NATS interview process
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STAGE 1
Hiya,
I was wandering if anyone who has completed all the stages or even jus the first one could tell me about their experience as im so nervous about my stage 1 on Friday (09/07/10) after reading through all the posts everyone sounds so intelligent and nobody is as young as me!
Just looking for a bit of re assurance or just some experiences of Stage 1 so im not in such a panic about it all.
Im travelling over 350 miles for this and really want to do my best
thanks
Abby
I was wandering if anyone who has completed all the stages or even jus the first one could tell me about their experience as im so nervous about my stage 1 on Friday (09/07/10) after reading through all the posts everyone sounds so intelligent and nobody is as young as me!
Just looking for a bit of re assurance or just some experiences of Stage 1 so im not in such a panic about it all.
Im travelling over 350 miles for this and really want to do my best
thanks
Abby
Join Date: Jul 2010
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Can people who have done the online test recently tell me if they did mental arithmetic on it? Mine was just Checking, I'm getting worried the test didn't load properly, as irrational as that may be..
Join Date: Jul 2010
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Cheers
I'd already sent an email before I got offered the test to HR because I was worried some aspects of my CV/online application would result in me being automatically filtered out unfairly, which turned out to be unnecessary as I received the invite half an hour later (doh), if I'd emailed them again I would've seemed a right numpty!
I'd already sent an email before I got offered the test to HR because I was worried some aspects of my CV/online application would result in me being automatically filtered out unfairly, which turned out to be unnecessary as I received the invite half an hour later (doh), if I'd emailed them again I would've seemed a right numpty!
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@scotthooker:
Well, I'm staying in a flat in Southampton, that's why I am looking for "some friends" over there. Just to enjoy my stay, go out and, of course, get involved within an English environment. If you can help me, it would be great!!!
Thank you!!
Well, I'm staying in a flat in Southampton, that's why I am looking for "some friends" over there. Just to enjoy my stay, go out and, of course, get involved within an English environment. If you can help me, it would be great!!!
Thank you!!
Last edited by chemi; 7th Jul 2010 at 10:06.
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@Scott
I read an article in the paper that inspired me to research ATC in January. I applied early February.
I did ST1 mid Feb. I only left myself 3 days to prepare for ST1 as I didn't realise I had to learn the document. For the other tests I just reviewed the material they sent as nothing else is directly relevant. Because they are aptitude tests practice doesn't necessarily improve your ability to pass unless you happen upon almost identical questions.
I did my ST2 in April and did no preparation for it as there is really nothing you can do.
I did my ST3 on Monday July 5th as I had my final exams for my degree in May/June (2:1 BEng Civil Engineering - thankfully now my insurance policy)! Preparation for ST3 involved reading Air Traffic Control by Graham Duke and visiting my local (non-NATS) control tower. I also did some research into competency based interviewing but this didn't really help as you don't know what you will be asked and you need to think of specific examples on the spot in the interview. Basically you will be ok if you can think quickly but will come unstuck if your mind goes blank or if you hesitate for too long.
I read an article in the paper that inspired me to research ATC in January. I applied early February.
I did ST1 mid Feb. I only left myself 3 days to prepare for ST1 as I didn't realise I had to learn the document. For the other tests I just reviewed the material they sent as nothing else is directly relevant. Because they are aptitude tests practice doesn't necessarily improve your ability to pass unless you happen upon almost identical questions.
I did my ST2 in April and did no preparation for it as there is really nothing you can do.
I did my ST3 on Monday July 5th as I had my final exams for my degree in May/June (2:1 BEng Civil Engineering - thankfully now my insurance policy)! Preparation for ST3 involved reading Air Traffic Control by Graham Duke and visiting my local (non-NATS) control tower. I also did some research into competency based interviewing but this didn't really help as you don't know what you will be asked and you need to think of specific examples on the spot in the interview. Basically you will be ok if you can think quickly but will come unstuck if your mind goes blank or if you hesitate for too long.
Join Date: May 2010
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To prepare or not to prepare?
I have been reading this forum for some time and I am always surprised at the kind of responses that SOME members give to someone who is a) new to the forum b) is genuinely worried about the forthcoming assessment (usually Stage 1) and requests information as to how to best prepare for it.
