Eurocontrol Selection Testin Days

[scotstar]

Hey! I have the first testing day for Eurocontrol in Masstricht soon-ish and will be travelling across one own and staying for 2 nights! What should I expect from the whole experience! I'm guessing I should know general background of Eurocontrol and be ready for some logical tests and basic english knowledge! Seeing as its my first language I'm hoping that shouldn't pose a problem though stranger things have happened!! hehe!! Any more specific information and hints and tips would be much appreciated!! I'm really excited and hope I get through!!! Love y'all! xxx:)

[KiloKilo]

Seeing that you already have your invitation to come to Maastricht, you probably as well received the information package before. In the FAQ you can see that you do not need to prepare yourself (too much).
Don't worry and be yourself. Ofcourse a bit of knowledge of aviation/ATS can help a bit. But all the other tests you cannot really prepare yourself that much.

So don't worry and be happy ;)

Good luck

By the way don't expect to be in a 5-star Hotel ;)
Maastricht can be a nice city to visit specially at night (just watch it if you still have some tests the day after)

[OscarTango]

Yep, and you can hire KiloKilo as the designated driver ( charges low per hour :} and is always as sober as can be :E ), when you go out in Maastricht.

For the official part : what he said :ok:

[Lon More]

As, presumably, a native English speaker; brush up on your spelling? :bored:

[.Aero]

Evening boys & girls!

I've been invited to go through selection @ Maastricht in December. :O

[elcrusoe]

I'll be there on the 5th of Dec.........kinda looking forward to it

[.Aero]

"kinda looking forward to it"

Oh dear - someone doesn't sound very optimistic!

[elcrusoe]

Well just got back for the testing in Mastricht and well didn't go so well. I'm pretty shocked since well i'm an air traffic control in the USAF stationed in Germany. So i know i have the abilities for the job but the FEAST test thinks different. I feel pissed that even with some sort of prior experience i still get a papar saying not good enough for ATC training. But overall i guess i will take my abilities somewhere else and just hope that down the line Eurocontrol finds them self in a bit of a situation..............yes you can say i'm BITTER

[KiloKilo]

Since you are an ATCO already you probably know how hard it is to come up with a test which can give a 100% succes rate for possible ATCO's.
A side from that such a test is only able to capture some kind of inside of your abilities on the moment of the test.
If you do have any suggestion how such a test can be improved everybody is more then interested in knowing how.
I can understand you are disappointed about it all but to be bitter about it and to wish Eurocontrol a difficult future is a bit much.

I am sure that with your experience as an ATCO and all the vacancies around the world you will have no problem finding a different position.

All the best :ok:

[elcrusoe]

Well to answer you,

I believe in a hard selection because i've trained people and failed people in the job. However even by implementing a test such as the FEAST which unless you are testing for the IQ is not really adequate.
IF you ask me a monkey can be an ATCer and i love how everybody says it is such a difficult job when it is not.
I do not understand why in some countries where such selections are not applied, they have a better safety report.
The total reason the Feast was put in to place was the lack of budget able to train people. Money is always the main factor here.
But do not come and tell me that unfortunatly you are not fit for training as an ATC when i already have been through ATC training and already provide ATC in Europe.....
But overall like you say there are many employers worldwide.....so i believe my experience will be gladly welcome.
And tell me how sth can happen to Eurocontrol?........they have the best of the best thanx to the FEAST....right

[millerman]

Elcrusoe,
I would like to ask a few questions :-
What ratings do you have?
How many aircraft do you have on frequency at any time?
How many aircraft do you have per shift?

If you are a controller in the USAF in Europe then my guess is that you are either a tower controller or an air defence controller. If this is the case then it is a completely different way of working to the UAC post you applied for ( and which maybe you are not suited to :eek: )
I can understand that you may well be very disappointed at your failure but the attitude that you have shown on here kind of proves that the result may be right! ( Even if the test is flawed ).

