Etihad cadet pilot programme last test
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Hey guys Im new here , but am eagerly waiting for the Etihad cadet program to start, I am an FAA PPL license holder with 200 hours of flying. I want to make sure whether I am eligible for this program , also does anyone of you know for sure if the program is going to start in 2010, if yes when?
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hey im new to this thread...i was wondering if someone could tell me the exact link of etihad global cadet pilot programme, so that i can gather some information about the programme
thanks
thanks
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Due to the 'economic climate', the latest international batch to be accepted have been delayed until an undisclosed date in 2011. I therefore very much doubt there will be any interviews until at least 2011, if at all.
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3 international courses in Al Ain now one just finishing up/ doing MCC one close to finishing and another that has recently arrived. Wasn't aware there were any more selected cadets due to start. Good luck to all when the programme opens up again though.
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As someone who went through the selection process for last year’s programme, I feel I am qualified to give my opinion on the whole thing. It may be good reading for people intending on applying (if and when) Etihad reopen the scheme in 2011 or later. I am posting under a false name, chiefly to avoid discomfiture to those I mention. However I can vouch that everything I say is true. Despite the fact that I passed the interview and was in the holding pool, waiting to begin what most people would deem an amazing opportunity, I chose to withdraw my application after witnessing the bad business practices involved. My overall impression of the company was far from good, bearing in mind that I would have to stay there for 7 years...
Firstly – I know that airlines (and businesses in general) always employ carrot-dangling techniques, i.e. they promise and promise but never deliver, but Etihad are quite possibly the worst players of this game. Whether this is because they demand “the best” and have to be autocratic, or simply because their management have dysfunctional prefrontal lobes, I am not sure. I just know that if I were to begin working for them, I wouldn’t be able to take the amount of bullsh*t they throw at you. And no, I’m not an immature young teenager with unrealistic expectations in this world – I have several years work experience, a university degree and many relatives/friends in the airline industry, some as pilots.
From the first day I applied, I began to be messed around. After the initial assessments, they told me that I had passed and would be invited to Abu Dhabi for the second stage. After waiting several months and pinning my hopes up, they suddenly changed their mind and emailed me to say they would not continue with my application. There was no reason given and I didn’t challenge it – after all they didn’t owe me anything and it was ultimately their call. So not feeling too despondent, I applied again…
This time I had to go abroad as there were no free places in the assessments in my home country. I politely asked if they could squeeze me in, after all it was just one extra person and surely some others wouldn’t turn up, but the answer was no. I was apprehensive about spending a large sum of money to fly abroad and pay for a hotel, but decided that it was worth one more go based on the fact that I had passed the assessments previously and this was the “opportunity of a lifetime”.
Once again I passed the initial assessments and was invited to Abu Dhabi. And this time – lo and behold they kept their word and took me there for several days. From the first moment I arrived, I felt very uneasy as a few of the other candidates seemed to have inside knowledge of things I wouldn’t expect them to know, and they were being “too friendly” with the Etihad staff. In fact, when I look back now, there was little point in them even holding this second stage of the selection process, as nearly all of the successful candidates seemed to have been “preselected” before the process began.
First we had the existing Etihad employee who wanted to change his role within the company, then we had the Etihad pilot’s kiddie, then the girl who failed the psychomotor tests but miraculously got a place on the scheme (perhaps they needed at least one girl), then the local boy who was already studying for an ATPL and wouldn’t need a residency permit… I don’t need to continue. Whilst not disputing the fact that these people were perhaps suitable candidates, there is just a large element of suspicion within me as to why they were chosen to actually begin the course. Some didn’t even meet the minimum requirements (particularly with regards to age), but when Etihad is concerned, rules are there to be broken…
The most frustrating part for me is what happened after the selection process. In chronological order, here is a summary of each of the emails received since returning from the interview in Abu Dhabi:
i) You passed the interview but we can’t yet confirm when the next intake is. You are not guaranteed a place so don’t resign from your current job.
ii) You are successful, but you’re not included on the next intake. Please wait until 2010 when there will be another intake.
iii) We are postponing the entire programme until at least 2011, but we still want you. So if you don’t mind, please wait at least another year. However if you change your career plans, let us know so we can take you off our books.