The usual response is something along the way…”know the ATC material they send you inside out, practice your mental arithmetics...apart from that there is not much you can do”. Often this is followed by the statement “…you’ve either have it (to be an ATC!!!) Or you don’t”.
I can not help but notice that there is something slightly imbalanced with this “you either have it or you don't” statement. To me, it sounds like an elitist approach which implies that you are either “chosen” (by virtue of character, inclination or perhaps god’s grace) to be an ATC or not. Besides personally finding this an elitist (and slightly arrogant and offensive to other less privileged souls) approach, it totally disregards the fact that human beings are also capable of constant change, learning new skills or adapting to new situations provided that enough (self) motivation, effort, perseverance (and perhaps luck) are applied to the project/endeavour at hand. If this is not the case then we would all still be living in the cave because no-one would ever learn anything unless they were innately endowed with the qualities that would ensure survival.
Going back to the ATC, I acknowledge that some people may be more geared (by natural inclination, previous experience and practice etc) towards a job in ATC and perhaps may excel at passing through the stages without much preparation or study. Others however and perhaps the majority (and I include myself here, too) may have to prepare longer and harder in order to reach the required standard for passing the assessment stages (and ideally being competent in the job). You may not “have it” but you can still develop it with enough effort, hard work etc; you may not have the innate or through-experience-developed advantage as others (unfair as life it is) but you can build it up and that should perhaps not be disregarded, just as “having it” is not failsafe for being a good ATC.
There also evidence from neuropsychology that learning new skills (even trying to maintain a positive outlook towards life if you are a pessimist!) creates new neurons and neuronal connections within the brain that account for those new skills/aptitudes learnt. So there is hope.
I offer this views not to create strife here, but perhaps to offer a more balanced approach to those new ones here who may feel there is not much they can do to prepare (at least for Stage 1/Stage 3; Stage 2 may be a totally different thing as admittedly there is not much to do to prepare unless you have €50.00 to spare) Of course any healthy debate is welcome.
@Abby_bwfc
@WbATC
Feel free to PM if you need any information about preparing for the exam. Happy to pass to you my notes, cube/diagramming templates and answer any questions .
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NATS College
I have just finished all my security checks and medical and now just waiting on a date. I know there are others waiting to but have any of you got any information on accomodation? i have heard there are old b&b's that are now ten room houses just for the ATCO's
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I've heard this 3% figure bandied about quite a bit, has this ever been backed up? It seems prohibitively small given the number of acceptances to rejections I've seen in this thread, although I guess chances are the average level of people on here is probably at least slightly higher than the overal average level of all applicants.
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mingmongaloo, (a very hot Chinese curry perhaps?). 
The 3% figure is probably fairly accurate.
The statement that the tests "weed out the people who WILL NOT pass the college, and those who WILL NOT pass the validation", is alarmingly misleading.
Don't forget the responsibility for the safety of those on the ground too, over whose homes and businesses, NATS conducts its operations.
Best of luck with Stage 1.
The 3% figure is probably fairly accurate.
The statement that the tests "weed out the people who WILL NOT pass the college, and those who WILL NOT pass the validation", is alarmingly misleading.
Don't forget the responsibility for the safety of those on the ground too, over whose homes and businesses, NATS conducts its operations.
Best of luck with Stage 1.
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On preparation and other such daemons.
aewaite17,
I hear what you have to say and you make some serious points indeed.
I cannot comment whether there is an innate basis for information processesing as I simply don't know anything about it. I agree though that we all come with a genetic predisposition that it will (or will not) manifest given appropriae stimulus and education.
I personally had no clue about spatial awareness as I never had to use it in my previous work placements. And indeed, I found the cubes at stage 1 extremely difficult, but after spending 2 weeks before the exam trying to figure out how they work, using my own models and with the valuable input of some people here, I went to the Stage 1 exam and found it a piece of cake. It took me lots of time and effort to break through the cubes but one I had crossed that threshold I felt that I had made that knowledge mine and that it was there to stay.
