NATS interview process
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: up north
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dont take anything for granted until you have your first day of turning up at your unit after getting out of the college.
the age old quandry of wherever you want to go, you will get the opposite.. its both NATS and murpheys law you know. at least it was moons ago when i went through.
then there is the question of validating, fail that and you could be catapulted to the somewhere you may not want to go.... If you just want to do the job and would happily go anywhere.... thats the spirit!!!
all the best and enjoy!
the age old quandry of wherever you want to go, you will get the opposite.. its both NATS and murpheys law you know. at least it was moons ago when i went through.
then there is the question of validating, fail that and you could be catapulted to the somewhere you may not want to go.... If you just want to do the job and would happily go anywhere.... thats the spirit!!!
all the best and enjoy!
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Woking, Surrey
Age: 43
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I'm booked in for Stage 1 in London on 18th March (afternoon session). 
I just got out the Duke book from the Library (Ed. 9) and it's awful - so many inconsistencies (and I'm only on the 2nd chapter) and a few things that are just plain wrong! (example: the year that Swanwick opened is different on pages 4 and 12; page 41 makes a note that the word "to" is not used with flight levels, yet the example immediately before does use it...) I hope it's not used as a standard text to be tested on.
The info document that NATS link to in the email is a bit out of date as well - Terminal Control moved to Swanwick a year ago and West Drayton no longer exists...
Oh well, we'll see what happens!
I just got out the Duke book from the Library (Ed. 9) and it's awful - so many inconsistencies (and I'm only on the 2nd chapter) and a few things that are just plain wrong! (example: the year that Swanwick opened is different on pages 4 and 12; page 41 makes a note that the word "to" is not used with flight levels, yet the example immediately before does use it...) I hope it's not used as a standard text to be tested on.
The info document that NATS link to in the email is a bit out of date as well - Terminal Control moved to Swanwick a year ago and West Drayton no longer exists...
Oh well, we'll see what happens!
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: england
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Do you really think that NATS the world leaders in ATC are going to use a book labelled "A Laymens Guide to ATC" as a template for recruitment. It is a mere guide to help non ATC experts, to understand a little about the role of ATC, hence the name of the book.
I had no idea about ATC and found the book very useful, as have many hundreds/thousands before me.
I had no idea about ATC and found the book very useful, as have many hundreds/thousands before me.
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Woking, Surrey
Age: 43
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This version does not have the "Layman's guide" title - it is simply "Air Traffic Control", so you'd think it would be fairly accurate. However, I was jumping the gun slightly and assumed from these forums that it was a recommended text by NATS.
I still would have expected the info doc from NATS to be a little more current, not that it matters much.
I still would have expected the info doc from NATS to be a little more current, not that it matters much.
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: LHR/EGLL
Age: 45
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JonathanB,
If I remember my Duke correctly, the examples of R/T are exact transcripts of real exchanges, and I think it warns the reader about this; the phraseology used might not be totally correct according to the book.
If I remember my Duke correctly, the examples of R/T are exact transcripts of real exchanges, and I think it warns the reader about this; the phraseology used might not be totally correct according to the book.
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: North West
Age: 39
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ninpin
its not possible to get everyone to watch the video first then do the papers. on the day i was tested the people who got there earliest watched the video first. then next lot of people were put in a room to do the cubes/checking, final group was motivation and diagrams. as far as i know NATS have always split people into groups. specially when they get big turn outs. there was 54 people in our morning session with another 60 expected for the afternoon.
the girl you mention who didn't learn it might of got 3 answers from the video. shes not going to pass on 3 or 4 correct answers is she? if you learnt the document NATS sent, you will know all the answers on the motivation paper and have nothing to worry about. its not a competition, if you pass, your in.
Hello Everyone,
I did my Stage 1 recently but was a bit annoyed about something that happened...
We were split into four groups and our group was the last of the day to talk to the ATCO and watch the NATS film. During the film I noticed that there were about three or four answers to questions in the motivation paper we had just sat. Some of them were pretty blatent aswell and illustrated by diagrams etc.
There were two groups on the day who saw the film and then sat the motivation paper straight away, and obviously this is really unfair to those of us who saw it after.
Luckily I did know the answers that came up in the film, but I'm sure there were a few people there who didn't. I met one girl who hadn't read the preparation materials at all and then she sat there on the day and got told some of the answers by NATS! Surely if they want to weed out the people who don't put the effort in then this is not a great thing to do!
Has anyone had a similar experience or was it just on the day we did it?
I did my Stage 1 recently but was a bit annoyed about something that happened...
