Salsaboy,

Thanks very much for the detailed answer buddy, I really appreciate it.

The types of sdt questions that are asked are for example:

"BAW123 is flying at a constant speed of 480 knots, he passes VOR A at time 15 and the distance between VOR A and VOR B is 32 nms, what time will he arrive at VOR B? Answer : Time 19"

Hope this makes sense

Cheers

Kev:ok:

Thanks kev,

What about questions calculating descent rates, or distance to begin descent etc... any memories of that kind of Q?

ta.

Thanks AA,

Whilst I will try to get it spot on, multiple choice will surely help a bit

Salsaboy,

There will be no questions calculating top of descent points at the stage 2 interview. If you mean the rule of thumb that is 3 times the height to lose in nms (eg aircraft has to lose 20,000 feet so give 60/70 nms to do so) That is something that is taught at the college.

Cheers

Kev

hey paper clip

phoned HR and they had sent me 3emails and i hadn't received any of them and they have my right email address so god know's whats going on. now, they have my brothers email address and he forwards any mail from them on to me since my email address doesn't seem to want to accept them! I was wondering if anyone could tell me what type of questions are in the motivation paper? i've read the material NATS have sent out, learnt it from cover to cover but not a clue what type of questions they are gonna ask?! how many tests am I going to sit and what are they? can u tell im totally clueless!! i don't have the slightest idea what i'm going to be getting tested on, the SHLGroup link is totally different from the NATS practice leaflet.

HELP!!
Clairey Fairy xx

p.s am i going to be asked questions using distance speed and time?

S3 Help
 

Hey guys, know this is cheeky and will appreciate if no-one replies but have my S3 next month and wondered if anyone could provide any pointers.

I have done what I would class as the obvious stuff,
looked over my application
Graham Duke
Airliners.net
Stuff from S1 and S2
NATS.co.uk
Occasional Aviation World/Flight International
Visits to both area/aerodrome centres.
plus a few other bits and pieces, am I missing anything glaringly obvious? I know the interview will be completely different depending on candidate, and where ATC/candidate lead the interview, but any help would be greatly welcomed, trying not to panic:*
shugs

I'm in the same boat Shugs
Interview on the 30th, Struggling with learning planes and plane information.


Clairey Fairy
Read the whole thread.... long but helps, If you have learnt the documentation and can do simple maths you will be absoloutley fine with the tests.
Speed = distance / time
That is all you need.
Oh and some very basic geological knowledge
Read the email... read the thread, has all the answers.

Just to back up what mixmastermike has said,

I found stage 3 the most stress free part of the recruitment process. If you have done the work and prepared well then there is no reason why you won't get through.

Learn the motivation papers, visit some ATSU's and have answers prepared for the HR questions like "Tell me about a time when you were heavily scrutinised? How did you deal with it? Would you deal with it differently if it happened to you now? etc etc

Best of luck guys, maybe see some of you at the college soon!

Kev:ok:

Oh, and I never got asked to identify any aircraft in my stage 3 interview, although that was a year ago, its possibly changed!

shugs,

after having read what you have done the only thing I can say is do NOT panic, you should be in good shape.

Like the others have said, I found stage 3 to be the least stressful stage. If you are genuinely interested in ATC and have prepared as you say, the only thing left is to stay calm and just be yourself.

Good luck!

Thanks Rossoneri!!
So helpful!
are you in collegue already?
can u give me a brief description and advices for all teh stages u´ve been through??

cheers!!

aphelio : I can only repeat what others have already said.

Make sure you learn all the materials provided as best you can. Stay calm and relaxed. Just be yourself and make sure you do all they've asked you to in preparation for each stage of the process. It's down to personality really- different people prepare themselves differently.

Don't worry about arranging any visits to ATC Units for Stage 2, although if you get through to stage 3 i'd recommend it as it gives you a lot to talk about in your formal interview. Between now and Stage 2 learn the booklets, have a think about times when you've shown leadership, teamwork skills etc. If you have a browse through this thread there are some useful tips hidden among it.

Hi everyone
I have got my interview with nats next month for trainee ATC, stage 1 . I have read the posts given here about wat to expect at the interview. Also i was sent an email by nats tat the interview will last for 4 hours and they will be testing various aptitude tests and few motivation questions would be based on the information they send via email. Now the aptitude test will be of basic checking, rotating 3-d shapes into 2 and following diagramatically coded instructions. I am struggling here with 3-d shapes rotating into 2-d. Well I have got two books from local library on spatial reasoning and tryin to prepare for the tests. Is there any other book for spatial reasoning which could help to prepare in more detail? :sad:

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I've finally finished reading the whole thread!! Thanks for all the info everyone!

Spatial awareness
 

Hi, Im just embarking on this journey and am busy revising for my S1 in Manchester on 13 Feb.

Does anyone have any links to some online spacial awareness/cube tests?

Cheers guys and good luck!

