A new multitasking assesment training tool
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A new multitasking assesment training tool
Hello,
I hope I am opening this thread in the correct section and that its content is allowed on the forum.
I am 47 years old with, as a lot of others wannabe as I have read in the sticky thread, the dream to change career becoming an airline pilot at a "quite advanced stage" of my professional path.
I am currently undertaking the Easyjet MPL selection at CAE, but I failed my 2nd assesment (I had to undertake a language assesment before, not being a native english speaker).
In particular I failed the FAST test that is, as I suppose a lot of you know, a multitasking test.
The test consists in a "simulated flight", i.e. who is undertaking the test see the point of view of a pilot from the cockpit of a plane. The plane flies by itself, and the person who is undertaking the test has to manage several tasks simultaneously:
- monitoring what's happenning "outside" the plane, i.e. recognize aircrafts and waypoints;
- memorizing atc instructions and voices;
- avoiding a small representation of a plane to collide against blocks (a sort of 2d game) by moving the plane up and down by the mean of keyboard arrow keys;
- answering a series of questions/ quizzes/puzzles
I have to say I undervaluated it as, when I partecipated to a CAE event, the pilot who was presenting the event, talked about it as it were something really easy to do (he mentioned just the part of the plane that must avoid collisions).
So, preparing the assesment, I focused on the math and physic parts, being confident the multitask test would have been easy.
Instead, when it started I realized it was quite hard, at least for me who never took a look and prepared it. The result was what I have already spoilered.
I am now approaching to my second attempt for the assesment and this time I have purchased a training test from Symbiotics, that is the Company to which CAE relies on for the test.
This product lets you do 15 times the test but, surprisingly, at least for me, they are 15 shots of the same exact test. This causes that I got the top score for it after 2 shots.
Every shot is always the same, so all the questions are easy to answer and I already know what happens during the test.
This makes me not too much confident to be really prepared for my next assesment trial because I think that, even if now I know for sure a little bit more about it, the test "mission" (i.e. what happens outside the plane, the questions and the blocks pattern) will be different.
So I had the idea, as I can code a little bit, to make a sort of clone of this test in a way I can have several different version of the test, in order to prepare myself to make it everytime with a new mission.
I thought that, if I were able to make it, I could also propose this training tool to whoever is interested and feels the need of such a tool to prepare for their assesment.
It could help me in one of the hardest part of the MPL (in the rare case I would be selected for it), that (obviously) is financing it.
But I don't know if actually other pilots or wannabe feel my same need.
As building this tool would require me for sure a certain level of committment and resources as well (which I should save), I have decided to start this thread because I would really like to hear what you think about my idea.
Essentially, in a nutshell, did you, as a pilot or a future pilot applicant who undertook this assesment, face my same difficulties doing it?
Did you prepare using any tool (I know there is another Company that did a clone of this test) or could you pass it without any preparation?
Would you like to try a new tool to prepare for the multitasking assesment?
Thank you very much to everyone.
Federico
I hope I am opening this thread in the correct section and that its content is allowed on the forum.
I am 47 years old with, as a lot of others wannabe as I have read in the sticky thread, the dream to change career becoming an airline pilot at a "quite advanced stage" of my professional path.
I am currently undertaking the Easyjet MPL selection at CAE, but I failed my 2nd assesment (I had to undertake a language assesment before, not being a native english speaker).
In particular I failed the FAST test that is, as I suppose a lot of you know, a multitasking test.
The test consists in a "simulated flight", i.e. who is undertaking the test see the point of view of a pilot from the cockpit of a plane. The plane flies by itself, and the person who is undertaking the test has to manage several tasks simultaneously:
- monitoring what's happenning "outside" the plane, i.e. recognize aircrafts and waypoints;
- memorizing atc instructions and voices;
- avoiding a small representation of a plane to collide against blocks (a sort of 2d game) by moving the plane up and down by the mean of keyboard arrow keys;
- answering a series of questions/ quizzes/puzzles
I have to say I undervaluated it as, when I partecipated to a CAE event, the pilot who was presenting the event, talked about it as it were something really easy to do (he mentioned just the part of the plane that must avoid collisions).
So, preparing the assesment, I focused on the math and physic parts, being confident the multitask test would have been easy.
Instead, when it started I realized it was quite hard, at least for me who never took a look and prepared it. The result was what I have already spoilered.
I am now approaching to my second attempt for the assesment and this time I have purchased a training test from Symbiotics, that is the Company to which CAE relies on for the test.
This product lets you do 15 times the test but, surprisingly, at least for me, they are 15 shots of the same exact test. This causes that I got the top score for it after 2 shots.
Every shot is always the same, so all the questions are easy to answer and I already know what happens during the test.
This makes me not too much confident to be really prepared for my next assesment trial because I think that, even if now I know for sure a little bit more about it, the test "mission" (i.e. what happens outside the plane, the questions and the blocks pattern) will be different.
So I had the idea, as I can code a little bit, to make a sort of clone of this test in a way I can have several different version of the test, in order to prepare myself to make it everytime with a new mission.
I thought that, if I were able to make it, I could also propose this training tool to whoever is interested and feels the need of such a tool to prepare for their assesment.
It could help me in one of the hardest part of the MPL (in the rare case I would be selected for it), that (obviously) is financing it.
But I don't know if actually other pilots or wannabe feel my same need.
As building this tool would require me for sure a certain level of committment and resources as well (which I should save), I have decided to start this thread because I would really like to hear what you think about my idea.
Essentially, in a nutshell, did you, as a pilot or a future pilot applicant who undertook this assesment, face my same difficulties doing it?
Did you prepare using any tool (I know there is another Company that did a clone of this test) or could you pass it without any preparation?
Would you like to try a new tool to prepare for the multitasking assesment?
Thank you very much to everyone.
Federico
Last edited by achab; 9th Feb 2023 at 17:23.
Join Date: Nov 2023
Location: Manchester
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Good evening Federico,
I hope you're doing well.
Have you tried re-applying to the MPL course? If so how has it been and how has your campaign been overall as a pilot?
The Maths and Physics tests do require some mental maths - it does require a lot of practice to nail down. In particular, speed, distance and time questions, fuel burn questions are really the core of that part.
I didn't purchase any Symbiotics packages, after heeding some pilots in this forum telling me to steer clear of them.
btc
The FAST was very difficult indeed.
I hope you're doing well.
Have you tried re-applying to the MPL course? If so how has it been and how has your campaign been overall as a pilot?
The Maths and Physics tests do require some mental maths - it does require a lot of practice to nail down. In particular, speed, distance and time questions, fuel burn questions are really the core of that part.
I didn't purchase any Symbiotics packages, after heeding some pilots in this forum telling me to steer clear of them.
btc
The FAST was very difficult indeed.
