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NATS interview process

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NATS interview process

Old 5th Mar 2007, 08:16
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I got a cheeky little email this afternoon from HR (I'm in!), wasnt expecting ANYTHING on this 'day of rest'... maybe HR are working shifts like ATCO's!
Not shifts, but unpaid overtime, to try to catch up on the weeks work, and I think its admirable that someone is prepared to do that, although they still get some stick. I bet it made your day.
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Old 5th Mar 2007, 09:00
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Congratulations on getting in EGMC, thanks for the overview, I have my third stage in a couple of weeks and any information helps!
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Old 7th Mar 2007, 10:07
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NATS First Stage

Hi All
Just Finished my first stage in London Cumberland Hotel . Was like Rickypbrown said would be, I was not able to finish all of the questions and later in the Debrief the Chap,A Controller from Heathrow said we are not meant to .Phew that was a relief and if we get through all our stages then we are looking for a start time of Sep or Dec
I hope I done enough to go through
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Old 7th Mar 2007, 10:27
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Congratulations QPR spotter! Let's hope you do get selected for the second stage! Question: Anyone starting in June at the college?
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Old 7th Mar 2007, 19:06
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NATS stage 3 selection

Hello there, i am going to my NATS stage 3 selection day next thursday and would love some advice on what to expect!
Can anyone who has completed successfully this day please give me a little inside info on what to expect in the interview (example questions would be much appreciated!) Feeling a little nervous and a few hints to put me at rest would be a great help.
Nick
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Old 7th Mar 2007, 21:04
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in more DEPTH

REALISE that every interview will be different.
1- Because you are different from all the 'others' &
2- Because the same HR and ATCO don’t sit every assessment

...That said Nick, look at the tiscali site if you haven’t already
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/radar2001/resources/recruit_menu.htm

but whilst it is fresh from last week:

Tell us about yourself [hobbies/fam/life story]
Any RECENT big decisions- how did you go about making them?
What are important characteristics for an ATCO to have?
Why do you 'wannaB' an ATCO?
Why do ya wanna work for NATS?
What can ya BRING to NATS?
How do you deal with criticism?
What are your goals?

How did the team game go...'TRUTHFULLY'
..... I think they were asking me to bad-mouth/dish the dirt to be honest, but give good analysis and constructive criticism of the event, rather than personal likes/dislikes... try and remember names and USE them [which also helps to remember them-how useful!].

MY CLOSING ADVICE Nick,
Every night think of 1or2 questions they COULD ask you. Picture the pause and feeling of silence and you looking dumbfounded with inevitability of you NOT being able to answer such a simple personal question- then, in the comfort of your own home give a good answer [or think of a couple]...which is TRUE and also RELATES to ATC.
This will help in two ways: 1-it’ll help you to cope with the feeling of interview and the ****-hit-fan silence, 2- it'll give you good answers to play with when some of the questions are eventually asked.

but when I say play them out in your head...actually DO that, do it in REAL time... try not to simply fob it off by summarizing in your head and going 'yeah- SORTED!'

PS: It's not ALL formal, you MIGHT get a chance to lunch with them too. If so, utilise that to show interest in what they do- both of them [i.e. HR too]. Try not to skank off on ones self will show em what a great colleague you'd be!
Bear in mind that even though that ISNT part of the assessment, who in their right mind would employ a passable interviewee if they had an argumentative and self-righteous attitude
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Old 8th Mar 2007, 02:21
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EGMC's advice is extremely useful...however, thought I'd add to it. My interview was very technical, possibly due to my PPL/IR knowledge. AS such I was required to describe the holding at Heathrow, and how arrivals are coordinated. Additionally, I was urged to suggest how a controller can calculate the distance/time delay for arriving and departing aircraft.

In short, I'd keep quiet anything you are unsure of and instead, mention technical aspects you are certain of. I made the mistake of mentioning that Heathrow has in addition to the standard ILS approach, an MLS. I was then required to give some detail about this...I HAVE NO IDEA! All I knew was that it allows for a curved approach. When asked how, I simply said I do not know. Don't be afraid to admit you are unsure, as the ATCOs will set traps.

