Theres always a danger that as we get older, we always default to the attitude of - "the youngsters have it easy now, back in my day I had 16 in the circuit, calibration in progress and 5 at the holding point. Had to do it all with primary radar and and a verey pistol........"
I wouldn't want to have to go through the training system again, my years of experience wouldn't necessarily mean I would breeze through. The assessment methods are different, the pressures are different, the technology is different - ultimately anyone that gets through should be given the credit for achieving that. Problem is that there seems a reluctance from the colleges to actually chop those totally unsuited to ATC, they simply recommend them for further training at the unit and then the particular unit has to make the difficult decision to cease training. Unfortunately this may well be after spending hundreds of wasted OJTI hours, the question is are we doing students/candidates/apprentices any favours by stringing them along when the reality is ATC was never going to suit them as a career in the first place. Thats not a statement of some form of elitism, it's simply a recognition that ATC isn't for everyone.