Yes, there was a structured interview when I did my stage 2 a couple of months ago.

You get asked 60 (?) questions by an HR rep about circumstances you've been in and how you'd react to certain things.

They don't expect you to go into massive amounts of detail, and there's no technical questions - They're stage 3.

There's not a great deal of prep you can do for the stage 2 interview IMO.

Perhaps have a few ideas in your head about times you've done this or that but those type of questions are only a small part of the interview, they don't go into any depth on your answers and the majority of it was "What would you do if xxxxx happened?" or "Would you describe yourself as a confident person and why?" kind of thing.

You need to prep (and prep well!) for the stage 2 motivation paper, but that's all the technical prep you need do for this stage.

I have just phoned NATS HR who confirmed that the interview has been taken out of Stage 2. They have 're-jigged' the process and now it is a full day of computer tests, rather than half a day as it used to be.

Ouch.

I went into Stage 2 feeling confident about the computer tests as I consider myself to be very good with computers and spatial awareness etc, but was a bit apprehensive about the interview and the motivational paper.

However when I came out of Stage 2, I was happy with the motivation paper and the interview but absolutely CONVINCED I'd failed on the computer tests. They're just evil. The thought of a full day's worth.... :{

The ATC at my stage 3 interview told me over lunch they would be overhauling the process but he had no idea how. I actually quite like the sound of a full day of computer tests - I thought they were really good fun! They must have upgraded the computer system perhaps? Will be interested to see what they're testing on now.

Oh great, that means when (positive thinking) I get my Stage 2, any day now, I'll be a guinea pig for the new process then.

Me too!
Damn! Hopefully they will take that into account and give us an extra 5 minutes or so :}

hey, this is my first post...i had my stage 1 in belfast on feb 26th, and have hence completed the Online Questionaire and found out on monday that i have passed that, and have now been invited to complete the application form. I am wrecking my head trying to put all the right things down! haha
what type of things are they looking for in the application form? and also how quickly do i find out what my choices are for dates for stage 2 after i submit my application?
thanks
Brian

How long did it take you from submitting OPQ to hearing you'd passed? Or anyone else here...

Yes I'd be interested to know as well...it's been two weeks since I submitted my OPQ and I've heard nothing. Ordinarily, I wouldn't mind but when I read that people on here that submitted their OPQs at the same time as me have received their results 3 or 4 days ago it gets pretty frustrating.

Add to this the fact that HR are being as helpful as ever by not replying in the Message Centre, and that the Easter weekend means it'll be at least another 4 days before I find out, and you can see why I'm pissed off :mad:

yea they definetly were not quick about it. mm..let me see..i did my questionaire on the 21st March and found out on 6th april. over 2 weeks there

I wonder if they're going to start using the FEAST tests.

Yes, the Easter FEAST...........:D

I would imagine they are going to start using FEAST as when I was at the college last year they used as guinea pigs for them. Much better than the current system I reckon.

Looks like SHL would be out of a contract if the FEAST tests were introduced?

From what I've seen about FEAST, OPQ looks absent?

How do you go about getting any feed back if you've failed? I understand they don't imply they give any so I'm not sure how to go about it.

Manchester 30th march PM
 

I got my results yesterday unexpectedly.
I applied on the internet and the only place i could go was in swanwick, so i rang HR and asked if they had any places in Manchester and they did so i affectively had 2 applications. One done through the phone and one done over the internet.
Anyway, yesterday i recieved an email saying my online app had been withdrawn as i hadnt booked a place on there as i had done it over the phone and i was worried my results would have been lost, so i called HR up and they gave me all my results.
I didnt get through unfortunately
I got 76/80 for basic checking
24/50 for diagramming
17/50 for spatial awareness
and i was never told what i got in the motivation paper.

POOR EFFORT :( lol

has anyone else from manchester had their results by email yet?

marco888

Ring HR, they'll give you feedback on where you went wrong.

Thanks - will do after the holidays.

As I plan to re-apply next year it would be good to know where I went wrong.

Yes, it'll look good when you reapply and they ask you what you've done to prepare for the interview, you can tell them that you got feedback from last time and have worked doubly hard on the area where you let yourself down on to ensure it doesn't happen again.

I was lucky enough to get through Stage 3, but if I hadn't then I'd have reapplied with much more confidence next year as if you know what's going to happen on the day then you've got a massive advantage over everyone else there.

new 2nd stage computer tests
 

Hi All!

Has anyone gone through this new all-day computer tests of stage 2 yet?
Going to do it on the 24th and would be nice to get some info about what to expect.
I called up HR got a brief summary but more details would be very helpful.

Cheers!

I've recently gone through the day of computer tests, which included the FEAST tests, it was a far from pleasant day and I'm confident that I failed to get through. There's nothing you can really do to prepare for the tests apart from practice your cubes a bit more because they make an appearance. My only advice is to read the instructions for each test very carefully and do the practice questions as many times as you feel you need to. When I turned up for stage 2 none of us had been informed that the system had changed to a day of computer tests, we were all prepared for the motivation paper and HR interview so you're lucky that you at least know what to expect on the day. You still do the old format computer tests aswell which throws you a bit because you go from using the mouse on the new tests to using a specialised keyboard for the old tests, it's much easier using the mouse.
Best of luck to you.

