Cheryl,
I am an experienced Uk controller who is living in Australia. When I first enquired this time last year I was laughed at and told to go away until I had my PR. ( I was lucky to get PR through my partner) Now they are recruiting from overseas but for Sydney only. The situation changes all the time depending on need so if they knock you back now, it's worth keeping an eye out or checking back.

If it helps anyone, the recruitment process has been just as onerous for me as the new recruits. I had to do the tests and the interview and wait and wait and wait.....

Cheryl,

You might not hear back for months. They are in the middle of an overseas hire right now. I'm not sure they are even taking applicants anymore. If you look on their website it says what they are hiring for and taking applications for. First trainging class starts tomorrow (with myself, a guy from the UK who is going to Sydney and purpleairspace)

My timeline was:

ASA emailed me in Feb asking if I wanted to apply for the Sydney job
Offer came at the end of July
Start Tomorrow

The process has been pretty time consuming. I am from the US and have moved over here and will be getting my residency, so no you do not have to be a Citizen of Australia.

Hi YankATC

Thanks for all of the info.

So u didnt have residency before applying with ASA?? And are you now eligible as you have been accepted by ASA??

And did you have any previous ATC qualifications or were you just applying to ASA as a trainee ATC??

Sorry for all the questions!

Cheryl

P.s thanks purpleairspace too for info...u guys have given me a small glimmer of hope!!

Goodluck EnemyMiG. My referees haven't been contacted yet, but it is great to have the heads up just in case they are. It has been so long since I asked one of my referees to speak for me that they would be wondering if I am still alive, let alone this far along the selection process.

I'll let you know if mine are contacted, but I think you just might be special, maybe January course material, V11

Thanks V11

Mum always said I was special
(or was it that I needed to see a specialist? - I can't remember) :}

Keep us posted

I have had referees checked last week. Hopefully hear from ASA soon.

Goodluck mont
Here's hoping.....

Re age and ATC

The only requirement is that you must be 21 to hold an ATC licence (ICAO).

Also re residency - you need to be able to prove that you are eligible for residency/citizenship, ASA will not be your sponsor - might make things too easy and ATCs too transferrable!!

applying for AsA from overseas
 

cheryl (glasgow uk).......im from ireland and sat my tests last year and am currently on the order of merit. there is a rediculously long wait to get on AsA so in the meantime i would do NATS as it is much quicker (like 3 months from start to finish) and if you pass you dont have this nightmarish wait around and twiddle your thumbs period. you can start your australian testing online but you will eventually have to sit tests in australia at one of the centres. i had to come home for a wedding and they were very considerate to me in letting me complete my interviews over the phone!

.........with regards to residency i was granted my residency last year (through accounting) and AsA specifically informed me that i would not be allowed to sit the tests and thus waste their time and resources without proof of residency first which did and does make sense as the wait for residency is almost as long as the wait to get on an AsA college course!!

The age of 21 has been removed I believe.


I had my 21st birthday on a night shift.:suspect:

enemyMiG here's hoping we get to see a specialist. Though the class 3 medical may not be exactly what your Mum was referring to. My referees were checked this week.

Nice one V11

Looks like the ASA plane has finally taken off again
Let's hope it's the red-eye and not a scenic flight.....

Cheers
 

Thanks a lot for the info NFR Cheers

Does anyone else have second thoughts when they read articles like the one below?

Airservices, staff on collision course | The Australian

I'm stoked to have made it to the training stage, but I can't help but have these niggling doubts after reading stuff like this.

Any current ATCOs out there who can tell me about the silver lining?

Said it before and I will say it again if you are a young person about to begin ATC training with AsA to become En-Route (Area) Controller you are not doing yourself any favours. Without leaving Australia your career will more than likely be limited and not very rewarding.

I say this from personal experience and the current situation that close friends and colleagues still in endure in AsA. 'Poisonous' was the most common description of the work enviroment at the major centres.
If you are desparate to do ATC join the RAAF get Tower & Approach and then join AsA.

Become a tradie, just paid $250 to have 1 outside power point installed to my house in BrisVegas took less than 20mins and most of that was him asking me what I do for a crust :}

Good luck either way you go

hey guys (and girls)
Can't believe I didn't find this forum page earlier as I have looked a few times.
After ready a lot of the posts in this thread I seem to be in exactly the same situation as gemmy, toboto, v11 and enemymig. Except my references haven't been contacted yet.

I'm actually relieved to hear that you have all been playing the waiting game too. Looks like my best chances are for starting the course in March next year. Hope I hear something soon.

Have you guys been emailing ASA for updates. Since the last email asked for patience I have been reluctant to annoy them, but it seems that some others have received more information than me i.e that the courses for 2009 had all been filled (I just assumed that)

Just thought I join the forum and try and keep up with the news/ rumours.
Hope we all get jobs soon.

Hey don't feel to bad, i still haven't had my referees contacted yet and i emailed ASA two weeks ago for an update and i haven't heard anything back yet, like you said some are getting more info than others, this forum is the best place to get info from, i know more from these guys than ASA!

One step closer... My referees were contacted last week. My guess is another 2 months until I hear anything now!

So this question is mainly to jrbridge. Im staying optimistic and thinking what i can do in the waiting time since my current job is a bit dull.

Just wondering if you had any suggestions for books or reading material to cover before the course. You said in a previous post that they have exams almost straight away so its better to be as prepared as i can be.

Im sure there are text they give you there or something like that. But is there anything you wish you had have memorized (ie a list of acronyms) that would have made that first week a little easier.

Oh and does anyone know what they asked their references? I think i should give mine another call saying they still might hear from asa anytime. The last time I told them they could be hearing from asa was months ago they prob thought i didnt get the job.

Hi fivel

ASA will ask questions like:

Are you a team player?
Do you follow rules and regs?
What kind of conflict situations have you been in, and their outcomes?
Would they employ you again?

They will ask your refs to rate you out of 5 on these and other questions.
Phone call goes for around 15-20 mins.

Goodluck