Tips for Qantas Cadetship
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back-up plan
the best advice I can give is have a back-up plan! Work hard and give it a go, but it is very very competitive. If your working hard 3 years just to get into one cadetship (a small scope in a large industry) and.. if the unfortunate happens and you don't get in, you'll be really cut up.
will you still learn to fly and find a General Aviation job if it doesn't work out for you? You'd probably need to consider it.
will you still learn to fly and find a General Aviation job if it doesn't work out for you? You'd probably need to consider it.
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Keg,
What I was trying to tell the young guy is to be as fore-planned as possible - ANY additional qualifications are merely a plus, so working toward a goal above and beyond that which is bare minimum is the way to go. To suggest the minimum is just asking for trouble, and I do NOT agree with your lacadaisical attitude one single bit! Gone are the days of "She'll be right mate" and "Near enough is good enough". Suggesting otherwise is utter rubbish!
Condensation, listen to the older generation of pilots, the ones who will be TRAINING you, and CHECKING you. I happen to know Old Smokey through work - a man with in excess of 25,000 hours flying, including checking and training, and training at the BASE level, AND Cadet selection and training. I'd take his advice over a QANTAS F/O any day mate.
If you exhibited the degree of laisse-fair in my airline I have read about here, you'd fail your check in a second.
What I was trying to tell the young guy is to be as fore-planned as possible - ANY additional qualifications are merely a plus, so working toward a goal above and beyond that which is bare minimum is the way to go. To suggest the minimum is just asking for trouble, and I do NOT agree with your lacadaisical attitude one single bit! Gone are the days of "She'll be right mate" and "Near enough is good enough". Suggesting otherwise is utter rubbish!
Condensation, listen to the older generation of pilots, the ones who will be TRAINING you, and CHECKING you. I happen to know Old Smokey through work - a man with in excess of 25,000 hours flying, including checking and training, and training at the BASE level, AND Cadet selection and training. I'd take his advice over a QANTAS F/O any day mate.
If you exhibited the degree of laisse-fair in my airline I have read about here, you'd fail your check in a second.
Last edited by MkVIII; 9th May 2005 at 07:25.
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My current back up plan is if I don't pass the Cadetship, I will go to a flying school as a lot of people do and then later try for the Cadetship once more but Stage 2, if I still don't make it I would be more than happy to go to NT to fly in GA as long as I get a job! 
I'm just a bit worried about my maths at the moment, by the looks of things now I'd only be able to handle 2U maths
. Please keep the comments coming, they're greatly appreciated!
Many Thanks!
I'm just a bit worried about my maths at the moment, by the looks of things now I'd only be able to handle 2U maths
. Please keep the comments coming, they're greatly appreciated!Many Thanks!
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Condensation, listen to ALL generations of pilots. They all have something to offer... some good, some bad. Focussing on taking advice from any one group will give you an unbalanced outlook. Managing the information intake never ends! 
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Very good point Lancer.
Balance your perspective, but DO listen to the guys who have been at it a while, especially if you can receive advice from training and check captains.
Be well prepared, and do and be your best! Forewarned is forearmed!
Tinpis - dang it, I never did learn semaphore!
Balance your perspective, but DO listen to the guys who have been at it a while, especially if you can receive advice from training and check captains.
Be well prepared, and do and be your best! Forewarned is forearmed!
Tinpis - dang it, I never did learn semaphore!
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Condensation,
Keg seems to be in line with what I think, I can't tell you about the idyosynch's and fashions of the current QF selection procedure, but I went through the Aer Lingus one (many moons ago) and was successful to the final stage, got short listed and well, mortgage babies , nappies, debt, guinness, and other stuff got in the way.
You can practice the numeric, spatial, verbal tests, and it will help you, at least you'll be familar with the general format and so forth, so you will at least know the technique. You can't blag these as the volume of questions and the ratio to be passed is high (you have to answer at least 75-85% of the questions to be scored), in otherwords its a pressure task, get practice on the type and generics , and then you'll know to move on from the difficult ones and come back once you have completed the test - if you have time that is.
