Chevvron, no. The ab initio trainees are going to the DFS college in Langen.

Does NATS?

Yes, it does.

Do they get paid (like NATS trainees do) whilst at this college?

Yes they do.

Maybe you want to work at EGPH 🤔 or EGKK 😎

I think it depends on your personal preferences and expectations in terms of employer and workplace.
ANS is way smaller then NATS currently only having the contract for edi and lgw tower - everyone in the company knows each other. It is a lot easier to make innovative changes because you don’t have to go through all the management people for example.
With NATS you have the advantage of having more bases - which you can’t choose anyways though.

So it depends on what you expect and want...

I personally think they’re both very good companies and with both you get paid during training. So if you’re lucky enough to get a position offered in ATC it doesnt really matter with who? The chances to get in are small enough.. ;-)

mich_65, what was the assessment like and were you successful?

Im guessing you mean the ANS one?
It was great but tense.
I expected it to be a smaller amount of people invited than it was (expected 30-50 and it was over 100) which put more pressure on us. The other candidates and everyone from ANS was very nice and made us feel welcome. After a quick introduction we had the first tests which was ten smaller tests with I think one break in between.
They weren’t hard but what made it hard was the amount of tasks in the small amount of time given. Most important thing is to stay focussed I guess and to move on if you can’t solve something instantly.
We had to come back in the afternoon and they read out the applicants numbers that had passed (if anyone wonders we were 23 in total that passed, nevertheless they had 32 slots for the next stage but not enough people passed). We then had another introduction to the second stage and had time to study the materials for the simulator. It is not allowed to take the material home you have to learn it by heart (rules, headings, flight levels etc) - which I don’t think was too hard because it wasn’t a big amount of information.
I was allocated the simulator and interview two days after instead of the next day so I had another day to relax.
I had the interview first and then the simulator. The interview was not a standard interview and fairly relaxed (compared to other interviews I had myself including for an ATCO trainee position) they just want to get to know you and understand why you want to become a controller.
The simulator consists of four different tests, which all are similar but different to the eurocontrol ones.

I had a bad feeling after because I thought I wasn’t very good and although they were going to tell us the next day it felt like an eternity.
Apparently got the wrong impression of myself as I got good news the day after :-)

Before I applied to AustroControl and Nats - passed the eurocontrol tests but not the interview in Austria and Nats wasn’t happy with my English results.
Comparing the 3 companies and interview and assessment processes I was the most impressed with ANS as they’re very helpful beforehand if you need any information and try to make everything as smooth as possible. Also preferred that all the assessment stages were completed within a week and feedback was given right after rather then with the other two where I had one assessment every month.
Nevertheless the NATS assessment process was very professional as well and everyone was very welcoming too.

Hope this helps..

Thanks for your input. I've never applied to NATS or elsewhere so I'm quite looking forward to the experience.

Good luck :-)

mich_65, thanks for the insight, very helpful! Congratulations to you on getting through! I'm sure you must have been delighted to get the good news. Do you know how many in total were offered jobs from your initial group of 100+?

I've got my assessment in Edinburgh in just less than 2 weeks. I have previously passed the FEAST so have been doing similar brain training exercises to make sure my mind is sharp. I'll also do some homework on the company and Edinburgh Airport.

I was wondering about the dress code for the assessments as I've not seen it mentioned anywhere. What were the majority of people wearing at your assessment day? Suits, or slightly less formal wear?

I can't link URL's, but in a DFS press release they stated six students on the first course.

Thanks BARRY_SCOTT- I do remember hearing or reading 3 or 6 somewhere but wasn't sure which figure was correct or where it came from. Thanks for that.

Hi Mich,

thanks for the info. were there any maths problem solving questions or was it more like cognitive function tests? and also what was the dress code like ?

thanks in advance.


@laserEeyes - see you at the assessment day! good luck !

Heya,

They took three in total. The course in Frankfurt is usually 6 (this time for April 3 from EDI and 3 from LGW). The first course was last year it was 6 people from EDI and the second one this January I think 6 from LGW I think.

If you passed the FEAST before just go relaxed you should be fine. I wouldn’t prepare too much it just stresses you out.

Most people were dressed casual smart or had suits on. Most guys had jeans and a white shirt with blazer on :-)

Hi,

It was (in my opinion) quite easy stuff but I’ve always been good with maths so can’t give an objective opinion.

We had to solve equations (it’s obviously more than you could possibly solve in the time given - as in all the other tasks too they want to see how you prioritise and how accurate and fast you are etc) also there was a test where you had to complete equations to get to the result. The third mathematical one was calculations with numbers connected to symbols.
I think those three were all the mathematical stuff that there was. All basic stuff... apart from some fractions I couldn’t remember the rules :D school is too long ago..

Dress code as I said in the other answer smart casual :-)

Thanks Mich.
I'm guessing you'll be on the April course then? Hopefully if I play my cards right I'll see you there!
Thanks for the dress code info too. I didn't want to turn up in a suit to find I was the only one who did!


@Nostaw22 - Awesome, see you there! Thanks, good luck to you too!


@BARY_SCOTT, are you attending the assessment in Edinburgh later this month too?

Thanks for the info Mich. Your training starts next week? I wish you all the best with it!
Do you know if any of the Edinburgh students are working towards an APS rating or is everyone doing an ADI rating?

If I understand correctly, three places for the April course have already been assigned from the previous Gatwick assessment. So just 3 spots? No pressure. :E

FWIW, I'm planning on going trousers, shirt and smart jumper. A suit seems a bit too much.
Best of luck Nostaw22 and LaserEyes.:)

@LaserEyes: Yes, I'll be there. My stage 1 is in the AM session.

Yes I’ll be on the April course.

To maybe motivate yous a bit more I’ve heard that they try to find people already for next years course which is obviously still a year away but if you’re good enough and can’t get a spot this year I guess it’s reasonable to wait a year for your dream job :-)