ATC IssuesA place where pilots may enter the 'lions den' that is Air Traffic Control in complete safety and find out the answers to all those obscure topics which you always wanted to know the answer to but were afraid to ask.
Mate just found out i've passed too, which considering one of the activities i used the wrong key on the computer therefore got 0 marks I cant believe it!!!
Well done all those who passed the new stage 2, there is some hope for us all !!!
I guess as all of you said it was very hard and thought you failed, the object is to keep going as you never know !!!
Bring on the 1st may !!!
yey well done to all of us who went to stage 2 on 15th april and passed, and anyone else who has recently passed too!
Hope to see you all at stage 3!
If anyone happens to know how i can get in contact with Manchester Control i would be really grateful, i spoke to HR today and they were no help at all!
To all who think there is anything technical about the stage 3 interview are completely misinformed. I told the interviewers I'd visited Swanwick and they asked one question and moved on very quickly - seemed to have no interest at all. It is 90 minutes of typical HR rubbish. But in a fair amount of detail.
I would prepare for the technical side however just in case but don't expect to be asked about any specific ATCO situations.
I prepared massively for the technical side and was thrown off because HR had also told me it hadn't changed. Good luck to all who have stage 3 coming up, if you prepare and make sure you have typical examples planned out then you should be ok.
Out of interest, when was your Stage 3? I really believe that everyone's Stage 3 is different - in mine we did spend a good bit of time on the HR stuff, but perhaps because of my age and past education/employment experience, we didn't spend that much time discussing my skills.
However, I must have spent at least 30-40 minutes going through technical stuff (beginning with an ATC scenario, and following on to things to do with a tower visit I had made) in great detail which I was pushed hard on and challenged continuously. I don't have a PPL/ATPL or any other type of aviation background (I'm a scientist by trade) but I was still asked loads of technical stuff.
Advice to others: Although there is a list of questions that the interviewers can choose from, especially for the HR stuff, what you say in return will dictate what the interview is like and where it goes from there. Everyone is different, and therefore everyone's interview will be different. Be unprepared for either the HR or the technical stuff, and you may find the interview more difficult than you'd like. If they don't ask you everything you've prepared, consider yourself well prepared for the interview, and that maybe you've saved yourself a bit of learning for when you get to college - it's not a bad thing, and definitely not time wasted!
I did my S3 in February, and even before I did it back then, there were people posting on here saying their S3 had all been HR. IMO, the reason mine was more technical was because I already work in an occasionally demanding environment, but also i had read from a lot of sources prior to the interview, and so they wanted to make sure i had actually done my stuff, rather that just saying i had.
it would have been different if for example i had come straight from school, and had no uni or real work experience, then they may have been more concerned that i was not prepared mentally.
in short, revise both bits, you will hate yourself for failing if its because you tried to second guess what will be asked.
it would have been different if for example i had come straight from school, and had no uni or real work experience, then they may have been more concerned that i was not prepared mentally.
So you're implying that the interview at stage 3 will be a hellofalot harder for anyone who may be on the edge of the min age limit . ie. 18 or anyone in age groups of 18 - 21/22?
T250, no I wasn't implying that, apologies if it looks that way.
all i meant was it may have been different, ie wholly an HR interview, because if i had come straight from school, depending on grades i suppose, i would already have shown the ability to study etc. age alone doesn't affect the outcome.
I havent asked for feedback but think i 'ticked enough boxes' in relation to ability and mental maturity and so perhaps thats why they then chose to concentrate more on my motivation and knowledge.
And I'll concur with shugs.... I felt I didn't get many questions about the ability to study, work effectively in a team or any of the other 'qualities' they see as important since I've got good exam results from school, several uni degrees and a good set of experience that provides good examples of these sorts of skills as far as team working, practical learning etc goes.
I did get lots of questions about why I was pursuing this career now, why I hadn't done anything about it before (at other times in my adult life when I could have applied), and was asked whether I thought scientists could be any good at being ATCOs! Are we too theoretical and stuck in our ways - do we know how to adapt and change?! It was one of those experiences when I think they wanted to see how I dealt with being pushed over and over again, and if I would break...
And then I was asked loads of technical stuff, I think to gauge my commitment, interest, knowledge, and especially for them to see how I apply knowledge I have, how I 'think' about things and deal with ever changing scenarios (see above). Some simple questions with straightforward knowledge-based answers, but other open-ended questions too which required good problem solving skills.
Who knows if this'll help anyone, but they were my experiences.
Gogz87
Dress code for an initial ATC medical, Jeans T-shirt and trainers?
Initial medical, future employer, planning to spend at least £100,000 to train you.
Suggest a lightweight summer suit. OOOHHH, SUITS YOU SIR!
This is a pile of arse - firstly, whatever you wear you are out of very quickly and into your undies! Wear whatever is comfortable, I wore jeans and t-shirt.
Secondly, having spoken to one of the training\HR head honchos, it takes approx £800,000 to fully train an ATCO (including continuos training)
Always take what people say on forums with a pinch of salt, 99% of people are genuinely helpful, 1% are quite the opposite!
Good luck to all currently applying.
Last edited by PDF : 23rd April 2009 at 20:47.
Reason: Fat fingers! doh
Regarding stage 3, all I can tell is mine and my groups experiences:
Two interviewers, 1 HR, 1 (ex) ATCO. Start off with a few HR type questions, went through app form etc, then ATCO steps in with some questions - aircraft ID, airport layouts, couple scenarios linked to both of these, then another scenario linked to a bit of general knowledge of ATC. Questions on prep and where I would like to be within ATC in 5, 10, 20 years etc - so more technical than anything else!
Mine lasted 2 hours, chap before me - 2.75.... The average time for the day was over 2 hours, mine was just before lunch so you can imagine why it was shorter!!
I did helluva lot of prep - involved reading Graham Duke, some of the Trevor Thom books (weather / naviagtion / general flying), Airband Radio Handbook, visited Bristol tower and Swanwick - London App, lots of time on NATS website (including press releases, mission statements, the board (I was asked about how the company works / makes money / is organised), MATS pt 1, RT manual (unsure of CAA code).
I could answer all of the questions, but not many were factual, as long as you can "apply" your knowledge to the questions, you won't go far wrong.
Now I have passed Stage 2, I really want (need?) to visit at least Swanick and preferably Heathrow Tower as well. I have spoken to HR who were a bit funny and said they couldnt arrange it, but would pass on my request to the centres and someone would call me. Apparently this should be done directly but they seemed unable to give me a contact number.
Can anyone tell me if they have had similar difficulties arranging visits, and if anyone has any numbers for Swanick/Heathrow that would be great.
"Once we have received you completed application form we will invite you to the 2nd stage of the process - the computer tests and structured interview. "
Are they ever going to update their automated email system?! We concluded that the interview at S2 has been removed, right? And just a lengthy day full of computer based tests.
Now to fill in this app form. By what you're all suggesting, its probably going to take me a couple of days to decide to write! lol
In short, probably not unless someone alerts them to the fact that their emails are wrong.
When I was applying, everything about the expense system was incorrect and inconsistent, but HR didn't realise until I spoke to someone about it. Probably worth sending them a polite email - for those not on PPRuNe, it could be very confusing to get that email!
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