Well I received a "No" and am of course disappointed.
I felt like acing almost all the tests but still it did not work out. I have taken several assessments in the past and passed them being in the top 5 %, including PILAPT, group exercises, interviews and so on.
I think many of you who will receive a "No", donīt take too much of it, some of you will for sure be excellent pilots in the future. The Day 1 test is just a way for them to cut out a lot of people, and in my opinion the tests to do that was not professional enough, unlike the Etihad captains who were true pros. I think a lot of people that could have been scoring very high at the tests in the second round can have been cut out because of the shape of the Stage 1 test.
Iīm not going to reveal anything but Iīm wondering if Etihad even reviewed the tests before handing us them, it was hard not to laugh at some points.
I also believe that there should have been more tests to clearly show who is good and who is not, I donīt think there will be a lot of points that sepereates the best guy from the worst guy in these tests because they were too easy. That means that it all comes down to who can answer some easy questions fastest, which I donīt think should be the only decisive factor for a worldwide assessment. In my opinion there was a lot of key aptitudes that werenīt tested. Some harder questions would also help, Iīm not just saying this, itīs based on experience from different assessments I have taken and also passed with high points.
For example: "Person 1" and "Person 2", the question is 5+6, both would problaby answer the question within 1 second, but to answer 17*13 while you have to remember a number combination from the previous page for later on would more accurately show who can handle pressure, have a good memory, be good at mental calculation and at the same time answer the questions fast. These are some of the aptitudes that will be tested at later stages in Abu Dhabi for sure, but there is no guarantee that those selected for the second stage have these apptitudes because of how the Stage 1 tests are shaped.
And thatīs the problem, the Stage 1 test should be exactly about this so that 50 % donīt fail on tests like Pilapt on Stage 2 because they canīt do 3 things at the same time. That would be a lot of waste of money for tickets and hotels for Etihad. The objective for Etihad should be to guarantee as much as possible candidates pass the Stage 2 tests (not including interviews and teamwork exercises). That in itīs way will make the potential candidate pool larger for them and make the interviews and teamwork exercises more determinent of whoīs the best candidate. There are so many other things than just being an Ace on tests. Maturity, leadership and so on are all decisive factors for a good pilot. So the more people you have to choose from at the interviews the more likely it is that you will find the candidate who has all these things together. But if 50 % of the candidates invited for Stage 2 donīt even make past the Pilapt tests you have a problem. As it looks now much of this is left for random chance because of the shape of the Stage 1 tests which in my eyes only test one aptitude, answering easy questions at a high speed . And to have that aptitude only is not sufficient to pass the Stage 2. So why not shape the Stage 1 tests so that they more resemble the aptitudes you will be tested for in Stage 2? There will of course be excellent candidates out of you guys who received a "Maybe", Iīm not taking anything from you, but there could easily also be a lot of guys who are not even close to pass in Stage 2 because of the difference of the tests and aptitudes.
Iīm not writing this because I didnīt make it, itīs just my honest objective opinion.
Itīs also for all you young guys who may recieve a "No" and think that you donīt have what it takes and give up on your dreams because of these 6 tests, donīt.
Good luck to you all and congrats to those who have passed the Stage 1