I agree, not everyone can be an ATC. It a very demanding job from many different point of views. Still, I personally see the whole process of going through the stages as a way of testing myself against the process too, my capacity to learn, to stretch outside of my confort zone, to engage with a subject completely foreign up until now, to check my capacity to keep on going when trying to understand those cubes and they seemed to occupy most of my mind in waking and at sleep...what I am trying to say in other words is that it is a learning curve and in the process you learn about yourself, your limitations and how you can work through obstacles to reach the goal. Not everyone will get there (and the good thing is that here you compete against yourself and not others) but there is merit in trying as there is a lot to learn.
When I talk about a form of eliticism I don't generalise the whole group of ATCO, whether trainees or validated ATCO (the ones I have met seemed very humble and sober to say the least). I am talking specifically about some (very few) people here that they proclaim the "you either have it or you don't" approach on the basis of doing very little preparation and being successful in what seems to be a very challenging and difficult assessment process. Those are indeed the "lucky" ones that perhaps through a combination of genetics or circumstance, they seemed geared to the role of the ATCO and thus do really well in the assessment. For the rest of us, the show must go on and we will resort to the qualities of discipline, effort, perseverance, hard work, optimism and mother fortuna to take us there...
I hear what you have to say and you make some serious points indeed.
I cannot comment whether there is an innate basis for information processesing as I simply don't know anything about it. I agree though that we all come with a genetic predisposition that it will (or will not) manifest given appropriae stimulus and education.
I personally had no clue about spatial awareness as I never had to use it in my previous work placements. And indeed, I found the cubes at stage 1 extremely difficult, but after spending 2 weeks before the exam trying to figure out how they work, using my own models and with the valuable input of some people here, I went to the Stage 1 exam and found it a piece of cake. It took me lots of time and effort to break through the cubes but one I had crossed that threshold I felt that I had made that knowledge mine and that it was there to stay.
I agree, not everyone can be an ATC. It a very demanding job from many different point of views. Still, I personally see the whole process of going through the stages as a way of testing myself against the process too, my capacity to learn, to stretch outside of my confort zone, to engage with a subject completely foreign up until now, to check my capacity to keep on going when trying to understand those cubes and they seemed to occupy most of my mind in waking and at sleep...what I am trying to say in other words is that it is a learning curve and in the process you learn about yourself, your limitations and how you can work through obstacles to reach the goal. Not everyone will get there (and the good thing is that here you compete against yourself and not others) but there is merit in trying as there is a lot to learn.
When I talk about a form of eliticism I don't generalise the whole group of ATCO, whether trainees or validated ATCO (the ones I have met seemed very humble and sober to say the least). I am talking specifically about some (very few) people here that they proclaim the "you either have it or you don't" approach on the basis of doing very little preparation and being successful in what seems to be a very challenging and difficult assessment process. Those are indeed the "lucky" ones that perhaps through a combination of genetics or circumstance, they seemed geared to the role of the ATCO and thus do really well in the assessment. For the rest of us, the show must go on and we will resort to the qualities of discipline, effort, perseverance, hard work, optimism and mother fortuna to take us there...
Join Date: Jun 2010
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Hello little airmen!,
Seem to be a little in the dark here; as I understand it, in stage 2 you´re only required to take some computer tests. No motivation paper tests or any such thing. Is this true?.
Seem to be a little in the dark here; as I understand it, in stage 2 you´re only required to take some computer tests. No motivation paper tests or any such thing. Is this true?.
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Hey there!,
You seem to know what you´re talking about, so allow me a couple of questions. 1.- Since I´m scheduled to take my stage 2 this month, is there anything else involved in this stage other than the computer tests?
2.- Once you begin your training, what is the main "big book" used as study material?. I´m an AEW Air Battel Manager and during my training we worked a lot on ICAO material, so I expect as much. But is there a specific text book they work on?. I´d very much like to get a grip on it.
Thanks a lot buddy!
You seem to know what you´re talking about, so allow me a couple of questions. 1.- Since I´m scheduled to take my stage 2 this month, is there anything else involved in this stage other than the computer tests?
2.- Once you begin your training, what is the main "big book" used as study material?. I´m an AEW Air Battel Manager and during my training we worked a lot on ICAO material, so I expect as much. But is there a specific text book they work on?. I´d very much like to get a grip on it.
Thanks a lot buddy!
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Hi, I noticed on the NATS website about being tested on speed distance time questions. Is that part of Stage 1? Maybe I over looked it, thought it was just the motivation paper questions with the spatial reasoning, diagramming and basic checking.