After the third email, I decided that I would not continue with my application as I simply cannot be messed around any more, and I don’t want to work for such an unprofessional company. It is quite obvious to me that some of the candidates on the first intake were not successful by merit at all. It’s unfortunate that in this industry, it’s all about whom you know and how well you know them. If you just so happen to be rubbing shoulders with Etihad staff, you may well get a place.
I related my story to the CEO of a major offshore law firm whilst at another interview, and he was disgusted by the way in which they have unfairly treated the candidates who passed the interview but have not yet started, in favour of those who were “not based on merit”. In this context, the word 'disgusted' is not a dysphemism, rather a euphemism. Not my words.
Before any criticism is given about what I’ve said – I should make it clear that I am aware that Etihad doesn't owe anything to anyone. But that doesn’t mean they are entitled to be tactless, unprofessional and despotic about the way in which they conduct their business. They are not offering part-time retail work to a 16-year old here. Instead they are toying around with people’s dreams and giving extreme false hope to candidates. If not cruel, then it's simply unprofessional to pass someone a golden opportunity, only to take it away from them and decide to give it to someone else who was a bit more friendly with the people "who matter".
I don’t want to discourage people from applying, but if you know to expect disappointment then you’ll be better prepared in your application. If nothing else, you get a free trip to Abu Dhabi for a few days. Perhaps I should have taken the interviewers out for a beer the night before my interview... oh wait... I'm not the first person with this idea!
Firstly – I know that airlines (and businesses in general) always employ carrot-dangling techniques, i.e. they promise and promise but never deliver, but Etihad are quite possibly the worst players of this game. Whether this is because they demand “the best” and have to be autocratic, or simply because their management have dysfunctional prefrontal lobes, I am not sure. I just know that if I were to begin working for them, I wouldn’t be able to take the amount of bullsh*t they throw at you. And no, I’m not an immature young teenager with unrealistic expectations in this world – I have several years work experience, a university degree and many relatives/friends in the airline industry, some as pilots.
From the first day I applied, I began to be messed around. After the initial assessments, they told me that I had passed and would be invited to Abu Dhabi for the second stage. After waiting several months and pinning my hopes up, they suddenly changed their mind and emailed me to say they would not continue with my application. There was no reason given and I didn’t challenge it – after all they didn’t owe me anything and it was ultimately their call. So not feeling too despondent, I applied again…
This time I had to go abroad as there were no free places in the assessments in my home country. I politely asked if they could squeeze me in, after all it was just one extra person and surely some others wouldn’t turn up, but the answer was no. I was apprehensive about spending a large sum of money to fly abroad and pay for a hotel, but decided that it was worth one more go based on the fact that I had passed the assessments previously and this was the “opportunity of a lifetime”.
Once again I passed the initial assessments and was invited to Abu Dhabi. And this time – lo and behold they kept their word and took me there for several days. From the first moment I arrived, I felt very uneasy as a few of the other candidates seemed to have inside knowledge of things I wouldn’t expect them to know, and they were being “too friendly” with the Etihad staff. In fact, when I look back now, there was little point in them even holding this second stage of the selection process, as nearly all of the successful candidates seemed to have been “preselected” before the process began.
First we had the existing Etihad employee who wanted to change his role within the company, then we had the Etihad pilot’s kiddie, then the girl who failed the psychomotor tests but miraculously got a place on the scheme (perhaps they needed at least one girl), then the local boy who was already studying for an ATPL and wouldn’t need a residency permit… I don’t need to continue. Whilst not disputing the fact that these people were perhaps suitable candidates, there is just a large element of suspicion within me as to why they were chosen to actually begin the course. Some didn’t even meet the minimum requirements (particularly with regards to age), but when Etihad is concerned, rules are there to be broken…
The most frustrating part for me is what happened after the selection process. In chronological order, here is a summary of each of the emails received since returning from the interview in Abu Dhabi:
i) You passed the interview but we can’t yet confirm when the next intake is. You are not guaranteed a place so don’t resign from your current job.
ii) You are successful, but you’re not included on the next intake. Please wait until 2010 when there will be another intake.
iii) We are postponing the entire programme until at least 2011, but we still want you. So if you don’t mind, please wait at least another year. However if you change your career plans, let us know so we can take you off our books.