Got my stage 2 on Wednesday 15th
 

So have they dropped the interview now then? Its the one thing I was struggling to prepare for.

If its a day of computer tests, does anyone know if the motivational paper is still included? I hope it is, only because I have done a whole heap of work for it.

CJayne,

Congrats! Where do you live if you don't mind me asking?

I live in sunny Wimborne, I should be starting at college in August hopefully! :ok:

Daft medical related question

I'm booking my medical for in the next couple of weeks. I'm assuming I'm OK to roll up in jeans and trainers?

I can't see why not, after all it's not an interview stage anymore so I'm not out to impress, but just wanted to get confirmation from anyone who's already been that it's acceptable.

Yep just wear what you're happy in- you'll be taking them all off straight away anyway :E

Stage 2 15th april
 

Got my stage 2 this wednesday, just wondering if anyone has any more info about the new structure of the day?
For anyone who has been to stage 2 before, any last minute advice on the motivation paper etc and what to expect would be brilliant!

Hi Emilie,

Well, looks like we will meet at 8.15 (prompt :)) then.

No idea about the new format, I suspect we might be the first group going through it. I think its just know the motivation paper inside out and backwards (I have made flash cards and everything) and take time on the computer tests.

ar_ni - Cheers.

Emilie - I don't know about the new process, but I sat stage 2 quite recently. All the advice I can give is to learn the motivational booklet word for word as you'll get questions from every single section of it.

As for the computer tests... Well they've probably changed, but as they were you used to get a break between each batch of tests so just take your time. You're not timed overall, but once a test starts then there's no pausing or stopping until it's done. You get practice questions, so make sure you understand what you're doing as you get a chance to do these at your own pace and as often as you want.

Whitelighter - i shall see you there indeed, how exciting, we're the guinea pigs for the new stage 2! haha! Im glad im not the only one to have made little cards and things like that to help me remember; im travelling down tomorrow so im hoping to get some extra revision in the hotel too! Camberley isnt too far from the centre is it?

Chris R - Thanks a lot for the advice, its much appreciated. Im pretty sure i know the pdf word for word now so im sure ive done enough for that, and with the computer tests i wil just take your advice and see how it goes!

I am very interested to know if these new tests are the ones I got to try out at the college.

Hi,

No camberley is about a 1 hour drive so will be going down on Wednesday morning.

I am in Swanick on Tuesday afternoon/early even muking about with my boat, so if you are down early enough and fancy an hour or so of joint swatting Id be up for a question and answer session.

AA,

What are the tests you have trialed at the college?

stage 2 motivational paper
 

well done to those making it through. i sat the OPQ last week and felt like the questions were forcing me to contradict myself - even though i thought i was being honest throughout. well actually, there were some where the answers were equally applicable to me, in which case i put what i thought they'd be looking for. this seemed fair to me.

aaaaaaaanyway, in the event that i pass, i really want to get cracking on the stage 2 motivational paper rather than wait for them to get get back to me. is this downloadable from anywhere? can't seem to find it on the nats website. do i have a good wait between now and my (hoped) stage 2 date?

incidentally, and somewhat off-topic, i don't reckon the stage 1 pass marks are as high as (as some have quoted) 70%. i only completed about 70% on the diagrammatic test and surely made mistakes there (i.e. rampant guesswork).

Despite advice from NATS to be honest throughout?

Despite the test instructions advising to avoid wild guessing! :rolleyes::cool:

Hey Whitelighter, I just returned a pm from someone asking me about them, although just before I sent it I googled FEAST test and realised those were the tests that myself and other trainees trialed. FEAST test - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Be aware though, that just because these were trialed does not mean that these are the tests that they are now using at Stage 2. We won't know that until the first guys do it. Best of luck though. If they do them all in one day it gets very draining.

I know they made us do the cubes last and not alot of people tried very hard as were very tired and knew it didn't count for anything. This is a good thing if they use those results to set the pass mark though :8.

Hi all,

CJayne well done for passing the last stage good luck for your medical. Just found out that i passed the OPQ, what a relief !!!!!

To everyone who has passed recent stages congratulations, those that failed, DONT give up, this is my second attempt and i feel much better about it this time round. Although i was preparing for an interview on the second stage and now this seems to have changed !!!

And this is my plea, anyone taking stage 2 in the next few weeks please post your experiences as it will be much appreciated by myself and no doubt others as well.

Good luck to all

An OPQ pass here too... thank goodness!

Stage 1 30th March
 

I got an email saying I didn't reach the required standard.

It also says that it is not NATS policy to give feedback so I can only guess that it was probably the cubes that I failed on - the motivational paper was really easy though and I reckon I got almost all of the questions right on that.

I was dreading failing at Stage 1 and there don't seem to be any vacancies for assistants now either.

Callum,

Sorry to hear you didn't make it through. I know it might say that it's not NATS policy to give feedback, but people in the past have received some, so it's definitely worth a shot - at worst, all they can say is no!

I don't know how old you are, but if you're under 25, you could try Eurocontrol if you're still keen and looking for something to do in between now and when you can reapply to NATS.