Hey, one question. Did you two apply for Eurocontrol?
Because both of you are too old for EC.

eurocontrol. you are allowed to apply if you are under 32 and over 20.

But not as an air traffic controller. You are not allowed to be older than 24 years of age on first october,2014.

Want to become a student air traffic controller? If so, you must:
not yet be 25 years of age on 1 October 2014;

The tests we are going to take (feast test), are from eurocontrol Isn't it possible that cyprus has different age criteria than other countries? The age range is the one I mentioned. for instance, i read in this forum that 18yearolds are allowed to apply. we are not. You have to be over 20 and have a university diploma.

Sorry, maybe that was a missunderstanding, but i thought you meant eurocontrol as an ansp and not a test of eurocontrol.

Every ATC schools have their own rules.
In ukraine we don't have age restrictions, but we're part of Eurocontrol!
Going to have FEAST I 23 january.

I finally got a reply from Eurocontrol, and the good thing is that they said that they have processed my application and they have sent me the form for the optician to fill out. On the other hand how ever they said that their next selection tests are in 2013, which is literally a year away! And that is such a long wait!
Well now I will have to see if I pass the opticians test, one thing I am thinking is if they will even tell us if we passed that or not??

this test is only a basic test. so if you are able to see something,you will pass the test. i wasn't able to fill out everything and they said it's not a problem.

i don't know if you know it,but if you pass the interview,you have to pass a medical and there you will be finally tested.


but as you said, one year is a very long time. and the next course starts in 2014,so from now,it's 2 years.

Hey guys. Who had FEAST test at eurocontrol, tell me please, which preparation tool is most effective, feasttest.com or skytest?
Just got information, that feasttest is almost similar as at eurocontrol, is that true?

look at this and forget your training tools.

Hello. First of all I'd like to thank you guys for the thread. Was a nice "book" to read. Second, while preparing is not encouraged to be used, I do think it's normal for a human being to know what's he's facing and wanting to give his best.

I don't know how ATC are in Maastricht, but I know a few here that aren't born with what EUROCONTROL wants them to be born. They developed the knowledge step by step.
I took a preparation test from the Internet ( payed for it, don't hate because it's my money ) just to see how it is and it's about how we see ourselves. If I rock this test( which is easier in some parts, but harder in others - like you have 15 secs to do the cube compared to 40 secs at original FEAST ), I will be more confident in myself. That doesn't mean I don't have what it takes, because usually tests are harder than the actual job/thing/etc. That's just my opinion.

Anyway what I really wanted to ask is if the FEAST wants to see our logic and response speed or if we can take a problem to the end.
Let me give you an example, and I will take my beloved cubes.
40 seconds for 1 cube, if you finish 3/4 of them all in 20 seconds each compared to finishing 4/4 ( all ) in 39 seconds each. Which one is better?

Don't get me wrong, I like planes, wanted to be a pilot ( but decided not to ) and my aunt is an ATC for 15 years and I like what she's doing ( actually helping people ), so after rocking the psychology exam ( according to them ) and after having my ego fed with a lot of "you're smart" stuff, I won't let a silly test and some cubes tell me I'm stupid, because I'm not. I don't need much practice, all I want is more information about the test so I can make a battle plan.

I'm sorry if what I say is not much help to others, just been reading this for quite a while and thought I'd say my story :)
Good luck to all want-to-become ATC-ers and thx for the info.

Steve.

the more you train for feast, the higher are the chances to lose the training.

How long does the first part take to pass it? I mean, explanation, training(if exist) and the test...?1,2,3 hr?

around 2 hours

thx paraskevoulla,good luck with the test

Well I did take into consideration all your warnings and I won't prepare for it. Instead, I'm going to work my brain a bit with those cubes. Going into practice mode and I'm going to strive to get 100% (got 80% max once, was so happy). There shouldn't be anything wrong with doing so vision exercises to stimulate my neurons :)

On-topic: In my opinion, the most important thing you should have is the confidence in yourself. If you go to FEAST with thoughts like : "my parents will be so mad if I fail", "my whole life depends on this test", you are 90% sure to fail. Like someone said on this thread, he started bad, but then chilled, found his happy place and managed to go through with it. I'm going to try to do the same.

I don't know if that is such a good idea because you have a training phase. i think they want to see how fast you can learn new things and how much you can better yourself.

i know it's not eurocontrol, but in germany, they don't want that you are perfect at the beginning, but they want to see that you try to become better and that you learn from your mistakes.

so if you are perfect from the beginning, they have two possible solutions:
1. you are very good
2. you have trained

but in the end, it's your decision

As an ex SATCO with Eurocontrol it annoys me so much that these companies are taking peoples money offering 'help' for the FEAST test.

Honestly, people reading this just take the advice to rest well and prehaps dress well to the feast test and see it as an enjoyable day of puzzles. If you have what it takes to work in Maastricht as a ATCO you will pass the feast test. Be warned though passing the feast test does not mean you have what it takes to be an ATCO (in Maastrict).

I truly beleive that with enough practice you will be successful at any test so you can train yourselve through the feast. But whats the point. You will find yourself failing at some point and be in my situation (and I did not use any training method). Having spent a lot of time that could have been spent developing another career. In my case this equated to 6 months waiting for the course to begin, 9 months of the course and then 4 months after trying to secure another job a total of 19 months that could have been better spent. Bear in mind some people fail right at the end of the course some 2,5 years after starting. I have the greatest respect for EC but they will chop you and tell you not to come in the next day.

These money grabbing feast test trainers make me so mad I would like to set up a free website offering training (I have a background in software development). I won't though as I respect EC too much to screw up their selection (and fear of them sueing me, hehe)

I reiterate BeTs advice
Rest well, dress smart and know some background info on the company.

Well how can you say that if you take the FEAST by practicing, it's useless, because you might ( most likely ) fail the training ?
The ATC job is %1 of what this exam tests. I might have other skills and learn very fast. A test can never tell ME that I am not good enough for something. Until you haven't tried and see live what happens, you can't say I don't fit there.
Don't underestimate the human will and the brain.

And again, I'm saying all of these, because I have a relative that is an ATC for 15 years and she went to her exam with thoughts like "meh, lets give it a try, can't kill me", yet she's very good now and compared to me at her age back then, she's not as smart and intelligent as I am. So who says I can't learn in a very short time everything and be successful at this job?
Also, you can take FEAST first try, without any practice, that doesn't mean you are going to be a good ATC even if you pass all the training.
Everything is relative.

Yes,you are right, the test can't tell you 100 percently that you dont have the skills.
but what do you think, who has better chances to pass the training. someone who had to train for it and didn't have the self confidence to do it without training or someone who is spontaneous,tried it and passed it?

you have to bear in mind, in reality, you don't know what is going to happen so you have to act spontaneously and you have to make the right decisions SPONTANEOUSLY!
and that is the reason why they don't want you to practice for it(some things such as english,describing things etc are okay but not the exact tasks!)

and dont think they will not see if you have practiced for it. the chances are high that they kick you because of that. or they raise the bar. because how could they compare you with someone else?



and the example with intelligence is stupid (in my opinion.)
do you really think you are better at multitasking or something else then someone who is not as intelligent as you?
there are some specific skills which you have or don't have. if not,then you are not able to become an air traffic controller to work with such a high workload.