After the third email, I decided that I would not continue with my application as I simply cannot be messed around any more, and I don’t want to work for such an unprofessional company. It is quite obvious to me that some of the candidates on the first intake were not successful by merit at all. It’s unfortunate that in this industry, it’s all about whom you know and how well you know them. If you just so happen to be rubbing shoulders with Etihad staff, you may well get a place.
I related my story to the CEO of a major offshore law firm whilst at another interview, and he was disgusted by the way in which they have unfairly treated the candidates who passed the interview but have not yet started, in favour of those who were “not based on merit”. In this context, the word 'disgusted' is not a dysphemism, rather a euphemism. Not my words.
Before any criticism is given about what I’ve said – I should make it clear that I am aware that Etihad doesn't owe anything to anyone. But that doesn’t mean they are entitled to be tactless, unprofessional and despotic about the way in which they conduct their business. They are not offering part-time retail work to a 16-year old here. Instead they are toying around with people’s dreams and giving extreme false hope to candidates. If not cruel, then it's simply unprofessional to pass someone a golden opportunity, only to take it away from them and decide to give it to someone else who was a bit more friendly with the people "who matter".
I don’t want to discourage people from applying, but if you know to expect disappointment then you’ll be better prepared in your application. If nothing else, you get a free trip to Abu Dhabi for a few days. Perhaps I should have taken the interviewers out for a beer the night before my interview... oh wait... I'm not the first person with this idea!
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Colony
I totally agree with you...in fact I might have even been in Abu Dhabi with you at the same time...When I was there it almost seemed as if everyone from one hotel passed the first part of the second stage whilst everyone else failed. I even met a guy there who had passed everything the year before and had been given a start date for one of the courses to then be told that they were withdrawing his and everyone elses applications. They then held more tests later on urged him to reapply. So, naturally he did, and he didn't even make it to the interview part in Abu Dhabi. Disgusting in my honest opinion. There was this other guy who came out of the interview almost in tears because he felt he had messed the interview up by telling them that he was unhappy about not being shown the training facilities in Al Ain before being taken on board and he still got through. I think you are right about taking on that girl as well. I heard about this girl who is on one of the courses who only had two weeks work experience in a supermarket who made it onto the course. Not saying she didn't have the skills but the person who told me about her said that she couldn't tell the difference between Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Plus her scores in the hand eye co-ordination tests weren't great. Maybe that's not a pre-requisite to become an airline pilot but it certainly raises questions in my mind. This other guy that I met said he regrets telling them that he had a wife and kid because they didn't seem impressed with that fact, even though his wife was entirely supportive and even happy at the fact of potentially moving to the UAE. I don't know...the airline industry just always has this sort of rubbish going on...it's really quite sad. Oh, apparently the guy that runs the program is on here as well disguising himself as being someone who 'has heard through the grapevine'. So if you have any concerns regarding the program you should be able to get an answer on here, but take it with a pinch of salt.
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Colony,
I mentioned long time ago that the cadet scheme it self was a good idea if it was run the proper way.
The truth is that it was launched for wrong reasons, by people from the top end of EY pyramid with "personal" agendas.
I once said that only 20-25% in each batch are there because they deserve to, the rest is the same old story... Its not what you know but...
I mentioned long time ago that the cadet scheme it self was a good idea if it was run the proper way.
The truth is that it was launched for wrong reasons, by people from the top end of EY pyramid with "personal" agendas.
I once said that only 20-25% in each batch are there because they deserve to, the rest is the same old story... Its not what you know but...
for you!
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The girl who started in the last intake failed the psychomotor test and the spatial awareness/dynamic thinking tests. But she previously worked as cabin crew at Etihad. No dirty work there then!
The programme was indeed launched for the wrong reasons - just to get "friends and family" of Etihad staff into the pilot's seat, even if they're not suitable for the role. Looking at the last intake of 10 people, only 4 were not previously linked to Etihad, and 2 of those did some serious rule-bending to get their place...
