Let's just say I wasn't born yesterday. :}

Increments
 

Not correct. You get your pay increase on your 1st rating/endorsement aniversary. Sometimes the pay increase is back paid due to the paper work not getting put in quickly or their is a hold up in Canberra for one reason or another. In any case, the increments are automatic. So therefore L9 takes 9 years to achieve.

I also have recommended controllers for accelerated advancement. Unfortunately, not all were accepted by the GM ATC. Of course in those cases I was blamed, even though I have no control over that outcame. No arse-licking required or accepted by me either.

Hey Plaz, is GTS, OJTI, Technical Specialist non-ATC things? I think its all part and parcel of the organisation of providing ATC services. To have controllers you've got to train them, develop procedures, etc.



DP

The information on this page is pretty current. Online application > online testing > telephone interview > assessment centre.

I believe the recruitment team travel around to the different capital cities to conduct rounds of assessment centres, if you do get that far. You may or may not have a choice as to where you go for the assessment centre. E.g. I know of a person from Melbourne that did their assessment centre in Sydney.

A non-aviation background shouldn't be a problem; if you've got the skillset and what it takes to be an ATC, you've got what it takes. If you don't, you don't.

The online testing is similar to the SHL testing many companies use in their graduate recruitment processes. Also, this thread has quite a bit of useful information.

Good luck

Brisbane centre courses
 

Just wondering if anyone out there is able to provide some info on the courses being run out of Brisbane.

ie, general start times, facilities (classrooms, syndicate / study rooms), after hours access, gym?? and the like.

Starting course in a couple of months and trying to get a bit better idea of the daily routine and layout so I can get try and figure out a work/play/rest/travel ratio

Cheers

Hi Madbrid
I did my training in Melbourne so start times may be different, but we started at 7am at the earliest, 11am at the latest (they had courses spread out their start times to accommodate the sim).

Theres a couple of class rooms - you will probably be assigned one for your course so you don't have to move around. There's an area behind the TV room you could do some private study, or set up downstairs in the cafeteria (outside of lunchtime theres always plenty of room there). These areas (aside from the classrooms) will be accessible 24/7.

There is also a gym on site you will be able to sign up for once you get here that has all hours access.

Hope that helps

Courses in Brisbane
 

Hi Madbrid, and congrats on getting onto an atc training course.

In Brisbane, they are set up to have 2 courses at any time, due to the need to share the sim. You will work a basic 9-5 for the first 8 weeks while you do the introductory theory component of the course. Then you will be in the sim for the next 12 months basically, and work a 0700-1412 or 1148-1900 shift week about.

The training is normally delivered with about a 1 hour sim pre brief, followed by 5 hours in the sim (2 hours playing pilot and 2 playing atc) followed by a 1 hour debrief. There are 4 modules that you need to pass in the sim; DTI, non radar, radar and combined ops. There are also periods when theory trainng is also delivered concurrent with the sim program, for example, when you do the non radar module, you will also do your sep standards theory,which, naturally, is a critical subject.

The Brisbane training is done in the operations building ( unlike Melbourne, which is done in a separate stand alone facility) so you have easier access to
the gym, stand down areas, canteen etc etc used by the operational staff.

Good luck with the course.

Hi, can anyone give me idea how long it may take to start the course if i apply now?(if i successfully go through all steps & i live in melb)
and i am from non-English speaking background but as i finished my degree in finance n staying here for 7 yrs , so i am pretty ok in communicating but do i have to have a decent accent for the job ?

mrshaika,

You'll have to be assessed against an ICAO English language test which, I think, only RMIT does in Melbourne. I'm not sure what the citizenship criteria are.

"Training duration

Applicants with no prior experience (ab initio):
* Learning Academy: 12 months approximately
* Final field training: 4 – 6 months approximately"
source

However, it is my understanding that tower courses tend to get through the learning academy in less than 12 months, and the enroute courses may take slightly longer than 12 months.

ICAO requires ATCs to have at ICAO English Level 4 or above, and if you have been in Australia for 7 years, then chances are you probably should be at least at that level. However, the best thing to do is to contact [email protected] directly and ask for yourself.

"To be eligible for training, applicants are required to meet the mandatory criteria at the time of submitting their application. Applicants are required to:
...
* be an Australian or New Zealand Citizen or hold permanent residency status in Australia"
source

Thnkx for quick reply, I am holding australian citizenship so i am eligible on that term. But how long it takes for the interview process ? means duration between day 1(job application) and Final notification that u r selected for training ? how many months 4/5 ?

From what I've heard from people just starting in the Academy, it's about 6 months at the moment. Prior to that, it was out to 14 months for some people (me and just about everyone else who started around the same time :()

Anyone had any feedback re: the next steps from the telephone interviews conducted 19-20 Jan?

Hi All,

I'm going through the application process at the moment as well. I had my phone interview before Christmas and have yet to hear anything else. The lady who conducted my interview told me I would be going through to the next round, which for me is a full assessment day in Brisbane sometime in late March. The wait is getting very hard. I am practising my mental arithmetic though!

To anyone who just came out of the college, what does the take home salary equate to? I,ve seen the annual salary but just wanted to know the after tax value, is it fortnightly,monthly? Thanks

The basic method of calculating the take home salary is no different from any other job really. Take the gross annual income, work out which tax bracket you belong to to find out how much tax you'll have to pay, and then subtract the tax from your gross annual income to find your net annual income. And then divide by the appropriate number of pay periods, which, in the case of the learning academy, is fortnightly. Of course, this does not take into account any deductions, levies, monies withholding etc, that may vary with your own individual circumstances.

This post is not financial advice.

The biggest thing I noticed during testing is the lack of background knowledge others had. Yes it is true you can get by, but if you show no interest I.e not visiting any towers etc, or having a basic knowledge of what atc is all about, you are setting yourself up to fail at the college.

This post is not financial advise.....

Really? Didn't sound like it either. Hope you have professional indemnity insurance saying stuff like that!!

New Here!!
 

Hi,

I have really found this forum very interesting and resourceful-Thanks a lot!

I have recently applied for the ATC in take for 2012 on the 30th of January 2012 as advertised on SEEK website-does anyone know when is this intake for?? its for en-route positions though here in Melbourne.

anyone else applied recently in January through seek?

will keep posted!

Cheers

I also applied about 2 weeks ago though not through seek, I applied directly on their websites job listing. Looking at the seek listing it looks exactly the same though. I'm really keen to start getting through the recruitment process but it's all a waiting game I guess!

good luck and hopefully the norm has been around a month's time from the application date-you receive an invitation to complete online assessments and considering the closing date is 12th of March-its a waiting game.