, I would write to all the non NATS airports and tell them waht you are doing, no doubt they'll telll you to write again when you have all the ratings, but you're almost certain to get a job offer when you are done and dusted.
Ironically, when you have all the ratings, regardless of experience, NATS will almost certainly give you serious consideration.
Good luck!
Try astac.co.uk or amsjv.com who provide aerodrome training. Astac will give you an aptitude test I think before you comit to the expensive course. Still a big gamble though. However now NATS have stopped training every student in aerodrome then throwing them out with a license when they fall at the first hurdle. The non NATS aerodromes will be struggling to fill positions in the future if not already.
thanks for the replies, I will check out the links. No chance of ATC being outsourced to India one hopes... ;-)
hi again,
where can I get a list of NATS and NON NATS Aerodromes thanks
another thing...in terms of career progression/remuneration, is working at NATS aerodromes more rewarding from a work point of view than NON NATS aerodromes. ?? thanks
aluminium persuader
6th May 2006, 15:15
NATS tends to be very politically charged - if your face fits, you're ok, but if not, you're in for a hard ride. The pay & pension are much better than outside though.
Try SERCo as well - they have no fast age-limit and will look at you based on experience & aptitude. Head shed is at Hook, Hants. PM me if you want any more info.
ap
Damocles
6th May 2006, 15:21
exraf,
Check your PMs
:ok:
wow i live in fleet, just 2 miles from hook..
checked out links to courses...
UK ATC and ICAO ATC....again is one route better than the other...any juicy ratings I should consider which may help my chances.
thanks
NATS International Airports: Heathrow
NATS Regional Airports: Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, Luton, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Southampton, Bristol, Gib, Farnborough, Cardiff.
The rest are non-NATS! :E
Any ATC currently studying or have studied at either of these facilities care to share their comments. Is one considered more highly than the other in terms of recognition of the quality of trained staff that enter the Industry. I kind of think given my age I am going to need that "something extra" in order to be considered seriously.
Chilli Monster
6th May 2006, 17:40
Exraf
I did what you're proposing. Now, this isn't intentionally putting a damper on things - but.
1) NikNaks course estimates are pretty close to the mark. Ballpark figures are:
ADI - £18K
APP - £10K
APS - £20K
2) You have to start training within 6 months of completing the course, not 12. In effect by the time you finished the 3rd (if you went all the way) then you'd have to do an APC for the 1st.
3) Can you AFFORD to lose that sort of money if you fail. It happens.
(My experience: Aerodrome; 2 started, 1 finished. Approach; 9 started, 5 finished. Approach Radar; 3 started, 1 finished plus 3 others recoursed from the previous course (2 fail, 1 medical)).
4) You've never worked in ATC (I was 15 years TG9) so your background knowledge is minimal / non-existant. You may find yourself continuously playing "catch up" on the course because of it. That, coupled with your age, is going to cause problems in learning a whole new discipline which piles on the pressure from day 1 of the course. If you had an ATC background things would possibly be different - but you haven't.
5) Because of the above, and because there are more experienced candidates out there, the chances are you won't get sponsored. So - pay for yourself, then find a job (if succesful). Again - you're an unknown quantity - you may be lucky, or you may not (I had to wait 3 months from finishing course to job offer).
My advice - don't even think of funding all 3 ratings yourself. If you feel you're in with a chance then pay for an Aerodrome course. Pass it, throw yourself at the job market. If you get a job then no doubt your employer will pay for any further ratings if you're deemed good enough. That's the plus side. The down side is if you're unsuccesful then you've only(!) lost £18K.
How much of a gambling man are you?
thanks for the reply re costing. I can absorb all the costs, just have to sell the idea to the wife (thats probably my biggest hurdle). I think I will draft some letters and send them out to prospective Employers and inform them of my intentions (as suggested in an earlier comment) and see what sort of response I get. My impression from one or two posts is (regardless) of age I would still be pretty much in with a shout, particularly if I go for more than one rating and push myself at NON NATS Aerodromes. Given that the market is short of ATC surely any prospective Employer would see the upside of Employing someone who self sponsered,albeit the wrong side of 30. This sort of action clearly shows commitment to any prospective Employer and saves them substantial amounts of money..
Who would be best to direct my initial correspondence to in terms of getting "a real response", directing this type of query to HR I'm sure will just get me some "standard response". Thanks