ATC In NZ

[FlyingKiiwii]

Hey all,
I recently applied through Airways New Zealand to go through the motions of becoming a controller.
I've read through the Australian thread and I'd imagine a lot of the process is somewhat similar if not the same, although of course there's bound to be a few differences too.
Just curious if any NZ controllers are out there and would be able to shed any light on the initial testing day and the assessment centre.

Kiiwii :ok:

[Tarq57]

Hi there,

A few NZ controllers read the forum from time to time. (I are one of 'em.)

Been a looong time since I did the tests. They've changed beyond recognition, so I won't try and pretend to know what the HR dept are looking for. Instead, I'll point some colleagues toward the thread. Younger, smarter peeps who've done the current tests.

[rennaps]

Has really been a loooong time ;)

[FlyingKiiwii]

Cheers guys, would be very much appreciated ;)

[1Charlie]

There are two testing days. Paper tests and Assesment Center.

Paper tests are what you see on the Airways website, they just become more difficult.

Assesment Center is a product called 'Sure Select' designed by Airways, and I believe has been sold to Airservices, so most of the tests are very similar.
1. Aerodrome simulation
2. Radar simulation
3. Computer based testing (spatial reasoning, maths, short term memory etc)
4. Group exercise
5. Interview

[Cuervo]

Hi Mates;
I have a 12 year experience with APS/RAD (Radar APP) and ADI/RAD, and 10 of those at Porto. Our airport has arond 70k movements (commercial IFR) per year.
Completely fed up with my country (Portugal) and ready to leave with my family, I am sincerelly considering to try NZ.
Knowing that I would have to "reset" my career so far and putting that behind, I believe it might be the best choice for my kids future.
I would sincerelly appreciate if my NZ collegaues give me your personal feed back and insight about this possible "bet".
Cheers!:ok:

[1Charlie]

Every now and then Airways will recuit foreign controllers, mostly for AREA and APP, but they claim they are over staffed at the moment and are encouraging controllers to accept secondment deals with other ANSPs.

Qualified Air Traffic Controller Careers at Airways (http://www.airways.co.nz/careers/qualified_atc_careers.asp)

Airways is a good company to work for, and no doubt they'll be short again soon.

All the best.

[FlyingKiiwii]

Thanks Charlie,
Took me a while to get back on here, but holidays do that huh...
Seems to be similar info to what I could find elsewhere and also in comparison to the Aussie thread. Got my e-mail confirming the testing date so fingers crossed :D

[phildan89]

All the best for the assessment centre flying kiwi-its a full on day but really interesting at the same time.

I'm a new kid at airways (only rated last april) so the assessment centre is still fresh in my mind. 1Charlie has pretty much hit the nail on the head, and the tricky part about the sure select product, its bloody hard to prepare for the day! All I can say is go in, give it your best, and be open with the guys interviewing you. They're all good buggers (at least the ones I had!!!).

One extra to add, have you visited/considered visiting a tower before you do the assessment centre? You do get a quick trip up chch tower at the end of the day but its always good to have a chat with some of the local controllers, and see how much you like the look of the job etc.

[persophene]

Hi there. I agree with previous post. Really good idea to visit a tower closest to you. Where do you live? I may be able to give you a contact there. I am up in CH TWR so would be happy to show you up there if you are in CHCH. Spending a few hours in a tower is invaluable for the selection - gives you some good advise and is also qudos for the interview.

It's been a while for me but some of the tests I remember are memory type, recognising patterns (in number/letter combinations), spatial orientation (unwrapping cubes, predicting paths in 3D etc). Computer tasks again test spatial awareness, multi-tasking, prediction etc. In the group exercise they look to see that you can work in a team but are not too reserved or too domineering.

Hope this helps. I would say that Airways should have a course or two running in 2013 so good luck, and if not sucessful the first time take notes of the tests and don't be afraid to apply again if Airways tell you that you were close but not sucessful. I know of people that applied 3 times before getting accepted.

[Fatty182]

The most recent pages on the Australian thread will be relevant, as the process Airservices uses now is the same (or very similar) to what the kiwis use. I was in the first batch of people to be hired via the new process, and a few kiwis had come over to help guide the testing.

Good luck!

[FlyingKiiwii]

Hey guys,
so once again, slow to get back on here, in the absence I've managed to secure an Assessment Centre date is this week so hopefully in a few weeks I'll know how things went.
Thanks persophene I've checked out a control tower a couple of times now but unfortunately no radar centre here but from what I understand there will be a chance for that in Christchurch all be it after a draining day.
See how things pan out and from what I was told, there is a course starting in August.
Kiiwii

[RAC/OPS]

How refreshing to see 100% helpful replies to the OP (except mine now!) rather than some of the smart arse comments to the guy who tried to find out about Australian ATC for his brother. Good luck FlyingKiiwii!

[FlyingKiiwii]

RAC/OPS I completely agree, it's a seemingly rare occurrence on these forums these days or any forum for that matter. Hopefully this thread will be of some use to others as well as myself. From what I understand the Australians have adopted the same testing software Airways NZ uses so to an extent the Australian ATC forum is also useful for Kiwis, but when it comes to waiting times, and the exact experience, there seems to be quite a difference.
Cheers for the good wishes and will make sure I remember to update this after this week! ;)
Kiiwii

[FlyingKiiwii]

Checking back in (on time for once)! Last night I received a call to say I had indeed made the grade and subject to references and a medical will be starting training next year. 1 step closer now :D
Kiiwii

[phildan89]

Congrats FlyingKiiwii!! Thats an awesome achievement. All the best for the training next year.