The programme was indeed launched for the wrong reasons - just to get "friends and family" of Etihad staff into the pilot's seat, even if they're not suitable for the role. Looking at the last intake of 10 people, only 4 were not previously linked to Etihad, and 2 of those did some serious rule-bending to get their place...
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I somewhat disagree. From my experiences, very few people had any ties at all with Etihad, and I honestly think the best people got accepted. Granted, it is very irritating being delayed for an indescript amount of time, but surely this is an opportunity worth waiting for? I do feel it's fair enough that as Etihad have delayed their aircraft orders, they have then delayed the cadet intake. There would be no point in Etihad spending £100k+ training each cadet when there are no aircraft for them to fly at the end.
As someone who passed the application process for the Etihad Cadet program last year I would say I have to agree with aceman on this one! From what Colony is saying I highly doubt we were in Abu Dhabi at the same time because I also didn't see any of the bad practices mentioned in Colony's post occuring.
Sure there were a couple of Etihad flight attendants applying and they have every right to, as do people who are currently flying (as long as they do not exceed the maximum requirements specified for applying) because they obviously have an interest in aviation! As for the Etihad pilot's kid mentioned by Colony, why is it so suspicious for someone who's parent is a pilot with Etihad to apply and be accepted? They most likely have an interest in aviation, as that tends to happen in families where one or both parents are pilots. They would know a lot about Etihad, what it means to be a pilot with the company and what is required of their pilots! If anything, it sounds like both the Etihad flight attendants and the sons and daughters of Etihad staff have a lucky head start, and I'm sure if your father was an Etihad pilot it wouldn't have stopped you from applying!
It's extremely tough to get a good flying job a long the lines of what Etihad are offering, basically from scratch. A lot of pilots spend lots of money and years flying before they even get a chance on turbo props, let alone heavy jets. Short of lying, cheating or bribing I would do anything I could to get myself in the best position to make it into this program. Anyone who makes it through the selection process has the opportunity of a lifetime and I'm not willing to give that up just because my course has been delayed by a year!
As for anyone who has made it into the program, I'm sure they are all worthy of what they have achieved and that the Etihad staff running the selection process wouldn't choose people they feel aren't up to the task. Think about it, if they have a whole bunch of cadets who don't even make it through the course, can't fly a plane, can't pass the exams and really aren't that interested in becoming pilots with Etihad, how does it make the people who selected them look, and how long would those people keep their positions/jobs in the Cadet Pilot department?
Sure there were a couple of Etihad flight attendants applying and they have every right to, as do people who are currently flying (as long as they do not exceed the maximum requirements specified for applying) because they obviously have an interest in aviation! As for the Etihad pilot's kid mentioned by Colony, why is it so suspicious for someone who's parent is a pilot with Etihad to apply and be accepted? They most likely have an interest in aviation, as that tends to happen in families where one or both parents are pilots. They would know a lot about Etihad, what it means to be a pilot with the company and what is required of their pilots! If anything, it sounds like both the Etihad flight attendants and the sons and daughters of Etihad staff have a lucky head start, and I'm sure if your father was an Etihad pilot it wouldn't have stopped you from applying!
It's extremely tough to get a good flying job a long the lines of what Etihad are offering, basically from scratch. A lot of pilots spend lots of money and years flying before they even get a chance on turbo props, let alone heavy jets. Short of lying, cheating or bribing I would do anything I could to get myself in the best position to make it into this program. Anyone who makes it through the selection process has the opportunity of a lifetime and I'm not willing to give that up just because my course has been delayed by a year!
As for anyone who has made it into the program, I'm sure they are all worthy of what they have achieved and that the Etihad staff running the selection process wouldn't choose people they feel aren't up to the task. Think about it, if they have a whole bunch of cadets who don't even make it through the course, can't fly a plane, can't pass the exams and really aren't that interested in becoming pilots with Etihad, how does it make the people who selected them look, and how long would those people keep their positions/jobs in the Cadet Pilot department?
