NATS interview process
Join Date: Feb 2008
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nats training
New to this but anyway.....
I have been accepted for the 1st stage of the Nats process, but it doesn't take much to get here though. Are the tests like the practice ones they dish out or not?
If you self fund your training say ASTAC is it relatively easy to validate this at a unit and how would you apply (are the positions advertised)
I have been accepted for the 1st stage of the Nats process, but it doesn't take much to get here though. Are the tests like the practice ones they dish out or not?
If you self fund your training say ASTAC is it relatively easy to validate this at a unit and how would you apply (are the positions advertised)
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Three interviewers?? I was under the impression there was just an HR person and an ATCO, who was the third? Also how long did the interview last. Did the whole day really last 0830-1630?
Join Date: Feb 2008
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Hey all. I have recently been accepted to attend Stage 3 interview 
Now, although they say it is not a necessity, I would love to get a visit or 2 into Prestwick or the Glasgow tower. Getting this far, I am going to get as much preperation in as possible as its a career I'm not willing to let slip at the last hurdle.
If anyone has any insiders there, or any contact number or some way of getting a visit organised, I would MUCH appreaciate your help
P.S. My stage 3 is on the 7th March :o! I booked as soon as I got an invite.. silly of me? I wanted to get it all over while its still fresh in my mind :P
Cheers all!
(sorry for double post but the day keeps getting closer and closer...)
Now, although they say it is not a necessity, I would love to get a visit or 2 into Prestwick or the Glasgow tower. Getting this far, I am going to get as much preperation in as possible as its a career I'm not willing to let slip at the last hurdle.
If anyone has any insiders there, or any contact number or some way of getting a visit organised, I would MUCH appreaciate your help
P.S. My stage 3 is on the 7th March :o! I booked as soon as I got an invite.. silly of me? I wanted to get it all over while its still fresh in my mind :P
Cheers all!
(sorry for double post but the day keeps getting closer and closer...)
Last edited by Arrows2100; 24th May 2015 at 15:26. Reason: Edit
Join Date: Apr 2005
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Welcome to the funhouse..
For NATS stuff, I suggest you spend a large portion of your evening wading through this thread as it has lots of useful information about all the stages.
For NATS stuff, I suggest you spend a large portion of your evening wading through this thread as it has lots of useful information about all the stages.
Join Date: Jan 2008
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Its a useless idea, if I remember correctly there were 5 or 6 cube nets on the test, with several questions based on each. The rubber plan might work for the first question, but you will then have no rubber to erase the cube you drew for the first question, to make a new cube. Maybe?
Anyway, surely if you don't have the spatial awareness to pass that test and use "initiative" instead, they will soon figure out you don't have what it takes either at college or at a unit? Could be a pretty risky manoeuvre, I mean the tests must be there for some reason.
Maybe not, who knows?
Anyway, surely if you don't have the spatial awareness to pass that test and use "initiative" instead, they will soon figure out you don't have what it takes either at college or at a unit? Could be a pretty risky manoeuvre, I mean the tests must be there for some reason.
Maybe not, who knows?
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: LTMA South Bank
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Stage 3 and erm.....erasers!!!!
Hi,
Seems to be a few people on here about to sit their stage 3 interview. I did mine last week and was lucky enough to be successful. Here is a rundown of what happens...
You perform a small group exercise with the ATCO's and HR persons in the morning. Don't worry to much about this as we all found it funny as well as straight-forward. Then the interviews begin. I had to wait from 09:30 until 13:45 so be prepared to do quite a bit of waiting. The good thing for me was that we had lunch with the ATCO's before I had my interview so it gave you a chance to get to know them before they interviewed you!!
In my interview, the HR lady asked me some pretty basic HR questions for about half an hour (EG. Tell me about a time when you made a quick decision?) Be prepared to answer sub questions of the original, they will do a bit of digging! Then the ATCO takes over. To be honest I was expecting a grilling on the technical side of the job, however the majority of his questions were geared towards my personality. There is some technical questions so be well prepared. Before my stage 3, I was lucky enough to visit both Glasgow Tower and Prestwick ACC. The reason I visited both is because they are different to each other and I wanted to get the big picture. When I told the ATCO at my interview I had visited both, he seemed interested and it gave us some really good talking points. I also read the book "Air Traffic Control" by Graham Duke which was very helpful as well.
For the guys who are sitting stage 1 soon.....don't draw on an eraser, you'll spend more time erasing the drawings on your eraser than actually answering the questions!!!
Anyways best of luck to everyone who is going through the process and, as usual, if anyone has any other questions, just PM me
Kev
Seems to be a few people on here about to sit their stage 3 interview. I did mine last week and was lucky enough to be successful. Here is a rundown of what happens...