Hey Shugs

Just wanna say I am in exactly the same boat as you, on my stage 3 and have been looking over pervious documents, airliners.net and the graham duke book that was kindly given to me from Cardiff ATC.
I'm really struggling with plane recognition though, and am worried about how much in depth information they can expect you to know at this stage.
I have even started look at the manual of air traffic services.... is this perhaps a step too far?

Nick,

Personally I don't think looking at the MATS is necessary for S3, they dont expect you to know it, and it's a very dry document as well. S3 is more along the lines of applying logic and common sense to situations that the interviewer will present to you. Any decisions you make, make them based on reasons that you can explain, and be flexible if necessary in the wake of new information being introduced to the scenario. A little bit of ATC knowledge may help, but by the same token it may hinder. They are not necessarily looking for the answer a controller would give, but looking for the skills and decision making that are needed to be trained to be a controller.

To re-iterate what others have said, try and be as relaxed as possible, my S3 was the most relaxed interview of my life, it really helps you to think through your decisions. If you have made it this far, you're not far away :ok:

nickhopkinsjnr,

Definitely a step (or two) too far. You seem to have done all the right things so do not worry.

I went to my stage 3 with a lot of information and knowledge that was never used.... I read Graham Duke's book a few times plus "Air Band Radio Handbook" and "International Air Band Radio Handbook". Reading them helped me get a better understanding of ATC (and it increased my confidence for the interview) but, if I think of my interview, all the questions could have been answered without reading them. My visits to TWRs and ACCs had more relevance during the interview.

I personally think stage 3 is not an exam about ATC knowledge, they do want to see some ATC knowledge but they also want to see genuine interest, motivation, how you think, how you justify your decisions, ...
Bear in mind that stage 3 is the first time they can get a bit of an idea of your personality face to face (the structured interview in stage 2 is not used for that)... and getting through college is not exclusively about previous knowledge but about personality, work ethic...

Good luck :ok:

Thanks guys, Once again this forum has been a great help. If anyone has questions about what to expect in stage 1 or 2 send me a message as i have been through it recently.
Cheers :ok:

Stage 2
 

nickhopkinsjnr,

I have my stage 2 on Thursday and I'm starting to get pretty nervous about it. I was wondering what bit about stage 2 did you find the hardest? Also is there any kind of preparation that I can do for the interview part of it because that's the bit I'm worried about. What prep did you do for it?

I await your reply.

stage one
 

I have my stage one on 16th Feb. I just wanted any information/advice people have really.
I've been reading through the doc given out for stage one. I'm working my way through all the aircraft information, trying to commit it to long term memory so i wont have to re learn it again later.

I've also gone through the practice test that NATS give out in the email. I didnt have any problems with them, but would like to do a bit more practice. So any links to websites or other sources of infomation for practice tests would be much appreciated.

Are the tests computer based?

Hey roar00

I got my stage 1 on 16th feb too. If its more tests your after there are some really good books to help, pschyometric tests will help. Ive bought one from amazon, but I also found a few at my local library, its worth a look. Good Luck!

Hi guys, just a quick thanks for all the responses, seems like I’m on the right track, just hope I have the personality to go with it now.

Good luck jack.raven, sure you’ll be alright. I’m the same with trying to learn all the plane info from S1, plus then matching this up to their picture.:confused:

Nickhopkinsjnr, I’m not going to go as far as MATS, think my time could be better used at the moment, I would probably end up making a right a**e of myself if I try to impress with too much info when I don’t really understand :ugh:

Have visited Prestwick, and two towers arranged, hoping the info from those visits will give me plenty ammo for the interview.

Gogz87 – looking back I found the comp tests the most difficult, but there is nothing you can do to prepare for that bit other than try and be alert I think. For the interview think about good examples from you past that makes you look good (quick thinking, decisive). Its quick fire questions, sometimes just yes or no, and I found it was over before you knew it. And finally as everyone says, brush up on D/S/T. the ones in motivational paper are harder that S1 ones.

Good luck folks, especially those at Glasgow on the 11th for their S3.:)

shugs

Stage 2
 

shugs,

Thanks for the advice. I am fairly confident with the info. What did you do to prepare for the D/S/T questions as I can't really find anything suitable. Any links or questions you used would be fantastic.

If i am 100% honest, i didn't revise DST despite my earlier recommendation.:(

although a good website for general DST stuff is here, (again i have never used it, but looks useful)

shugs

hey spiller. Good luck for the 16th Feb by the way.

I had a little search online for some tests. I want to try and get hold of some really hard tests, so far i've not found any of the practice stuff i've tried to challenging...but i want to def prepare for the worst, especially after reading some of the posts on here regarding the cube tests.

