NATS interview process

[Watching The Skies]

NATS Stage 1 CHANGED!!!!?????????????

Hi everyone… I wonder if you lot can answer a little question of mine….

Just under two years ago… I applied for NATS and I made it to Stage 3 and got turned down for having too much interest in the RAF and was asked to come back in a year if NATS was the path I wished to follow.

Sooooo several years later… I started up my application again. Got the same emails with the same preparation material… except for a few bits of information having been changed on the revision booklet due to the new restructuring Air Space.

So just like before… got my head stuck in and practiced for the following tests:

· Basic Checking
· Diagramming
· Spatial Reasoning
· Aviation Info Test

Obviously you can’t study for the personality test… but that was a test that would be given.

So… I travel down to Fareham after some hardcore studying… Firstly we were all squeezed into a spare room with a member of HR who says “sorry if you hear typing but I have work to do during your tests” secondly… the tests were different!!!

· Diagramming
· Spatial Reasoning
· “Aviation Test” which had about 6 questions about the booklet you had been given to “study carefully” and the remaining questions were to do with Maths.
· Maths test

I know this sounds stupid but…. I haven’t had to do any sort of equations since I left education about 4-5 years ago and only ever did financial figures so to me… the heads up on the change of tests would have been really good! !! But no… all the info they get your studying is absolutely pointless!!! It would have been best to do maths and scrape out with the 70% mark on the Aviation test and just hope you did well on the other questions relating to the booklet!

Then after the tests we were quickly shooed out of the building…. No presentation… nowt.

I found that the old approach that SHL took for conducting the tests were a lot more professional as NATS had supplied old practice material which DID NOT correspond with the tests on the actual day. I know there is cut backs all over but… come on! The standards should not slip especially not for the recruitment processes as first impression ALWAYS shape the perception people have and if you get a bad approach like that from round one… you may be left thinking that… is it like this ALLLLL the way through????

So basically one is left feeling that… she may not actually make it through to the second stage this time round never mind the third and I am left feeling extremely cheated. Obviously I have only 1 more shot at this baby and Lets face it... how can I prepare myself when these things are not brought to our attention!!!

Has this happened to anyone else?????? If you have just sat the tests recently but it was your first time… did you feel that the supplied practice material lacked relevance to the tests on the day?