OAT aptitude assessment; my experience.

[Avaiden]

Im just back from my time over in England where I did an aptitude assessment. I failed. It was quite an experience though and if anything it has strengthened my conviction to become an airline pilot. I met a great group of applicants who all demonstrated high levels of motivation, and I see now the sort of image I need to project. My biggest problem was the teamwork exercises as I am naturallay a very introverted person. I am sometimes able to project an aura of confidence in various social circumstances, but during the assessment I completely froze up like some sort of cold unwelcoming white shelf. So I didnt come accross as well as i'd have hoped.
Anyway, during the debriefing it was suggested to me that I go to university to gain a bit more experience. I had trouble agreeing. I saw his point, but it's very expensive.
I did my 1st class medical today aswell. I passed that, so at least i know now that being a pilot is still within reach for sure. The CAA guys are great, I found it to be very relaxed. They dont put their fingers inside you if anyone is worried about that.
I have decided to quit my apprenticeship in plumbing and to focus more time on getting into a flight training school. Im currently looking into a few different schools such as Bristol, CTC Wings and Jerez.
Any feedback, insight or advice would be nice, like a piddle in a wetsuit.
Avaiden.

[Captain N]

hiya
sorry to hear you failed
exact same thing happened to me april 2006 and i failed for the exact same reason
I didnt listen to them, went on got my ppl did ATPL theory and last week i passed my CPL test, this year has been amazing and I have changed too I would probably pass if i go to oxford now :)

dont know much about the schools you mentioned but i'm at Atlantic in coventry and its ok here, every school has its problems there isnt one special magical school thats gonna get you through the whole thing without any problems somewhere along the way. they are all roughly the same, some have a bigger establishment and more airline contacts but you can make the most of other much cheaper schools. at the end of the day you do the same exams with the same examiners!

best of luck

Happy landings ;)

[UL975]

The Oxford assessment is a very accurate representation of an airline assessment day, except it’s tailored to those with no aviation experience. Once you have your ATPL an airline will still be looking for the same qualities and skills as Oxford. The same interview questions will be asked…an example of leadership, teamwork, commitment, failure, maintaining personal standards etc, etc (just look at the BA thread)

If Oxford say go to University then all they are telling you is go and get some life skills and experience. I agree that Uni s a waste of time and money for many people. Keep plumbing, go and join as many teams and societies as you can that might offer you a chance of leadership and teamwork. You say you are a natural introvert, join a theatre group or find an outlet that forces you to speak in public. Go do something a little crazy (pref as part of a team) that will make you stand out of the crowd at an interview.

Once you have got two or three good examples for each of the questions on the BA thread you are ready to start your pilot training. Write these down and save them for when you come out of Oxford, that way you can concentrate on sending CV’s out rather than spending hours trying to find long forgotten examples of cultural diversity!!!

It might not be what you wanted to hear, but Oxford do know what they are doing; if they thought you were ready and able they would be happy to have your money (most schools would take it, and let you find out the hard way once you had finished).

Good Luck.:ok:

[Hufty]

If you need to develop your personality and social skills that will come with age and experience. I wouldn't get too hung up on what Oxford say - just because you didn't get through their particular brand of "assessment" doesn't mean you can't be an airline pilot. An airline "assessment day" is a stressful experience and if you don't like being assessed (who does) then you often underperform. You will find this out twice a year in the sim when you get an airline job :ouch:

I agree with duir, get your trade and get out into the world and get your licences etc. somewhere else. It will build your character and you'll definately be a different person in a few years when you've had a few bloody noses along the way. Then you can get a job at an airline where your ability to build a tower of lego bricks or whatever isn't of much interest. :suspect:

[newbie008]

good post..just one point, before you try CTC make sure everythings up to scratch as I think you will find it harder than OAT to get a place, in fact I know you will. That was my mistake not going prepared!

[flyingman88]

myeguide.co.uk

[Tootles the Taxi]

flyingman88

Of your 6 posts to date on this site, 5 are advertising the website selling what purports to be a guide to passing the skill assessment at OAA. Are you in any way related - I think we should be told.

[Aerospace101]

From the 'website':

RE: RE: The Skills Assessment Process by Elly Briggs - written 02/12/2008 15:28:31
Such a relief to find something to help me with my work! I had NO idea where to start and now I do :) Thank you! Boeingboy I'm aiming to book my assesment in about a month - you?


From WHOIS:


Registrant:
Elaine Brigg


Assuming Ms. Brigg is the same person, i find it hard to understand how someone has written and is selling a book about an assessment process they are yet to go through :confused: :confused: :confused:

Unless they used PPRUNE to get their info...

[Adios]

Yup, I smell a troll here too. The whois database shows that myeguide.co.uk was registered mid November 2008, only two weeks ago. Most of the five threads posted to have been inactive for nine months or more. They would only have been located by flyingman88 using the search engine.