You perform a small group exercise with the ATCO's and HR persons in the morning. Don't worry to much about this as we all found it funny as well as straight-forward. Then the interviews begin. I had to wait from 09:30 until 13:45 so be prepared to do quite a bit of waiting. The good thing for me was that we had lunch with the ATCO's before I had my interview so it gave you a chance to get to know them before they interviewed you!!
In my interview, the HR lady asked me some pretty basic HR questions for about half an hour (EG. Tell me about a time when you made a quick decision?) Be prepared to answer sub questions of the original, they will do a bit of digging! Then the ATCO takes over. To be honest I was expecting a grilling on the technical side of the job, however the majority of his questions were geared towards my personality. There is some technical questions so be well prepared. Before my stage 3, I was lucky enough to visit both Glasgow Tower and Prestwick ACC. The reason I visited both is because they are different to each other and I wanted to get the big picture. When I told the ATCO at my interview I had visited both, he seemed interested and it gave us some really good talking points. I also read the book "Air Traffic Control" by Graham Duke which was very helpful as well.
For the guys who are sitting stage 1 soon.....don't draw on an eraser, you'll spend more time erasing the drawings on your eraser than actually answering the questions!!!
Anyways best of luck to everyone who is going through the process and, as usual, if anyone has any other questions, just PM me
Kev
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Too right!!!
It won't be the July course for me I'm afraid. It will be the October course. The reason being I'm off sunning myself for 3 weeks!!! Hehehe (I had to get that in!!!)
Can any of you guys answer a few quick questions for me please?
I just want to know what I can expect from the medical.
Do you find out right away if you have passed the medical?
If you have passed the medical right away, will NATS still write to your GP?
How long does the medical take?
Cheers
Kev
It won't be the July course for me I'm afraid. It will be the October course. The reason being I'm off sunning myself for 3 weeks!!! Hehehe (I had to get that in!!!)
Can any of you guys answer a few quick questions for me please?
I just want to know what I can expect from the medical.
Do you find out right away if you have passed the medical?
If you have passed the medical right away, will NATS still write to your GP?
How long does the medical take?
Cheers
Kev
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The medical consists of the following (may miss a few things)
Urine sample
ECG
Breathing tests
Hearing tests
Height
Weight
Eye test
Cough and drop (for us guys)
Basically a Class 1 medical. Everything is pretty straight forward. Dont worry if you dont get them right first time, u get a few attempts.
If you dont here anything then everything is fine. If nats get in contact with you about the medical it means something is wrong. No news is good news in this part of the process.
Stu
Urine sample
ECG
Breathing tests
Hearing tests
Height
Weight
Eye test
Cough and drop (for us guys)
Basically a Class 1 medical. Everything is pretty straight forward. Dont worry if you dont get them right first time, u get a few attempts.
If you dont here anything then everything is fine. If nats get in contact with you about the medical it means something is wrong. No news is good news in this part of the process.
Stu
Join Date: Nov 2007
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Few quick questions.
What exactly does a personality test work out? And how is the test done? I did a quick search on the net and all manner of "personality" tests come up.
Little bit strange this one, but what does cough and drop test find out?
Cheers Cal.
What exactly does a personality test work out? And how is the test done? I did a quick search on the net and all manner of "personality" tests come up.
Little bit strange this one, but what does cough and drop test find out?
Cheers Cal.
Join Date: Jan 2005
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Hey, I should be starting in October, medical permitting, so getting a little bit ahead of myself for specifics, but maybe someone currently there could answer a couple...
Finances could be tight for a while so trying to save up a wedge beforehand - what exactly do you take home each month? I saw a NATS doc. saying £680 a month after tax and pension?, then add to that about £250 for the accom. payment?
How much a week are people paying for the guest houses? I could stay with the missus' folks in Fordingbride(!) for cheaper, but as I'm thinking of cycling in, Fordingbridge might be too far compared to Boscombe.
Actually, on cycling - is it feasible? i.e. roads / access, changing facilities, somewhere to store bike?......and as we're on the subject, anyone else starting in October a budding triathlete (or runner / cyclist)? Would be good to have a ready made training partner! - I hear the Bournemoth triathlon in July each year is meant to be a good one.
Anyone else been told probably October?
Cheers
PS. I'll add some thoughts on the selection process to help anyone going through at the mo' - will try and do it soon as sounds like some have their stage 3 shortly...
Finances could be tight for a while so trying to save up a wedge beforehand - what exactly do you take home each month? I saw a NATS doc. saying £680 a month after tax and pension?, then add to that about £250 for the accom. payment?
How much a week are people paying for the guest houses? I could stay with the missus' folks in Fordingbride(!) for cheaper, but as I'm thinking of cycling in, Fordingbridge might be too far compared to Boscombe.
Actually, on cycling - is it feasible? i.e. roads / access, changing facilities, somewhere to store bike?......and as we're on the subject, anyone else starting in October a budding triathlete (or runner / cyclist)? Would be good to have a ready made training partner! - I hear the Bournemoth triathlon in July each year is meant to be a good one.