Also a general question. With regards to the stage one motivational paper and the aircraft lists....the seating information is confusing me. Some show max and standard, not all series for aircraft are listed.
Its making it harder to learn as it seems a little random. Is learning thne exact seat numbers as they are in the paper needed for the test? or should i just be using the seating as a guide to judge the size of the aircrafts, without the need to be able to give a precise number in the test?

hi nick
congrats! i have my s1 on feb 25th. i have been reading all the posts here and is really very very helpful.. i need to know about this.. how many questions they would ask us during the tests and questionnaires session.?? and especially with the maths aptitude tests.. is there any book for preparing spatial reasoning?? and whats the time limit to answer these questions..
thanks mate

ive just read the whole thread, 98 pages! was only 97 when i started. anyway theres loads of useful information on it even if its been repeated over and over. found alot of useful webpages in this thread.

thanks to everyone who's contributed.

ive got my stage 1 tests in manc in feb. so been reading over the test document aswell as a few other websites. hoping to get work experience at manc airport, if not at least a visit. the cubes they provided are fairly easy, is there any websites with more difficult cubes?

plus, i have a police caution will this effect the selection process? should i give up now. or could i explain the situation given the chance.

thanks again :ok:

Hi Hardik,

Check out Nokio's post on p22 of this thread - it covers most of your questions about Stage 1 including time limits and number of questions. It also has links to some more examples of cube questions, etc on the Psychometric Success website. You can buy books to cover these things on the same website but I don't know what they're like - I just made do with what I was sent by NATS and what I could find on the internet.

There isn't a separate maths paper - there's just a few maths questions (3-5 if I remember rightly) in the motivation paper in amongst the other NATS questions.

Any other questions, post back or PM me.

Jen

Firstly, i'd like to offer thanks to everyone who has contributed valuable information on this topic which i'm sure will be of great use when I under-go my stage 1 next month. I must have read every page of this thread and have now decided to post so once again thanks to all.

I don't want to count my chickens or anything as i've not even had my stage one but reading through the full details of the NATS medical on the website I have a slight concern and if anyone has any info i'd be most grateful. I'm somewhat ashamed and embarrassed (sp?) by it now but here goes:
Around four five years ago I was overcome with some personal problems and did resort to self harming this has left me with some slight scarring on my left forearm and top of my left thigh it is very slight and not very visable ie no one has asked how I got that scar for instance, but I'm concerned that sitting just in boxer shorts and having to "drop and cough," that these scars will raise questions in a doctor's mind.

I have had no issues since then and haven't had any iclination to do any thing similar. I have never been on anti- depressants or saw a doctor or clinical pyschatrist(sp) for depression or other related clinical disorders so there will be no records on my medical files.

Without wishing to sound cliched I feel I have moved on and consider myself to be "compos mentis" and really hope that small tough period I went through won't hinder me in hopefully becoming a damn good ATCO as it is something I have always wanted to do and an area I have always had a great interest and enthusiasm for.

Apologies for length of post

Regards

has anyone here been through the EUROCONTROL selection process?

Hi 69.74.92,

It's a situation that you should try not to worry about. You are right in thinking that it's something the doctor may notice when examining you - the class 1 initial medical is very thorough, as is the two-yearly renewal. One of the things that the doctor will make note of at these examinations is any distinguishing scars or features you may have - indeed, he or she will probably ask you if you have any that they haven't noticed, so it's probably going to come up.

My advice is to be open about your scars, including how you got them (if asked). There's nothing to be embarrassed about at all, everyone has a past. Just be prepared to explain, in the same way you have here, what happened. I'm pretty sure that this sort of thing is more common than most people might think, and something that the doctor will be familiar with.

You might like to ask a question in the PPRuNe Medical & Health forum, or do a search to see if anyone's asked before. Good luck with your application!

any foreign ATC or trainee around??
Does NATs (actually) hires or has hired foreign ATC trainees??:confused:

i mean, from non english-speaking countries. NAT´s web doesn´t mention anything specifically.


cheers!!

Aphelio,

Any applicant must be eligible to work in the UK (i.e. should be a UK or EU resident or have a long-term visa/permission to work) - there's definitely different kinds of 'foreign'!

I assume there's also a requirement to have a certain level of spoken english but I don't know for sure... As for whether or not they actually recruit them, perhaps someone like Gonzo can answer that one.

Jen

aphelio,

They do recruit foreigners. I have passed the selection process and I am from Spain (and I do know of a few other Spaniards either in college or doing training at a unit just now).

thanks guys!!!...a path of hope lights my ....stages..;)

Hi Rodan

Thank you for the advice it's much appreciated, will try not unduly worry and distract myself before I've even had stage 1 and will cross that bridge if/when (hopefully when!!) I come to it. I will raise the question on the medical forum in good time as well

Thanks and best wishes again

69.74.92

Any of the guys that attended stage 2 on the 8th Jan had any results yet??

Yes, yesterday.

oh maybe they forgot me!! easily done!!

Just got myself a visit to Swanwick, and am incredibly excited about it! I have allways prefered the idea of working at a busy airport but haven't seen a en route control centre before, have lots and lots of questions ready haha