Originally Posted by
hansfalkenhagen
To save me from reading over the last 6 months worth of posts for the third time, I have some questions I am hoping to have answered:
1. I've heard of some "pre-course learning material" you're expected to complete prior to training. What does this involve and how long should you expect to dedicate to it (I only ask as I may need to cancel a trip I have planned leading up to the course).
2. I've heard of some form of "verification test" during the assessment day. Does this involved resitting the SHL test or is it just the cognitive testing/simulator exercise we are expected to complete at the assessment centre?
3. Is the OPQ now conducted at the assessment centre or was it scrapped entirely from the application process?
4. Is the role for En Route controlling more autonomous, whereas Tower is more focussed to team work?
5. If you ended up on the Tower course, are you expected to slog away for a few years in a less desirable location rather than near a major city? Paying one's dues, more or less?
6. How many people are generally on each course? ie. what is the instructor to trainee ratio like?
7. What
might be some of the reasons people fail during initial and field training? What
might be some of the reasons people leave the profession early on?
They may seem like some odd questions, but I am trying to fill in some gaps with the research I have already done.
Thanks!
2. From memory it’s a condensed version of the online SHL testing. Basically just confirmation that the person who turns up at the assessment day is the same as the person who completed the online testing.
4. Enroute and tower both have aspects of autonomy about them and both require a lot of teamwork. It also all depends on the tower/sector/unit where you work as they are all unique.
5. It all comes down to resourcing needs and ability demonstrated at the academy. If there’s a current need for trainees at big city towers and you’ve had good results through the radar tower module there’s nothing to stop an Abinitio ending up at mel/syd etc.. but often the staffing needs are at regional towers and it’s easier to post a new trainee there than it is to take an operational controller off another roster, pay transfer costs and retrain them at an outback procedural tower. I think during the academy training that tower trainees are asked their preferences for a posting.. sometimes they get them, often they don’t.
On the Flipside, usually after 2 or so years at a less desirable tower you’re generally in a pretty good position to put your hand up for a transfer to the tower of your choice.
6. When I was on course it was 8 per enroute course, 4 per tower course.
7. Getting through the training is hard work. You need a fair bit of motivation and drive and you also need a thick skin because there are times when it feels like you’re getting nowhere..
I’ve seen people fall over because of huge holes in their theoretical knowledge/understanding. Sometimes this is due to lack of effort, and sometimes it’s just due to overload of information or an inability to really understand the concepts.
Ive also seen people who breeze through the theory, always have the right answer in discussions.. but then you put them in the sim or in front of live traffic and they can’t process what’s happening either due to pressure, or a lack of the natural perception skills necessary to do the job.
Some people get through the academy without a hitch and then hit the real world and realise that they aren’t suited to the environment (shiftwork, required flexibility, group dynamics, politics etc) and give it up on their own accord.
most that get through the training end up in a career they enjoy and are happy to endure all the above though because the good far outweighs the bad.