air traffic controllers

  • Thread starter Thread starter mjt
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Scuzi said:
It's not as bad as it sounds to be honest. The training is tough and it is relentless - only a fraction of the people who start training actually validate but when you do pass everything and are doing it on your own it's easier because you've had years of training to prepare you for pretty much anything. Mistakes are made by everyone and we all have our bad days but most of the time the job is enjoyable and due to the massive amounts of time off and breaks in the day, relatively stress free. A lot of the time when I'm controlling I'm sitting with my chair fully reclined and am fairly chilled out. It's not the high pressure sweatbox 24/7 that it can be made out to be.
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That's the experience I had at Filton airport, Much of the time, sat back eating, but then all of the airports 40 or so movements would come in about an hour, and then nothing again. At times we were actually watching TV up in the Visual Control Room.

That was one of the most relaxing work atmospheres I've worked in, where the jaffa cakes running out was the biggest cause of stress.:p

hargi said:
Scuzi Would you suggest that people try been ATC on VATSIM or that other one IVEO ? to see if they can handle it first. Would that provide a good idea of what to expect or not? as i Know VATSIM has lots of training materials
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Definately. VATSIM taught me all the R/T I needed for a PPL, and not only was it free, but actually very close to life, All the airport controllers do their best to match real world procedures.

CAP413 has everything you should need R/T wise.


Also Why not apply for a role as an ATCO in the RAF, they're desperate for them at the moment, so you're very likely to get a place, as well as getting to watch Eurofighters all day.
 
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hargi said:
Scuzi Would you suggest that people try been ATC on VATSIM or that other one IVEO ? to see if they can handle it first. Would that provide a good idea of what to expect or not? as i Know VATSIM has lots of training materials
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If you are serious about applying for the job and expect to get through, I'd recommend against it. It might sound good in the interview but you will pick up a lot of bad habits and poor technique which may be of detriment to your training. Certainly by all means have a play with it but don't take it too seriously.


muttclugg said:
Do you work alternate shifts? e.g. one week nights, the next days etc?
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Shifts consist of 6 days on and 4 days off, the first day off being a "sleep day" if you were working nights the previous day. Of those 6 days, the first 2 are morning shifts (0700-1400) the next 2 are afternoon shifts (1400-2200) and the next two are nights shifts (2200-0700). Night shifts are often replaced by spin shifts which is either another pair of afternoon or morning shifts.


ringo747 said:
I used to want to become an ATCO but once I got my degree done and into flexi hours job in IT I just lost interest in applying. I get enough of my aviation fix from the occasional flying lesson here and there! The idea of 65k a year is nice but I don't think the lifestyle is what everybody wants with a lot of shift work etc. Also you cannot really dictate where you are posted so unless you are willing to move anywhere in the UK it is a big decision. Best of luck if you do apply. I'm sure it is a wonderful job!
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That's the big problem for a lot of people. Shift work and uncertainty about where you will end up. You have no say in where you are posted. There were a couple of guys off my course who were posted up to Aberdeen against their will but if you are trained in area control, you're guaranteed to end up in either Swanwick in Hampshire or up in Prestwick.


icey_haj said:
Pay won't be as good? or will it?
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Civil controllers are on average paid a lot more than military controllers.
 
FAO of Scuzi, Ben Coles or anyone else who knows,

What level of security clearance is required? I have always been interested as I used to be a dispatcher for the emergency services and saw it as a remotely similar but more challenging role. I have been invited to the NATS initial selection tests, but for reasons that I do not wish to discuss on the boards I very much doubt I'd pass a credit check if necessary....

I have previousy been CTC cleared and I don't believe that this level requires a credit check.
 
Jonny said:
FAO of Scuzi, Ben Coles or anyone else who knows,

What level of security clearance is required? I have always been interested as I used to be a dispatcher for the emergency services and saw it as a remotely similar but more challenging role. I have been invited to the NATS initial selection tests, but for reasons that I do not wish to discuss on the boards I very much doubt I'd pass a credit check if necessary....

I have previousy been CTC cleared and I don't believe that this level requires a credit check.
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I can't remember the specifics but I remember someone mentioning DV clearance when I was applying. I have no idea what that means though. It may be different now but when I went through it involved filling in a pink form which asked a lot of very personal questions and on the first day at work a lecture from some guy about security. I'm sure there was a lot of behind the scenes checking but after filling in the form I heard nothing more about it.

If you have any specific queries about that you'd be safer contacting the HR department and asking them to find out for you.
 
DV is developed vetting, one of, if not the, highest security clearance in the UK - I'm guessing they sought after a fair few references for you? Well played.

I've fired off an email, but not holding out much hope! thanks for your help though
 
On another note, did the security form ask the following question?

Have you ever been involved in any of the following;

espionage
terrorism
acts to overthrow or undermine a political party

Question always makes me laugh, I doubt they catch many terrorists through it
 
Ahh, maybe it wasn't DV then as I'm quite sure it's not that high of a clearance. It was just a big questionnaire which went into lots of detail about you as an individual as well as your family.

And yeah, that question does ring a bell :p

A mate of mine works with some top secret stuff as an aero engineer and has an interview every so often with a straight faced military type person who asks questions such as "do you ever masturbate to pornography?" :eek:
 
Scuzi said:
.....straight faced military type person who asks questions such as "do you ever masturbate to pornography?" :eek:
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well that's me out

I'm really interested in this now after reading this thread. Is it too late for a 28yr old to seek this as a career? Do you have to be british (I have my indefinite leave to remain visa), what would the first steps be? are there training places near south London, Sutton area lol?
 
Oxide™ said:
well that's me out

I'm really interested in this now after reading this thread. Is it too late for a 28yr old to seek this as a career? Do you have to be british (I have my indefinite leave to remain visa), what would the first steps be? are there training places near south London, Sutton area lol?
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All training is carried out at the College of ATC at Bournemouth airport. You could be there from anything between 6-15 months whilst training. Depending on what discipline you are trained in you will most likely be posted to Swanwick in Hampshire or Prestwick up in Scotland. If you train in aerodrome control you'll be posted to one of the Nats airports which are any of the London ones as well as Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Belfast, Southampton and Cardiff. You don't really get a say in where you are posted to as you sign a mobility agreement before starting the job.

At 28 you're perfectly fine. Nats used to have an age limit of 30 but they had to remove this due to age discrimination laws.

As Jonny says, check out that website for more info.
 
cheers Scuzi, that's pretty much exactly what i was looking for :)
for some reason i thought you were older, did you join straight from school?

no one happens to have any experience of EUROCONTROL do they?
 
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