Originally Posted by
Eric T Cartman
"If people keep failing the training, it’s not the people at fault". True up to a point but if the initial selection process is flawed, there's a problem. If you put a donkey in the Derby, it's not the jockey's fault when it doesn't run ! It seems the problems got worse once aptitude testing & Outward Bound courses for Cadets became trendy & the pool of 'known quantity' ATCAs diminished. Also, I've never understood the logic of chopping Cadets who'd got through ADC/APC/APR then failed Area for example and then went out with their valid ratings to what used to be called "non-state" units. How much time & money did that waste ? :-(
Didn't the practice of chopping those who failed area end in the early 90s? I certainly know of one group that were chopped for that reason and a short while later HR were cap in hand asking them to come back to fill gaps at Airports. And is it not the case that courses have been streamed as Airports/Area right from the start for a while now?
Lots of ANSPs, not just NATS, have been searching for the magic criteria that allows you to identify those candidates that will be successful at the recruitment stage. I'm not sure anybody has managed it yet. I suspect it's moved on from the original SHL and similar tests though. The problem is that most controllers will say just recruit people exactly like me. I've worked with controllers for more years than I care to remember and they are all different. The other problem is that the demands and the skills required, in Area at least, may have changed.