please keep these gems coming! :)

now it is the management from the 1980s (20+ years ago!!) whose fault it all is! Priceless.

Fivel, when I emailed my ARN application, I only had to wait about 3 days before I rang them and they emailed it to me. The letter came in the mail the next week. As for the DAME I saw, he (well mostly his nurse) did eveything that was required except for the eye test which I did a couple of days later and that was it. This was in the last two weeks and the DAME seemed to think there was enough time before march 1st.

Mikethepomme, I'm new to these forum thingies but I will endeavour to pm you when I get home. Too much effort from a mobile!

Certainly is, although a lot of effort is put into avoiding it. That said it does happen & not infrequently.

No, just be aware who it is doing the talking & realise they have a reason for saying it.

I'm aware that management communicates in 'corporate-speak' and that everything they say needs to be taken with a grain of salt (if not several).
I understand that we are employees of an entity that, at the end of the day, is profit driven, and has its own agendas.
I get it.
I'm just not that interested.
I'm embarking on an amazing new career with a bunch of really good people, and to be honest, I reckon I've been pretty lucky to be given this opportunity.
I'll worry about field-training when I come to it.
I'll stress about the angst that pervades the workforce once I'm rated and working as a professional.
For now, passing the college phase and obtaining the best result I can is plenty.

I think that is EXACTLY my point????

Next we'll be hearing that controllers need to pay AsA to work in a tower so they can gain their ratings. Much like some pilots at particular airlines do!
Then it'll be the Israelification of AsA and somehow it'll be linked to the GFC! Bloody brilliant!

Some people just need to stay off the herbs and have a good lay down! :)

Well said enemyMIG - I'm with you

Thats the attitude to have enemymig, worry about politics later. focus on your training. believe it when you hear that the college is only 50% of it. the field training is a killer, and once you get past that, the challenges don't stop. everyday something new that you haven't seen pops up. you have to keep fighting though, over time the experience comes. keep your head down and work hard and you'll get there. enjoy the college.

Wow I just got through reading this whole thread. It was like reading a book, with it's fair share of heroes and villains.

Thanks to all for some great advice! Its been interesting seeing people go from waiting 'patiently' to looking for the closest chair to the air con.

I am applying for the 31 Jan applications, so I was wondering if anyone could take a guess of how many people are still on the merit list? I.e. how many people are in front of me before I have even started the long wait.
Any guesses of how long that wait might be? My guess is 12-18mths.

I know no one can answer those questions accurately, just looking for an educated guess.

Sounds about right.
I was 15 months from application to bum on seat, others were quicker, some are still waiting.

Luca brasi

I, like enemyMig, was waiting 15mons and some on our course applied in 2007.
So be prepared for a wait.
but even after only two weeks, I can tell you it is worth it.

My Boss told me she was contacted on friday afternoon 22/1/10

So im expecting some sort of correspondance from ASA this week i guess

Same here, wednesday and thursday last week mine were contacted. They did say in the email before christmas that they would try to give 2-3 months notice so assuming a june start rather than april but you never know. Depends on the position in the merit list too I'm guessing

I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of you made the April intake since they still had places to fill just before Christmas. Lucky buggers, we had to wait a bit longer.

Blippy did you apply June 09?

Blippy, I'm on the December OOM and haven't been asked to update my references yet either... I had put down Melbourne as preference...

try not to think about it. thats easy for me to say now i had the call.

but it will happen.i was worried about not getting a job after being on the list, but turns out everyone got a place. the same will happen with you guys more than likely. just be patient, youll get a random unknown number one day and a lovely lady will offer to change your life. might be tommorow, might be 6 months. just have faith it will happen.

good luck

Does anyone know if 17 year olds are allowed to apply under the assumption that we are in our final year of schooling and turn 18 at the end of the year?

So I were to be accepted, I would be on the earliest course next year? (To which I would then satisfty the requirements?)

@ Firebathero - prob best to email ASA directly to ask that question so you don't get conflicting answers. Remember you can only apply twice though.

@blippy - could definitely be completely wrong about this, but I was under the impression that there were only 1 or 2 tower intakes as a kind of trial because it's not usually done. I got offered the choise of March tower (as I believe everyone in the march intake was) but decided not to accept. Mainly because I'd prefer a big city at the moment and didn't want to be in a Tower with only a few staff. I like the idea of going through with 8 in your course and continueing on into the workforce with them. I'm sure there are many good points to go to tower concidering I hear a lot of older controllers try and get certain towers.

Oh and in March they have Melbourne and Brisbane people starting together