ROTATION
5th Feb 2001, 20:31
In time honoured Pprune tradition, some of those who are successful in the transition from wannabe to gonnabe post their experiences/advice up here. I know I’ve benefited and been motivated by this sort of post in the past so I’ve spent the morning at work (the boss is off today!) compiling this in the hope of doing the same for others. This is aimed at people going for ab-initio/PPL level sponsorships more than the self-funders but some may nonetheless be relevant. I’ve been doing the rounds of the aptitude tests for 2 and a half years now, since the year before graduating from uni. So what follows is some info and advice based on my own experiences of these tests and interviews.
For any aptitude test, find out as much as possible about what’s in them and practise till you’re sick of it. This site is a fantastic resource for aptitude test info so use the search function to get the info you need, then get practising. Books published by Kogan Pages are useful for practising the maths (and other areas) and there’s a book called ‘How To Win At Aptitude Tests’ that I got from Smith’s which I found useful for the logical reasoning/pattern recognition tests a la Morrisby and British Midland aptitude tests. There’s also a handy little Excel macro going around for mental arithmetic practise which I’m happy to mail to people if they don’t have it already. I’ve taken the BA aptitude tests twice and failed their infamous verbal reasoning twice so I’ve no info on the BA interview. I’ve also tried the Cabair aptitudes (Air2000 etc), very tough GCSE level maths. Although I prepared well, I concentrated on the mental arithmetic rather than re-learning how to solve simultaneous/quadratic equations etc, so I failed. I also failed my first stab at the Midland aptitudes. So not a good start so far.
Demoralised with the sponsorship process and expense I decided to take the first step towards going it alone and completed my PPL/night in Florida. With renewed enthusiasm I then did the rounds again – BA, BM, AFT, Air2k, BEA and Airtours. Finally I started passing some aptitude tests (except BA verbal reasoning – never did work that one out). They ARE more passable the second time around! Having failed the first time, found relevant practise material and PRACTICED, I found myself passing tests I’d failed previously. Knowing what to expect helps you psychologically to get into the right mindset for the tests, giving you valuable extra seconds. So don’t be too disheartened if you fail them first time. Get used to knockbacks on the road to sponsorship, as there will be many! If at first you don’t succeed……..…you’ll know what to expect next time and probably do better.
Yes, these tests are expensive. What with petrol, B+B and other sundries, I reckon I've spent around Ł1000 on them over the years, but if you're not in it you can't win it and unfortunately the airline ain't gonna pay for it if they can get away with charging you for it. A good result in a professionally executed aptitude test however can be worthwhile in other ways such as persuading a bank manager to lend you cash. What I don't agree with however is charging wannabes extortionate amounts of money for five quid (tops) worth of photocopied paper, getting current cadets to mark them, and clearly making a fair profit on the whole exercise. No names mentioned.
So if you pass an aptitude test, you’ll get an interview. The interview stages are tough and obviously you need to know the ins and outs of the company you’re going for: chief pilot, fleet, business strategy etc, etc as well as answers to the traditional interview questions: what are your strengths and weaknesses? etc. See: www.tsa.co.uk (http://www.tsa.co.uk) (click the INTERNET link, then on 99 questions), it’s not all relevant but it is good food for thought.
If you’ve done any flying, you may well be expected to answer some technical questions so get out Mr. Thoms’ aeroplane technical book and get revising. Whether you’ve ever flown or not, brush up on your aviation current affairs and history. You may well be tested. Anyone can learn about the company and answer these questions and you will be expected to do so but more importantly I feel it’s most important to ‘get on’ with your interviewers. The interviews I’ve had involved someone from the HR dept. firing the traditional interview questions plus one or two training captains firing the why do you want to fly questions. Mainly though, they’ll be finding out if you’re the kind of person they want to sit next to for hours at a time during the training stage and once you’re on line. So have your answers to ALL the awkward questions prepared. Do the thinking before the interview, not in it, so that during your short spell in the interview, rather than umming, arring and getting hot under the collar over the answer to a question you should have prepared for, you can concentrate on being relaxing, chatty and unflappable with the panel. Hard under the circumstances but try to keep the blood pressure as low as possible. Don’t bull**** the answers to any questions you don’t know the answer to - that will not go down well. In short, be very prepared, be relaxed and be yourself. That’s all you can do. If you answer all their questions and they like you on the day then you’re in. If not then be patient, the next sponsorship opportunity will hopefully only be a few months away and the more aptitude tests and interviews you do, the better you get at them.
SO GO TO IT!
As for me, I’m working hard in an office till June, then I’m off to Jerez for just over a year to train. Then one fine day, in about two years time, I shall be in the right hand seat of a turboprop with a big grin on my face. Oh that day shall be a good one, the light at the end of the tunnel.