The advice about sport and teamwork is invaluable, the selection panel are not looking for a know it all, they want a well balanced chap who is comfortable in his own skin, confident but not arrogant, decisive, but not impulsive, infact just a normal bloke.
(keep chasing skirt to the pilots - its a fail if HR sniff it)
The HR people will needle you to try and upset you (thats their job) , the pilots on the panel will look for interest and basically see if you are a good likeable bloke who will fit in, they won't expect you to know vref in 33 degree Xwind gusting for a 330, they want to see a keen interest in aviation and cross section ability (which they will guage from other facets of your life, if you can buy beers they are usually yours!!!)
above all, be relaxed and when you see something curvey in the phsyc test, say balloons or parachutes and not tits........
oh, also , if you can afford it, get a class I out of the way as soon as you can , no point going all the way to find that some medical condition precludes you from selection.
above all, enjoy, have fun and be yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!
ps: I have probably done more phsyc tests in my work than most line pilots do in a decade, and you know in the commercial world, they're rubbish, just don't discount them for lines....... would have been easier if i made the list with that cunning irish airline.
Keg seems to be in line with what I think, I can't tell you about the idyosynch's and fashions of the current QF selection procedure, but I went through the Aer Lingus one (many moons ago) and was successful to the final stage, got short listed and well, mortgage babies , nappies, debt, guinness, and other stuff got in the way.
You can practice the numeric, spatial, verbal tests, and it will help you, at least you'll be familar with the general format and so forth, so you will at least know the technique. You can't blag these as the volume of questions and the ratio to be passed is high (you have to answer at least 75-85% of the questions to be scored), in otherwords its a pressure task, get practice on the type and generics , and then you'll know to move on from the difficult ones and come back once you have completed the test - if you have time that is.
The advice about sport and teamwork is invaluable, the selection panel are not looking for a know it all, they want a well balanced chap who is comfortable in his own skin, confident but not arrogant, decisive, but not impulsive, infact just a normal bloke.
(keep chasing skirt to the pilots - its a fail if HR sniff it)
The HR people will needle you to try and upset you (thats their job) , the pilots on the panel will look for interest and basically see if you are a good likeable bloke who will fit in, they won't expect you to know vref in 33 degree Xwind gusting for a 330, they want to see a keen interest in aviation and cross section ability (which they will guage from other facets of your life, if you can buy beers they are usually yours!!!)
above all, be relaxed and when you see something curvey in the phsyc test, say balloons or parachutes and not tits........
oh, also , if you can afford it, get a class I out of the way as soon as you can , no point going all the way to find that some medical condition precludes you from selection.
above all, enjoy, have fun and be yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!
ps: I have probably done more phsyc tests in my work than most line pilots do in a decade, and you know in the commercial world, they're rubbish, just don't discount them for lines....... would have been easier if i made the list with that cunning irish airline.
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Thanks alot guys, I have another question which I'd like to ask but I didn't want to start a new thread for it so if someone could answer it for me, it'd be greatly appreciated.
On the Qantas website, it quotes the minimum requirements for Direct Entry is:
Can someone please explain to me what these mean and whether you only need one of them or not? IE For the first one, does it mean minimum requirements is either 500 PIC hours or etc.
Realistically how many hours will you need to have to get accepted? Because if it is 500 PIC hours, it sounds very little (I may be wrong).
Your help would be greatly appreciated! Cheers.
On the Qantas website, it quotes the minimum requirements for Direct Entry is:
500 hours in command of fixed wing aircraft (excluding ICUS), or
250 hours in command of fixed wing aircraft (of which up to 100 hours may be ICUS) and 1000 hours First Officer time on turbine RPT operations, or
150 hours in command of fixed wing aircraft (excluding ICUS) and 1500 hours First Officer time on turbine RPT operations, or
250 hours in command of fixed wing aircraft (of which up to 100 hours may be ICUS) and 500 hours in command of rotary wing aircraft.
