Depends on how far apart they are when the lower aircraft asks for climb, depends on the type of aircraft it is (A340 or something with a similar climb rate) and how busy I am.

If I'm busy then the plane will probably wait, unless I have a need to vector it for something else which would fit in with climbing it against the other aircraft.

My immediate reaction would be to wait until they've passed, but if there's other conflicting aircraft behind the first one then it may not get a climb at all - if I've got to put four or five aircraft on headings to climb one then it may not be worth it. If it's a safety reason, like icing, then of course it will be done as soon as I can accommodate it, if the pilot just wants to save a few quid then iot will be done when and if I have time.

That probably doesn't make much sense, but without seeing the exact situation I couldn't say what I'd do. It's the usual situation of asking 10 controllers what they would do and getting 11 answers back. The trick is to keep your workload as low as possible whilst still giving planes what they want.

No, that makes perfect sense. A fluid situation makes for fluid solutions.

quoting simfly

...says the man who's the king of the remote control, with long night shifts of TV and whisky, is never seen doing any work and passes everything first time ! ;)

I do it all when you've gone to bed, the whiskey is so I don't have to "go out" and saves me money as we're only on 10k :ok: Otherwise I couldn't be that good, could I??? ;)

smellysnelly,
I see your location indicator has changed to LTCC. Good news I hope! Which frequencies will you be doing? I might be able to hear you on my "tranceiver".

simfly... the night prowler. and there may or may not be video evidence of this :}

i saw him mis-identify an aircraft... once.:hmm:

Would just like to wish the guys who were at their 3rd stage interview today (Scott, John etc) the best of luck... and hope to see you all in sunny Bournemouth soon!;)

has anyone ever gone again to the interview b4to the 12 month ban ends?

Ug, just fell down at stage two. I think it was the interview rather than the computer tests. Going to phone HR tomorrow to see if they'll give me any feedback.


... dough :sad:


If anything I feel a little more confident now for when I reapply.

PS: If anyone has any issues with where the stage 2 is held or how to get there once you are nearby then feel free to contact me as I work just up the road from the place. :)

NATS interview
 

Hi guys,

I have my stage 1 interview next month and was wondering if anyone could give me any advice on what to expect? :confused:

I have read that alot of people are failing at the 2nd and 3rd stages.....is it really that difficult to get through? It seriously making me lack in confidance!

Any information would be greatly received!! :) xx

Hey amydunn, Just study the material they sent you and check out the spacial reasoning tests online and you should do great :ok:

ACC & Tower Visit???
 

Hi all, am currently putting in preperations for my stage three and of part of this am hoping to pay a visit to Prestwick ACC & a Tower (preferably in north England). Could anyone please help ?? Many thanks in advance. :ok:

Amydunn,

Good advice from alphamaniac. Just read the material you are given lots of times and the motivation paper is easy, and as for the spacial reasoning, the tests are the same as the pdf they give you to look at, just more questions and a little harder maybe (especially with time constraints). But nothing should really take you by surprise.

As for stage 2, I failed last week, but some of us get through right? So thats not really worth worrying about, just go with it as you get to it. :)

Bournemouth!
 

mattaysmittay

Cheers for the good luck message matey! I got in and should be at the college in october or january. Hope you and the other guys at CTC on the 19th made it through and hope to see you at the college!

Andy

I'm hoping to arrange a tower visit prior to my stage 3 interview next month. Ideally I would like to visit the one at Birmingham, but would be more than willing to consider elsewhere. Can anyone point me in the right direction as to who to contact with regards to this?

Hi, with my stage 2 fast approaching i have suddenly become increasing nervous about the upcoming interviews. I am confident that i have put in enough work to pass the motivation paper(btw, does anyone know the required pass mark?), but most of all i am insecure that my age and inexperiences may hinder my ability to sufficiently answer some of the HR questions. I plan on traveling down from b'ham on the day of assessment (12:15), So does anyone have any advice or wanna talk me through the day to help calm my nerves!

Cheers!

Don't be worried about your age I know (have heard of) a certain SATCO who did his at 18 and is now in a place of.. unfortunate power.

Yeah, age doesn't come into the equation; some of us went through the selection process at 17/18, and we haven't done too bad.....

We look for maturity, not age.

Ah, i am more then aware of Gonzo's Youth when starting his training, however i am not in the situation to supplement my answers with endless aviation experiences.

Does anyone know if the motivation paper in stage2 is multiple choice the same as in stage1 ?

Thanks

yes it is.

Thanks for prompt reply matey,:ok:

my application process so far
 

hello all.

ive got my third stage coming up on the 21st of july and i thought i would let everyone know the process i went through just in case it helps anyone.

firstly im only 18, i finished sixth form literally 2 weeks ago so it goes to show that anyone can do it. you just need to apply yourself. my first stage was held at the hilton hotel at tower bridge, london. even though the email says smart, casual its always best to wear a suit if possible, (first impressions are important). there were 50 people at my test, all standing around looking nervous. firstly we were seperated into one large and two smaller groups which then went off to do either the motivation paper, the pychometic tests or the meeting with the atc.

i was in the larger group so i had to do the three tests first, personally i felt this was good as i was still fresh when i had a go at them. the tests are hard, though if they don't seem hard, it means you havnt done them right. they are designed to test you and you should not finish them. these three tests took 45 minutes, the time flies and use the note pad provided where appropriate (it helped me alot).