Anyway, good luck and do not hesitate toget in touch if you need any further information!
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Old 8th Mar 2007, 04:37
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Ahh, excellent (rubs hands together....)

I now know which questions not to ask on Thursday.....
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Old 8th Mar 2007, 08:18
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oopsie!
I wish we could say the thread was all a decoy and the real juice is on a circulating PM, but were just not that smart....YET! [I'm hoping CATC will spit us out with a new brain!].

In my interview- I was twice asked about what sources I had used to gather information [this was on two different suubjects mind you]. One of my awkwardnesses in the interview was mentioning PPRuNe; I wanted to shout it out because it HAD been so usefull and it WAS true, but it just didnt feel right- to the extent it made me coil a little and say 'forums' instead... [which is ALSO true as there are a few others!]

I hadnt made many posts, and I still havent...but i was apprehensive about expressing opinions on PPRuNe pre-interview [but now I'm free to shov my opinion in the spotlight. ha-ha!]

AND funnily enough I got interviewed by an ATCO that works at the SAME unit I went to visit just 4 days prior!!! What'r the chyancees!?... No doubt the assessor did a thorough job and asked the WM [Watch] if 'that 101-Question/minute wanaB was a pain in the brain, and if he behaved himself' etc.

On another thread Gonzo recounts a not so fond memory of a VATSIM-er trying to give him some OJT, just imagine walking through the door to find the same guy behind the assessors desk...very similar to the image of the brown stuff passing through a Turbo-fan i would think!
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Old 8th Mar 2007, 10:19
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Only joking, EGMC. It's just a bit funny when you get candidates who mention PPRuNe as part of their preparation, and blindly follow what's been written here as the 'right answer'.
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Old 8th Mar 2007, 20:14
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lol Gonzo! Didn't mean to give away secrets there! Sorry!
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Old 8th Mar 2007, 20:43
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Don't worry Ricky, as I said, it's quite good sport to give those who only read PPRuNe and don't do any other prep enough rope.....
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Old 9th Mar 2007, 13:27
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NATS Initial Selection

Just got back from the test day here in London.
Much shorter than it was last year. Just under 3 hours in total. I noticed NATS have dropped the 'Numerical Ability' test and have shortened the 'Personality Questionnaire'. (What happened to the fantastic 248 question one!?)

There wasn't an ATCO present last year so it was interesting this time round to hear the chap from B'ham give his talk and play the NATS video. Perhaps it was his Northern humour but the talk looked to put anyone right off!!! 'The social life is going to take a battering'; 'They'll be paying you a fantastic £10K!'; 'You might even get to work on Xmas day!'...
J/K, I'm sure (hope) people weren't too fooled.

There were only 10 people though this morning, which surprised me slightly; I thought there would be many more.

Oh well, let's see what the results bring...


SHT6Y
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Old 9th Mar 2007, 14:22
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great advice!

Thanks for the advice guys, and the link much appreciated! Going to go and continue working through that motivation test info we were given! thansk again!
Nick
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Old 10th Mar 2007, 08:00
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Hello all....

I too had my interview this week at the Cumberland Hotel, Tuesday afternoon! Was a wee bit dissapointed about the lack of females!!! 1 out of 23.... but i guess i didnt attend the interview to try and improve my sex life!

I have kept in touch with a couple of the guys from the other day, and one of them has already received an e-mail saying that he didnt meet the required standards! That was on thursday. However, I have received an e-mail asking me to complete an online personality test - 100 questions.... Was the most boring 40 minutes of my life i think.

Just have a couple of questions.

1) If I havent met the required standard; how long is it normally before they tell you? I just hope its not going to be 3 weeks of an agonising wait just to be told to bugger off!!!

2) How long is it normally between stage 1 and stage 2 (and fingers crossed, stage 3)?