So hopefully I’ve convinced people that sponsorship can be got if you stick at it. If you have any specific questions I’d be glad to try and answer them so feel free to mail me!
I wish you all the best of luck with a very frustrating but ultimately worthwhile process!
[This message has been edited by ROTATION (edited 05 February 2001).]
For any aptitude test, find out as much as possible about what’s in them and practise till you’re sick of it. This site is a fantastic resource for aptitude test info so use the search function to get the info you need, then get practising. Books published by Kogan Pages are useful for practising the maths (and other areas) and there’s a book called ‘How To Win At Aptitude Tests’ that I got from Smith’s which I found useful for the logical reasoning/pattern recognition tests a la Morrisby and British Midland aptitude tests. There’s also a handy little Excel macro going around for mental arithmetic practise which I’m happy to mail to people if they don’t have it already. I’ve taken the BA aptitude tests twice and failed their infamous verbal reasoning twice so I’ve no info on the BA interview. I’ve also tried the Cabair aptitudes (Air2000 etc), very tough GCSE level maths. Although I prepared well, I concentrated on the mental arithmetic rather than re-learning how to solve simultaneous/quadratic equations etc, so I failed. I also failed my first stab at the Midland aptitudes. So not a good start so far.
Demoralised with the sponsorship process and expense I decided to take the first step towards going it alone and completed my PPL/night in Florida. With renewed enthusiasm I then did the rounds again – BA, BM, AFT, Air2k, BEA and Airtours. Finally I started passing some aptitude tests (except BA verbal reasoning – never did work that one out). They ARE more passable the second time around! Having failed the first time, found relevant practise material and PRACTICED, I found myself passing tests I’d failed previously. Knowing what to expect helps you psychologically to get into the right mindset for the tests, giving you valuable extra seconds. So don’t be too disheartened if you fail them first time. Get used to knockbacks on the road to sponsorship, as there will be many! If at first you don’t succeed……..…you’ll know what to expect next time and probably do better.
Yes, these tests are expensive. What with petrol, B+B and other sundries, I reckon I've spent around Ł1000 on them over the years, but if you're not in it you can't win it and unfortunately the airline ain't gonna pay for it if they can get away with charging you for it. A good result in a professionally executed aptitude test however can be worthwhile in other ways such as persuading a bank manager to lend you cash. What I don't agree with however is charging wannabes extortionate amounts of money for five quid (tops) worth of photocopied paper, getting current cadets to mark them, and clearly making a fair profit on the whole exercise. No names mentioned.
So if you pass an aptitude test, you’ll get an interview. The interview stages are tough and obviously you need to know the ins and outs of the company you’re going for: chief pilot, fleet, business strategy etc, etc as well as answers to the traditional interview questions: what are your strengths and weaknesses? etc. See: www.tsa.co.uk (http://www.tsa.co.uk) (click the INTERNET link, then on 99 questions), it’s not all relevant but it is good food for thought.
If you’ve done any flying, you may well be expected to answer some technical questions so get out Mr. Thoms’ aeroplane technical book and get revising. Whether you’ve ever flown or not, brush up on your aviation current affairs and history. You may well be tested. Anyone can learn about the company and answer these questions and you will be expected to do so but more importantly I feel it’s most important to ‘get on’ with your interviewers. The interviews I’ve had involved someone from the HR dept. firing the traditional interview questions plus one or two training captains firing the why do you want to fly questions. Mainly though, they’ll be finding out if you’re the kind of person they want to sit next to for hours at a time during the training stage and once you’re on line. So have your answers to ALL the awkward questions prepared. Do the thinking before the interview, not in it, so that during your short spell in the interview, rather than umming, arring and getting hot under the collar over the answer to a question you should have prepared for, you can concentrate on being relaxing, chatty and unflappable with the panel. Hard under the circumstances but try to keep the blood pressure as low as possible. Don’t bull**** the answers to any questions you don’t know the answer to - that will not go down well. In short, be very prepared, be relaxed and be yourself. That’s all you can do. If you answer all their questions and they like you on the day then you’re in. If not then be patient, the next sponsorship opportunity will hopefully only be a few months away and the more aptitude tests and interviews you do, the better you get at them.
SO GO TO IT!
As for me, I’m working hard in an office till June, then I’m off to Jerez for just over a year to train. Then one fine day, in about two years time, I shall be in the right hand seat of a turboprop with a big grin on my face. Oh that day shall be a good one, the light at the end of the tunnel.
So hopefully I’ve convinced people that sponsorship can be got if you stick at it. If you have any specific questions I’d be glad to try and answer them so feel free to mail me!
I wish you all the best of luck with a very frustrating but ultimately worthwhile process!
[This message has been edited by ROTATION (edited 05 February 2001).]