By the way I am a controller at Eurocontrol and we control some of the busiest airspace in the world and I know the tests aren't perfect but you have to have some system in place.
So thanks for your good wishes and I hope you do find employment elsewhere (preferably as far away as possible:rolleyes: )

[Radar]

Quote And tell me how sth can happen to Eurocontrol?........they have the best of the best thanx to the FEAST....right
"

Absolutely mate, absolutely :ok:

millerman

Glad you made it back in one piece. Your next challenge awaits :}

[ShuttleSixYankee]

I've got my FEAST stage 1 tests on Friday (8th)
Flying to Amsterdam tomorrow, then getting a train down to Maastricht.

Anyone else doing the tests on the Friday?

SHT6Y

[Lon More]

I believe in a hard selection because i've trained people and failed people in the job
You give your age as 23. Minimum age to hold licence/Cert. of Competency in most place sis 21, So, you must have started at a pretty young age to be licenced, give training and decide someone's future in 2 years. At Eurocontrol you'd probably have at least 10 years experience as a controller before getting into that situation.
Most of the people involved in the selection procedure are pretty good judges of character and chances of success, so, as millarman so rightly stated, maybe you are not suited to becoming an Area Controller?

Good luck elsewhere.

Radar, How's the back?

[millerman]

Thanks Radar - do you know something that I don't?
Or are you talking about a certain southern european colleague?:\

[Radar]

Lon,

the back is kn@ckered as usual ..... but no more so than usual, tanks very much for asking. What part of the world are you frequenting at the moment?

millerman,

you hit the nail on the head.

[Lon More]

Radar, near the OM for 22 as usual, off to my disused airfield at weekend.
Is the SE anyone I would know, why use one word when one hundred will do?:uhoh:

[Radar]

Nope ...... right direction, different country. Although, speaking of 'why use one word when one hundred will do?', not much has changed there either :rolleyes:

Take care.

[elcrusoe]

Well what to say to all of this. Maybe my disappointment came a little hard in the forum.....but still the reason i'm so bitter is not so much the test i failed not everybody who applies and who more then likely would be good at the job will pass this test. My dissappointment comes from the fact that most failures come from a fear of controlling or problems in speech which makes me feel that all the information i described on my application form was for nothing at all. Just knowing that i have prior experience, maybe not to the level of UAC and i agree it is more likely alot busier, I still think that this fact should come more in to play. It is the same situation for the FAA, i don't believe that somebody that has ICAO ratings should be declined....due to the fact they have experience which makes them a better candidate then somebody that just received a college degree for ATC.
But oh well i just appreciate everybody's feedback, great stuff, nw this is a great forum.
I wish the best to future candidates to Eurocontrol (still was the first place i applied must mean sth).
And for my work sheet, I hold a rapcon licence form Eglin Air force Base and then the CTO plus radar from ramstein.

[.Aero]

Well done to everyone that was successful.

Had my selection today (7th-december). Unfortunately it didn't go my way, but not to worry. Nothing depended on it. I have really enjoyed the experience, and I plan on visiting MUAC again in the near future on an educational visit with a group of trainee pilots.

Back to flight training where I belong! :}


All the best,
.Aero x

[Radar]

.Aero

Drop us a mail before you visit so we can organise the visit properly from our side. Or do you have someone on the inside organising it for you already?

[ShamRoc]

[i'm an air traffic control in the USAF stationed in Germany.

I thought you had to be a citizen of one of the members states of Eurocontrol before you could be employed by the Agency?

[biffo170]

REQUIREMENTS

In order to apply, you must * amongst other things:
Be less than 25 years of age
Be a national of a EUROCONTROL Member State
Have successfully completed secondary education at an advanced level
Have a good knowledge of English, the international language of aviation
Be medically fit
Be free from military obligations at the start of the course


http://www.eurocontrol.int/muac/public/standard_page/AUbecomeATCO.html

[ShuttleSixYankee]

Sat my tests on the Friday (8th).
Got through the morning session, and sat the SDM test in the afternoon.
Just waiting for a result from Eurocontrol now - anyone know how long this takes?