Ta very much
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Old 10th Mar 2007, 18:44
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Mpplp,

The process has changed a little since I went through application, but it took around 10 days to be invited through to stage two. However, that was without the online personality test. I can't imagine that would delay the process too much! It's around a 3 month process all in all from initial testing to completion of medical; at least it was for me!

By the way, there are much better places to improve your sex life than job interviews! Tut tut!
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Old 10th Mar 2007, 21:08
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I recently did stage 1 and the online personality questionnaire.. then I waited..
and waited..
15 working days later I phoned HR who told me that sometimes the SHL website doesn't tell them when new tests have been completed so they don't get notified. However, the tests are still stored.. I gave my details and they found my test and then processed it and let me know within the hour (through to stage 2, on 26th march ).
So I would say if you haven't heard anything it's worth checking..
I asked about how it works as well, and being asked to do the online questionnaire means you've passed the initial tests. It itself is a pass/fail thing though, not just a subjective information-gathering tool that they can talk through at interview, which is what I thought at first, so those boring 40 minutes will decide whether or not you get through.
HTH

Last edited by timelapse; 10th Mar 2007 at 21:34.
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Old 10th Mar 2007, 21:29
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mpplp you nutter!...what’s all that chat about girl-spotting at interview?... PLEASE don’t mention THAT as your 'motivation' for the job! lol.

The online ‘time-waste’ wasn’t part of my selection process, but I DONT think you can 'fail' on that [assuming you be honest!]... They will prob use some software from the 90's to crosscheck all these quizzes to determine:
1- Are you lying? [Who wants an ATCO that blags]
2- How do you learn?
3- Ammo for the face-to-face questioning
...and maybe a 4 [but I'm not sure]- by looking at the results they can archive and use this data to help with future recruitment predictions and favoured traits.

Reading threads from 2004 you will get the impression that HR are really sleeping when they go to work- I don’t know what has changed but they are on red-bull or summat these days… I wouldn’t be surprised if the wait’s were a week apart [I'd never say 3 weeks as 10 working days can only be 2 weeks and a bit if a BH comes up... e.g. good Friday/mayday].

If you read my earlier post, I was contacted on a Sunday...that was a stage 3 result though, but why dont you ask the other ppl if/when they got asked to do the online thingy-ma-jingy?

I know it’s hard to follow this advice but:
Forget about the turn-around times; just get on with prep for the next episode. Try not to aim for short-term memorisation of stuff. If you try and learn it all a little more in-depth with interest you will actually make it stick and always have that in your skull for further use.... Even if you get to the college

PS: be gratefull that there WASN'T any1 you were attracted to....attraction=distraction [dem gals ]
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Old 10th Mar 2007, 21:33
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The online ‘time-waste’ wasn’t part of my selection process, but I DONT think you can 'fail' on that [assuming you be honest!]
Apparently you can according to the lovely lady I spoke to, who processed the application.. she said "but if you fail it doesn't mean you're a bad person!" - how relieved was I to hear that? :P
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Old 11th Mar 2007, 09:32
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Thank you all for your replies!

Still havent been told i havent met the grade so thats comforting!!!


What sort of information will I have to prepare for for stage 2, is it purely a computer test. Speaking to the ATCO last Tuesday he only mentioned a computer test, where we had to concentrate on keeping dots on a screen bumping inyto each other (which I assume is basic ATC anyway!) and answering long multiplication/division questions...

What does the medical comprise of? Being a uni student for the past couple of years I hope I fail on my urine consisting of mainly alcohol!!!! Also, I'm athsmatic but i can't see that having too much influence on the application. Just kinda wondering what they could fail you on? Surely all you need is a working brain, a torso and 2 arms!!!? And when would the medical test be? between stage 3 and training?

Also when would training start, I hear there's a course starting in July.... is there still time to get into that start date, or would it be a later one?

Sorry for all the questions!!!

Again, Ta very very much!!!
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