We were split into four groups and our group was the last of the day to talk to the ATCO and watch the NATS film. During the film I noticed that there were about three or four answers to questions in the motivation paper we had just sat. Some of them were pretty blatent aswell and illustrated by diagrams etc.
There were two groups on the day who saw the film and then sat the motivation paper straight away, and obviously this is really unfair to those of us who saw it after.
Luckily I did know the answers that came up in the film, but I'm sure there were a few people there who didn't. I met one girl who hadn't read the preparation materials at all and then she sat there on the day and got told some of the answers by NATS! Surely if they want to weed out the people who don't put the effort in then this is not a great thing to do!
Has anyone had a similar experience or was it just on the day we did it?
the girl you mention who didn't learn it might of got 3 answers from the video. shes not going to pass on 3 or 4 correct answers is she? if you learnt the document NATS sent, you will know all the answers on the motivation paper and have nothing to worry about. its not a competition, if you pass, your in.
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: London
Age: 39
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Do ATCO get any perks like the Police, train drivers, pilots?
I mean in the form of benefits, like police get a free travel pass for themselves and all members of there family (meaning partners and children).
I've heard pilots get a few free family tickets from the airline they work for.
What about ATCO's? Do we get any additional perks? :P
I mean in the form of benefits, like police get a free travel pass for themselves and all members of there family (meaning partners and children).
I've heard pilots get a few free family tickets from the airline they work for.
What about ATCO's? Do we get any additional perks?
:P
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Glasgow
Age: 37
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Glasgow Tower
Hi everyone,
I am in the middle of revising for my stage 3 and I have been trying to organise my visits. I come from Glasgow so I am looking to go to the Glasgow Tower and Prestwick to the Area Control Centre. I have had no trouble organising the Prestwick visit but I'm having a bit of trouble getting through to the ATC Dept @ Glasgow. Does anyone out there have a contact or a phone number that I can use to get through? If so then please PM me the details and I would be incredibley grateful.
Gogz
I am in the middle of revising for my stage 3 and I have been trying to organise my visits. I come from Glasgow so I am looking to go to the Glasgow Tower and Prestwick to the Area Control Centre. I have had no trouble organising the Prestwick visit but I'm having a bit of trouble getting through to the ATC Dept @ Glasgow. Does anyone out there have a contact or a phone number that I can use to get through? If so then please PM me the details and I would be incredibley grateful.
Gogz
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: dorset
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In answer to Ghost's post, could jumpseat rides on the flight deck be seen as a perk?
I heard that ATC is about the only profession that can still request a cockpit visit on a commercial flight ?
I heard that ATC is about the only profession that can still request a cockpit visit on a commercial flight ?
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: glasgow
Age: 36
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If I am lucky enough to make it as far as the college and I am originally trained as a aerodrome controller is it possible to go back at a later date to do area training?
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Durham
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Stage 3 11th Feb
Been busy working, revising, thinking of future, etc, etc, etc...
Looking forward to meeting both Glasgow Girl and Shugs on Feb 11th. (Life changing day???) Is anyone else there?
This forum has been a great help so far. Best of luck to everyone...
Looking forward to meeting both Glasgow Girl and Shugs on Feb 11th. (Life changing day???) Is anyone else there?
This forum has been a great help so far. Best of luck to everyone...
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Hampshire
Age: 43
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Hi all,
Just a quick question for all those that can offer some guidance.
With Graham Duke - Air Traffic Control, being hard to source presently. I wondered, what other books or reading material are recommended. There seems to be a great wealth of knowledge and experience on this site, so what do you recommend??
Many thanks
OB
Just a quick question for all those that can offer some guidance.
With Graham Duke - Air Traffic Control, being hard to source presently. I wondered, what other books or reading material are recommended. There seems to be a great wealth of knowledge and experience on this site, so what do you recommend??
Many thanks
OB
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Portsmouth
Age: 40
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Aircraft recognition
I've just been going through airliners.net compiling a library of images of all the main aircraft (basically those that appear in the documents provided) to help me recognise some of these things. I'm making sure that every image I have is taken at exactly the same angle so it's easy to spot the differences. Might be a bit overkill for my stage 3 but I'd quite like to prove I can do it.
The site's just gone down now so I'm stuck about 1/4 of the way through. My question is, has anyone else done this in a convenient form already and have they distributed a link? If not, would anyone be interested in this when I'm done and would I be allowed to post a link on here to a zip file of these images from airliners.net?
The site's just gone down now so I'm stuck about 1/4 of the way through. My question is, has anyone else done this in a convenient form already and have they distributed a link? If not, would anyone be interested in this when I'm done and would I be allowed to post a link on here to a zip file of these images from airliners.net?