250 hours in command of fixed wing aircraft (of which up to 100 hours may be ICUS) and 1000 hours First Officer time on turbine RPT operations, or
150 hours in command of fixed wing aircraft (excluding ICUS) and 1500 hours First Officer time on turbine RPT operations, or
250 hours in command of fixed wing aircraft (of which up to 100 hours may be ICUS) and 500 hours in command of rotary wing aircraft.
Realistically how many hours will you need to have to get accepted? Because if it is 500 PIC hours, it sounds very little (I may be wrong).
Your help would be greatly appreciated! Cheers.
Condensation,
Whilst 500hrs command is the minimum requirement to submit an application for Direct Entry, you'll find the average number of hours before someone gets a shot at testing is probably more like 1500 total time (so anywhere from 1000-1300hrs command.) Thats the way it's been in the last year or so, but the hrs may have dropped in recent times as recruiting has ramped up a bit. It is entirely feasible that you'll achieve 500hrs command within your first year in GA, given that you'll already have around 100-150 command from your training.
Most people who are aiming for a career with Qantas generally submit an application the same day they reach the min requirements, whether that be when they get the hours, pass their last ATPL subject etc - i know i did!
All the best with it.
Cheers,
TL
Whilst 500hrs command is the minimum requirement to submit an application for Direct Entry, you'll find the average number of hours before someone gets a shot at testing is probably more like 1500 total time (so anywhere from 1000-1300hrs command.) Thats the way it's been in the last year or so, but the hrs may have dropped in recent times as recruiting has ramped up a bit. It is entirely feasible that you'll achieve 500hrs command within your first year in GA, given that you'll already have around 100-150 command from your training.
Most people who are aiming for a career with Qantas generally submit an application the same day they reach the min requirements, whether that be when they get the hours, pass their last ATPL subject etc - i know i did!
All the best with it.
Cheers,
TL
Nunc est bibendum
Gone are the days of "She'll be right mate" and "Near enough is good enough". Suggesting otherwise is utter rubbish!
As for the implication that I'm laissez-faire, that's a bit rough considering you wouldn't know me from a brick. I said my 'natural' state was to be lazy and find the easiest way through. It doesn't mean that I live my life that way although I do believe in conserving energy so it's available to spend on the important stuff- like the big picture! That is one of the advantages of my 'attitude'. It means that I tend to not get caught up in some of the BS that abounds when we strap into an aircraft- like whether I said 'checked' or 'checks'
I aim for perfection, I just don't beat myself up about it when I fail to reach that level from time to time. There is one final advantage to my attitude. I take information from all comers and won't necessarily discard information just because someone has less experience. There are plenty of crash comics that show that those with the thousands of hours aren't always right and there are a couple of QF examples where it was the bloke with less than 1000 hours that provided the timely advice that stopped something that would have made the excursion onto the golf course look like a nice place for a picnic. Again though, I'm not saying that the experienced blokes on this thread aren't correct, just providing an laternative view.
So, imply that I'm no good and wouldn't pass the check in your airline if you must (and indirectly slag QF drivers at the same time). I hope it makes you feel just that little bit more worthy that you've put the 'Qantas F/O' back in his place and reminded him to know where it is Glad I could be of service to you. Mind you, iff that's the attitude that you show up with in your airline then I'm pretty glad I don't fly there. It'd be hard to get the message through to you that something isn't right because I obviously don't have the vast experiences of the captain!
Condensation, good luck with the career choices. It sounds like you've got the same attitude that I had when I was going for the cadetship. 'May as well take me now as it'll save you having to process my application again in a couple of years time'!
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All sounds good to me!
1. Focus on strengths
2. Develop weaknesses into strengths
3. Don't beat yourself up.
4. Learn to fly!
5. Have an alternative plan
6. Get a good medical before you spend any more money.
1. Focus on strengths
2. Develop weaknesses into strengths
3. Don't beat yourself up.
4. Learn to fly!
5. Have an alternative plan
6. Get a good medical before you spend any more money.
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It sounds like you've got the same attitude that I had when I was going for the cadetship. 'May as well take me now as it'll save you having to process my application again in a couple of years time'!