Should we really believe that flyingman88 found this non-advertised, non-promoted site, bought and used the guide, booked OAA assessment and passed it all since 18th November? Given that OAA's assessment is usually booked a month in advance, I smell a rat.

If the guide is worth a darn then that's great, but I have to wonder if Flyingman88 is actually the author or at least promoting the guide for the author.

[Adios]

Aerospace,

How can someone archive the cached web pages showing that Elly Briggs is falsely purporting to have used the Myeguide to pass OAA's assessment? That post will be gone off the myeguide.co.uk site as soon as she reads here that she's been busted, but the whois record won't be so easy to change in order to eliminate the evidence that she is in fact the owner and seller of the document she purports to have used to pass OAA's assessment.

[Aerospace101]

Adios? or should I call you mr 'cynic'? :}:D

[Adios]

No way. Not me. I'm not cynical at all. I suppose if those posts disappear, we'll know you flushed out a troll, but having a permanent cache would be nice. Google hasn't cached it yet, so I doubt anyone else has either.

Maybe a nice little screen shot here would be sweet.

Now off to search for posts by Boeing Boy. Seems like I saw him on Pprune ages ago.

[Aerospace101]

flyingman88 wrote on another thread;

i had my assessment a while ago now but i used a guide i got from Oxford Aviation Skills Assessment Guide - Available Now! which was well good, passed first time

So how did flyingman88 use this guide for prep and do the assessment 'a while ago', when the website you get it from has only been active for the last 2 weeks.

Im a little confused.

[Callsign Kilo]

Back to the original post, Avaidan - may I congratulate you in successfully getting over the first major hurdle on your journey to becoming a commercial pilot. Set backs are plentiful in this game, however your motivation and self belief are key to seeing you through. The fact that you were dealt your first blow by Oxford is, in my belief, a saving grace. In my opinion, what they say can be very inconsistent, their assessment cannot and does not have the juristiction to tell you your suitability factor to become an airline pilot, and the very fact that people are telling you to go off and join universities, theatre clubs and societies is a complete and utter load of bollocks!

Heres an idea Avaidan. Instead of joining a Thespian Society or what not, maybe join a 'Flying Club.' You want to be a pilot, so whay not get your journey under way. I will be honest, you are considering training yourself to enter a profession which is undergoing a very torid time. I am sure I do not need to tell you that there are a lot of highly qualified pilots with no jobs at the moment. Forget what Oxford may have told you about a 'new global pilot shortage' and 'training in the downturn to be well placed in the upturn.' It simply doesn't wash very well. If I were you, I would train slowly and carefully. Blowing 70K+ in an FTO like Oxford at the moment probably wouldn't be considered as a wise financial investment.

I would keep up your job and fly part time. Join a flying club and do a PPL. Get on a committee, join a group or just turn up every weekend and join a discussion with other members. Not only are you building your interpersonal skills, however you are networking as well (something which you will learn is very important in aviation). From there build on what you have achieved. Believe me there is absolutely no rush to get a CPL/IR in the current environment.

So above all, don't let anybody get you down. I too was once told that I may not be suited to this profession, that my interpersonal skills wouldn't fit and I may struggle with some elements of my training. I now fly 737s and was graded with 'above average CRM.' in my last two line checks. Just letting you know what is possible, no matter what others may say.

[Aerospace101]

You may argue 'well have your website and thats fine, but dont post it on our forums', but another may counter you with 'we want this information, and wouldnt have found it unless you had posted it on a webs favourite aviation forum'. Its just advertising with a difference, as this information does actually help people get a little bit closer to achieving their dream.

You have a 'business'. You came on these forums pretending to be a satisfied customer (hence the troll remark by adios). You advertising your little setup for free. Getting pprune readers to waste money on your guide. Is pprune getting a slice of the profits? I'm surprised the mods havent flushed you lot out yet.

If this is such an important guide for students to get and 'actually help people get a little bit closer to achieving their dream' then why aernt you offering it for FREE!?

I guess your business marketing strategy is basically "post it all over pprune", flyingman88 or is it Elaine Brigg or is it Elly Briggs, sorry I'm a little confused again :ugh:

[gone_fishing]

With all due respect flyingman88, I believe the main concern of the regular forum users are that you are freely advertising in forum posts. This is most annoying to some readers, we don't want to see your URL keep popping up all over the place. Also, with respect to you not being required to pay pprune anything, here's the problem. The pprune forum has specific policies on advertisement. If you will take the time to scroll to the top yellow bar, you will find an "Advertise" link. May I suggest that you stay out of intruding the posts and start paying pprune some money to advertise in a less intrusive way (around the forum post with banners, etc). Also, the whole point of this forum is to mainly help people without making a profit and to give first hand expirience (and of course, also to discuss things within aviation and have a joke). I appreciate the difficultly in starting up a new business, but if you could bear these things in mind also.

Regards,
gone_fishing