View Full Version : Initial Application
aaaabbbbcccc1111
29th Nov 2002, 18:39
HI,
I have recently applied for the post of trainee air traffic controller.
I am hoping with all my fingers crossed that I make it through to the tests and along to the interview.
I am really nervous at the moment that my application wont get accepted, I have been waiting over 2 weeks now.
I was hoping for any tips regarding the tests, as i have heard that they are very hard and the success rate is very low.
I am in the Royal Navy at the moment, so I am used to an operation room environment, and also radar. Is there anything that I should be squatting up on prior to my hopeful tests and interviews.
I would love to hear from people who have recently passed there NATS assesments, and anyone with any advice.
ANDY
aaaabbbbcccc1111
29th Nov 2002, 19:56
Sorry first time user.I have given myself a 4 str rating, I now realize that other people who read the message give the rating.What is totally stupid of me is that I did not even rate my own message as 5 star. DOH
elandel
2nd Dec 2002, 11:26
The ability to spell is also an advantage!
Read the booklet that they sent you. The questions which they ask aren't very in depth, but you should read it a couple of times. Practice the tests which they send you. When you do the tests, they look for accuracy, not speed. You need to work fairly quickly, but I think that if you get through a certain percentage of the test, you won't lose marks for questions that you don't get to.
Don't worry about the spatial reasoning test, everyone hates it... :confused:
Good luck
BEXIL160
3rd Dec 2002, 01:39
Not sure about the thes tests....BUT, if you've done FOST in an OPS environment (mine was at Portland, Twice, yours probably at Plymouth) you've nothing to worry about. Just apply yourself and don't panic.
Welcome aboard shipmate
Rgds
BEX
Point Seven
3rd Dec 2002, 22:08
Fella with an funny name
Don't panic yourself about the tests. That guy giving you advice on his THIRD time of applying should be ignored. Do you really need his advice based upon his record? No i thought not.
You will get a chance to do the tests. We're hopelessly short of controllers and if you interested, so are we. Just read the booklet, practice in your hotel room (if you book one) the night before and you'll be ok. The second interviews are more tricky. Re post if you get through, and we'll discuss then.
And before anyone bitches at me, i've done them all, i've passed them all (first time) and now i'm a controller at the busiest airport that Blighty has to offer.
:p
"i've done them all, i've passed them all (first time) and now i'm a controller at the busiest airport that Blighty has to offer. "
All that, with modesty too!
Gonzo.
alpha16,
Don't worry (not that you seem to be worrying anyway!), but once you get in, nobody cares how many times you went through the tests. IIRC perhaps up to a third of my course got in on their second or third try.
Good luck in January!
Gonzo.
Spitoon
5th Dec 2002, 17:27
Point Seven, sorry to disappoint you but even if you work at the busiest airport that Blighty has to offer that doesn't mean you are necessarily a well rounded and experienced controller!
Radar (approach or area) is quite character building - and fun. To say nothing of procedural control. When you've proven yourself in these disciplines your comments about the job may be treated with a bit more credibility.
And I would point out that busy isn't everything - there are airports around the UK that may not be as busy but offer lots more challenges for the controllers and lots more satisfaction to be gained from applying one of a range of techniques to resolve the varied traffic situations that present themselves.
I hope aaaabbbbcccc1111 and others in his position are not put off by the very public expression of attitudes that should be consigned to the past. Because quite apart from anything else arrogance and controlling don't go together well.
250 kts
5th Dec 2002, 21:39
True spitoon-but why are we subjected to basically the same plea from the same wannabe 3 times in the space of 1 hour??
I reckon one post would have been enough. Isn't it time we also had a special section for wannabe's?
Harsh but true.
Head now below the parapet and awaiting the incoming :D :D
Spitoon
5th Dec 2002, 23:28
250, you're right but by his own admission aaabbbccc111 is new to it all and I guess we all have to learn how to use facility like this. I did some daft things as I learnt about the internet thingy.
Perhaps you're right about a wannabe section - then again, it would help if NATS gave realistic times to be expected in the selection process. I was in the same boat and wanting to ask the same questions when I went through the process but that was long before the internet etc. Judging by the number of times this question is asked I can only assume that the same optimistic times are given today.
I stand by my comments that LL is not the be all and end all and kinda expected to have to duck myself - maybe there's something good on TV that I didn't spot!
PPRuNe Radar
6th Dec 2002, 23:14
And before anyone bitches at me, i've done them all, i've passed them all (first time) and now i'm a controller at the busiest airport that Blighty has to offer.
Wow Point Seven !!!! Hope your manager has identified you to the SMG as someone with Significant Potential then ..... but there again, as others have already pointed out, the number of times taken to get into NATS and how well you did in selection tests actually counts for sod all and is of little relevance to how you are likley to perform out in the real world.
To our Wannabes, listen to those who want to help you. And take heart that some of us remember our own experiences of trying to get in and are happy to give you the assistance and encouragement that 'professionals' can and should freely give. You are our future ... and also my early retirement enabler !! ;)
Good luck to you all.
Voroff
6th Dec 2002, 23:35
Don't worry about the spatial reasoning test, everyone hates it...
I actually liked that one the best , I must be some kind of masochist :D .
foghorn
7th Dec 2002, 21:07
Hi there aabbb....
I submitted my application in late September, got the invitation to the first round through two weeks ago, for the second week in January.
Unfortunately I can't make that (sod's law), I haven't had another yet, however I have a feeling that sod's law is going to strike again and they will offer me an alternative in the final two weeks of February, which I can't make either.... fingers crossed....
tired-flyboy
9th Dec 2002, 13:55
God your all lucky, I applied in May 02 and finally got my test dates for the 24 Jan 03!!!!
I got my reply from my initial application in June so haven't had to wait that long!!!!!:mad:
a..b..c. - don't worry about the tests, if you worry you'll make yourself more nervous and therefore you'll prob screw the easy ones up!
Have a good nights kip before the test day and just take the questions as they come!
:cool: and relax
WX Man
11th Dec 2002, 11:07
I heard from a particularly reliable source that Eurocontrol still need people for their February course. That's February next year, 2003.
I reckon that you could fire off an application in the next few days, be invited to aptitude testing before Christmas, Interview during Jan and then be in Lux before the end of Feb.