after these tests my big group was split into two smaller ones and we then went into the motivation test and the meeting. i did the meeting first and asked some questions about the job. this is not part of the selection so you can relax and take it all in. the motivation paper was relatively simple. it was basic questions about the material you will be sent. its easy enough if you put the work in.

after this test we were free to go. it took a week for HR to send a SLR questionnaire via email, i was not aware that this occured but i did it anyway. answer truthfully and honestly because even though there are hundreds of questions, they all ask relatively similar stuff so its easier just to be honest. after completing this i recieved an email asking me to book my stage 2 interview. this was at the CTC at fareham, southampton. there were only three other guys at the interview and they were nice enough. i advice you to try and get to know your fellow applicants, not only does it make the time go faster but you now have people you can contact throughout the remainder of the process.

the second stage consists of a computer test and a structured interview of roughly 60 questions. i did the computer test first and found it completely impossible. i came out and nearly left as i felt i did so badly, but again you are meant to feel this way. they are designed to seem impossible. my advice is don't give up and just keep trying to answer as best as possible, however stressed you get.

next is the structured interview, the lady who interviewed me was really nice and i was quite comfortable throughout. be prepared for some strange questions and DON'T LIE. after this is had to completed another motivation paper which lasted 30 minutes and was alot harder than the one in stage 1 so revise ALOT. i am serious you are going to want to spend alot of time looking through the material and getting to know it well. i recommend a few hours a day, after this test we had to fill out a security questionnaire and another questionnaire alot like the SLR one i had to fill out online. after that we were free to go.

after a week of nerves i finally got an email telling me i had been successful and i am through to the last stage.

i advise you to try and get some work experience at a nats location. i live in bournemouth so i spent time at the college with the guys on the course currently. when i told the woman i had done work experience she looked impressed so i think this will help alot.

other than that good luck.
hope this helps.

wow, all the info has really helped calm my nerves so thanks!! What sort of questions do you get asked in the structured interview?? Just so i have a general idea xx

I just finished my stage 2 yesterday and found out i got through today. I think the information on page 35(?) of this thread helped a lot, (think it was from nokio).

Id just like to add a few quick thoughts; firstly, those computer test are bloody difficult! that motivation paper was bloody difficult! (call signs for Bournemouth anyone? Frequency range of VOR's? no, anyone?), however i didn't find the interview too nerve racking, speaking as a person who is, err lets say, the opposite of savoir-faire, the whole interview was fairly relaxed & like the someone said before, I was quite comfortable working through the assigned questions.

................

now, lets try and finally arrange a site visit, leads anyone?

Stage 1, what does it involve?
 

Hi,
Just wondered what the stage 1 testing involves. Obviously I have read the example aptitude tests which are provided by NATS, but do they also test verbal reasoning/mental arithmetic or is it typically a test involving stuff very similar to that outlined in the examples. Also, how long are the tests?

Thanks for any info.

dazpoo, surely all that stuff was on the information they gave you.

it was on the paper, just not in my head at the time of the test, i suppose i assumed they wouldnt be that cruel, they were.

do you know the answers to the aforementioned questions?

Bournemouth's designator is EGHH, and VORs operate in the band 108.0MHz to 117.95MHz.

I checked, and both answers came up on a Google search using sensible search strings.

Gonzo, you really do need to get out more!!!

Well, I would have said VORs work in the band 108-118MHz, but I'm sure someone would have come on here and corrected me. :}

Aaah, you mean the person who corrected you in the first place....! Its worrying when the Interviewers don't even know the answers to the motivation paper! ;)

For those not aware, there's a recurring urban legend amongst NATS candidates, completely fictitious, that someone tried the motivation paper at a stage two a while ago, and one of the candidates there beat that person's score. This person didn't like being shown up so, and promptly failed that candidate..

Completely fictitious.

:suspect:

Mischief making tales now...? I can say with some certainty that that situation would have been very unlikely to occur when i went through the interview process. More likely the question - 'Are you motivated at all??'

On related matters... are the questions still multiple choice?

Gonzo you'll start an outbreak of fear in the already fearsome candidates! They won't want to do too badly or too well now!!

What have you done :E

Hurn Preparation (Prep. H).....
 

..... Does anyone have any constructive ideas/comments as to what preparation can be done before starting at the :8 college in October. I did see a post a few months back regarding course books and material but I'm unable to locate it! Also, if you could share your views on accomodation, house shares, room letting etc. in relation to price and location in Bournemouth.... grateful I would be!

Thanks for your help. :ok:

MATS Pt1 may be a good read
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP493Part1.pdf

chedchenko...

in terms of prep for college: have a good thorough read of the stuff they send you - i think its still the Nav DLP although maybe more now. make a start on aircraft recognition if you dont know them apart already, it'll help a lot.

asides from that have a read of MATS I (as linked above) but maybe stick to section I as thats the general stuff.

Hi,

I just applied for the stage 1 (coming up on 1st August).
As I read this tread through (quite long thread actually), I see people talking about what's called "motivation paper".
Could you give me more insight about it (or them if there are a lot to fill in)?

How would one prepare for that 'cause I read earlier someone say something like he had prepared himself well enough on it... so...?

Yea so I wanna make it through for the 1st stage and I'd like to have some advice about how to prepare well or on what should I spend more time preparing, things like that?


Thank you for replying.

Chris

Prep. H
 

Thanks a million AJ and STONEYROSE.
Much Obliged.