SHT6Y

[OnRoute]

Sat my tests on the Friday (8th).
Got through the morning session, and sat the SDM test in the afternoon.
Just waiting for a result from Eurocontrol now - anyone know how long this takes?


A year ago I got a phone call a few days after the tests and a letter a week or so after that.

[Alexey]

Hi, everybody!
I had my test phase 1 on the 4th of December. Before the selection itself I managed to visit Maastricht UAC (thanks to Lon More for the supervisor's phone number). The Centre is fantastic, I was really impressed. The controllers there are really friendly; I met lots of wonderful mates. Today I received the reply from Eurocontrol, I got through to the next phase.
The phase 1 was quite difficult, but what is the phase 2 like? Have any ideas or a piece of advice?

[ShuttleSixYankee]

Alexey:

Well done on getting through.
I passed the initial phase on the test day last Friday so sat the second part but today I learned from Eurocontrol that I had been unsuccessful in getting to the next stage.
I was quite upset for a few hours, and still am to some extent to be honest. The tricky thing about Eurocontrol selection is that they'll take the best of the best. I'm looking into detailed feedback at the moment, and it may well be that I passed the afternoon session but there were others that got higher pass marks if you see what I mean. Harsh process, but I understand it's in their interest to recruit only the best.
I was thinking about this for a while, because I got all the way to the final interview for NATS earlier this year before being turned down.
In my opinion the selection for Eurocontrol is much tougher (in terms of aptitude testing) than that of NATS.
I believe your next stage will be a two-part interview spread over two days Alexey, good luck with that. From what I gathered last week they look out for motivation as being key to your success.

I will be reapplying to NATS when I am eligible to do so again in March.

Good luck to anyone else thinking of going to Eurocontrol - I thought it was a great place, but you really have to be up to scratch on the day.

SHT6Y

[garp]

Alexey:

Well done on getting through.
I passed the initial phase on the test day last Friday so sat the second part but today I learned from Eurocontrol that I had been unsuccessful in getting to the next stage.
I was quite upset for a few hours, and still am to some extent to be honest. The tricky thing about Eurocontrol selection is that they'll take the best of the best. I'm looking into detailed feedback at the moment, and it may well be that I passed the afternoon session but there were others that got higher pass marks if you see what I mean. Harsh process, but I understand it's in their interest to recruit only the best.
I was thinking about this for a while, because I got all the way to the final interview for NATS earlier this year before being turned down.
In my opinion the selection for Eurocontrol is much tougher (in terms of aptitude testing) than that of NATS.
I believe your next stage will be a two-part interview spread over two days Alexey, good luck with that. From what I gathered last week they look out for motivation as being key to your success.

I will be reapplying to NATS when I am eligible to do so again in March.

Good luck to anyone else thinking of going to Eurocontrol - I thought it was a great place, but you really have to be up to scratch on the day.

SHT6Y

Good man, it would have been nice to train somebody with your attitude. Good luck with NATS.

[fourthreethree]

Good man, it would have been nice to train somebody with your attitude. Good luck with NATS.
Hear hear :ok:
To add my two penn'orth, there is no test, for ATC or any other job for that matter, that can bee 100% accurate, but there needs to be a means to reduce the number of applicants and streamline them to a manageable number who meet criteria laid down not just on paper but in a practical manner. Add to this that the nature of the job as ATCO is such that it requires a certain undefineable 'x' factor, and you have a logistical problem of overwhelming proportions. Some candidates who would make good controllers will get axed before reaching the testing phase, some candidates make it through only to fail during training. Thats a fact of life I'm afraid.
Good luck to all who make it through selection into Eurocontrol....I'll be waitin' for y'all....:E ;)