ATC Age for Trainee Program

[SierraCharlieAlpha]

Howdy,

Once the applications are open again for the school I'm going to apply. But here is my dilemma....

I know that ASA do not have an age restriction for applications, but I'm wondering how much chance I will have by applying as a 33 year old. I have completed a degree within the last year, so I know that I hit the minimum requirements. But I am concerned that most countries around the world have a minimum age requirement for acceptance.

I suppose the question i'm asking is for all you ATC's out there that have completed training with ASA - how old were you when you got accepted into the school?

TIA

[Kooim00]

G'day,

When I went through in 1995, I was 23 however on my course we had a couple of people in their mid-30's. They went on to get successfully rated.

It depends more on your education, experience and aptitude for the role.

Cheers,

K

[SierraCharlieAlpha]

Kooim00;

Cheers, thanks!

[buckshot1777]

Waaaay back there was a cap of age 36, but that was relaxed for a variety of reasons including conversion courses for Flight Service Officers and overseas ATC recruitment.

Older trainees (i.e. around 30+) with life experience, having had various jobs & tertiary study and often married tended to do just fine. The fact that some were married was an additional motivation to knuckle down and study, given their family responsibilities and probably not another job to fall back into :)

Performance in the assessment test phases are a key factor - recruitment process steps 2 & 3 here:

Trainee air traffic controllers (http://www.airservicesaustralia.com/careers/air-traffic-controller/air-traffic-control-in-training-program/)

[Squawk7700]

Numerous complaints have been made to Fairwork Australia about the ASA recruitment process.

I have seen the numbers of recruits to ATC that are accepted whom are "older" and the number is very low.

They claim:

* Age is not known or factored in at any stage of the recruitment / testing
* ASA does not have a Return of Service obligation for probationary employees such as ATC employees
* ASA employs Human Factors and workplace psychologists to evaluate the educational pre-requisites in addition to all elements of pre-selection testing. Their expertise allows for them to evaluate what are the identifiers for maximising recency have been determined as one of these factors
* The year 10 education qualifications recency was established in line with other tertiary level institutions and was not chosen as an arbitrary figure
* AirServices does not actively discourage any applicants. ASA merely stipulates pre-requisites in terms of residency and educational qualifications
* AirServices maintains the right to impose educational recency requirements - this is in line with other educational institutions and other Aviation training providers

This particular response came back because the candidate complained that the 10? year recency requirement on obtaining VCE, Bachelor or PPL discourages older applicants to apply, because they actively stated that applicants are discouraged from obtaining any one of those in order to be eligible to apply.

Fact is that if you are 1 subject away from obtaining your Masters at the age of 41, then you can't apply, but yet an 18 year old with year 10 can.

Go figure.

[amberale]

I don’t think it is a year 10 qualification but 10 years since year 12.
Your age doesn’t really matter much except that it is harder to learn in the environment as you age.
Your aptitude is far more important and that is what the tests are designed to do.
You don’t need to be the most intelligent person in the room to be an ATC.
Perhaps move this to the ATC Forum.

[Squawk7700]

I don’t think it is a year 10 qualification but 10 years since year 12.
Your age doesn’t really matter much except that it is harder to learn in the environment as you age.
Your aptitude is far more important and that is what the tests are designed to do.
You don’t need to be the most intelligent person in the room to be an ATC.
Perhaps move this to the ATC Forum.

Typo sorry. 10 years since qualification is correct.

But this basically means that if you’ve done year 12 and you are 29 years of age, then you are not eligible to apply, unless you’ve been to university or have obtained a PPL within the last 10 years.

[SierraCharlieAlpha]

Typo sorry. 10 years since qualification is correct.

But this basically means that if you’ve done year 12 and you are 29 years of age, then you are not eligible to apply, unless you’ve been to university or have obtained a PPL within the last 10 years.

Yes I finished a degree a year ago, so I know I’m able to apply. I just wasn’t sure how many older applicants got accepted. Suppose it comes down to the test, hey!

[buckshot1777]

Typo sorry. 10 years since qualification is correct.

But this basically means that if you’ve done year 12 and you are 29 years of age, then you are not eligible to apply, unless you’ve been to university or have obtained a PPL within the last 10 years.

They used to (and I guess still do) consider recent tertiary or other study qualifications important, demonstrating that an applicant currently has the skills, ability, commitment and motivation to study hard and pass the exams (of which there are many ... we had at least one and often two per week).

I assume at some stage in the distant past they found that anyone who hasn't done any study with qualifications for some time is likely to find the transition difficult, given the course is full on.

[Squawk7700]

You could be one week out from passing your 6 years masters degree and still not be eligible to apply.

You could work in IT and have done a full Microsoft certification stream amongst others and still not be eligible.

The Fairwork commission agree and will actively work on a case for you if you complain, however ASA won’t back down and with FWA being a bunch of toothless tigers, they have no regulatory powers to do anything about it.

If you want to take action, you need a discrimination lawyer and they do not work pro-bono, so you need deep pockets.