Anyone else been told probably October?
Cheers
PS. I'll add some thoughts on the selection process to help anyone going through at the mo' - will try and do it soon as sounds like some have their stage 3 shortly...
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Manchester Area Control Centre and Manchester Airport Control Tower
Hi there, I have recently come through stage 1 of the selection process and have had no luck in finding contact details for Manchester Area Control or Airport Control. I am desperate to get first hand experience of what an ATCO does day to day.
Does anyone have any information?
Thanks very much.
Does anyone have any information?
Thanks very much.
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As promised...
Training to be an interviewer myself at work has been invaluable in learning to be a better interviewee......
Almost everywhere uses competency based behavioural interviews these days which means they'll ask for specific examples and drill down into your initial answer to get at exactly how you behaved in the situation to see if there's evidence of you having a competency (or two). If you give generalisations ("I always..." or "I usually..."), or if you say "we" a lot, they will struggle to find the evidence they need to pass you.
Most specific examples you prepare will be good evidence for more than one competency so don't be afraid to use them more than once, just re-focus them based on what competency you think the question is trying to find evidence for..... this is often quite straightforward in that they may say "tell me about a time you worked in a team", but there will be a competence framework sat behind the "teamwork" competency that they're checking off - this will explain what this means in more detail and gives examples of what constitutes good performance that they should look for in your answer.
Many companies frameworks will be the similar - teamwork will always be one of them as will communication, maybe leadership. See if your work has one (or if at Uni, see if the careers office has some examples). One competency I've only ever seen for ATC, other than "aviation focus", is "tenancity". (After finding out what it meant) I prepared a good example - i.e. about getting injured when training for a triathlon last year but digging in, doing lots of recovery work etc and still managing to compete and set a new PB for the bike split. Few things about this - what I took to be "the tenancity question" didn't mention the word, but I'm still pretty sure that's what it was. Having a positive outcome at the end of the example to prove why your actions were the right thing to solve that situation is good. I wouldn't be scared of using non-workplace examples although have some work stuff in there if you can.
Some examples of the technical questions:
3 pictures of airfields seen from above with an apron and runway, one where they're directly connected so looks like a podium, one where there are taxiways between them connecting to the two ends of the runway, and one where one taxi-way connects to one end and the other connects to the middle. Where would you want to work? How could you make that design better?
What would you have done from a ground / approach point of view if on duty when the 777 crashed. In what order?
One light, one medium, one heavy all same distance from aerodrome want to land - what order do you put them in and why?
Think I gave decent answers to these but I won't say here (I may have been wrong!, and gives you a chance to practice)
Hope some of this has helped,
Cheers
Training to be an interviewer myself at work has been invaluable in learning to be a better interviewee......
Almost everywhere uses competency based behavioural interviews these days which means they'll ask for specific examples and drill down into your initial answer to get at exactly how you behaved in the situation to see if there's evidence of you having a competency (or two). If you give generalisations ("I always..." or "I usually..."), or if you say "we" a lot, they will struggle to find the evidence they need to pass you.
Most specific examples you prepare will be good evidence for more than one competency so don't be afraid to use them more than once, just re-focus them based on what competency you think the question is trying to find evidence for..... this is often quite straightforward in that they may say "tell me about a time you worked in a team", but there will be a competence framework sat behind the "teamwork" competency that they're checking off - this will explain what this means in more detail and gives examples of what constitutes good performance that they should look for in your answer.
Many companies frameworks will be the similar - teamwork will always be one of them as will communication, maybe leadership. See if your work has one (or if at Uni, see if the careers office has some examples). One competency I've only ever seen for ATC, other than "aviation focus", is "tenancity". (After finding out what it meant) I prepared a good example - i.e. about getting injured when training for a triathlon last year but digging in, doing lots of recovery work etc and still managing to compete and set a new PB for the bike split. Few things about this - what I took to be "the tenancity question" didn't mention the word, but I'm still pretty sure that's what it was. Having a positive outcome at the end of the example to prove why your actions were the right thing to solve that situation is good. I wouldn't be scared of using non-workplace examples although have some work stuff in there if you can.
Some examples of the technical questions:
3 pictures of airfields seen from above with an apron and runway, one where they're directly connected so looks like a podium, one where there are taxiways between them connecting to the two ends of the runway, and one where one taxi-way connects to one end and the other connects to the middle. Where would you want to work? How could you make that design better?
What would you have done from a ground / approach point of view if on duty when the 777 crashed. In what order?
One light, one medium, one heavy all same distance from aerodrome want to land - what order do you put them in and why?
Think I gave decent answers to these but I won't say here (I may have been wrong!, and gives you a chance to practice)
Hope some of this has helped,
Cheers