SELECTION #3

Airline Prep

I spent every bit of spare time I had during my 6^th form years preparing for my selection day with CTC. I read every single piece of information on their website, watched every video, read every blog and regularly checked airline websites for the latest news. I could not wait to get in that right hand seat of a commercial airliner.

As soon as I met all the entry requirements I filled in the online application form which soon after was acknowledged and I received an email inviting me to choose a date for selection. With the date booked I worked extremely hard on my maths and aptitude skills. As I said earlier, I have never been much of a mathematician, however, I practiced and practiced and practiced until I was confident my mental maths skills were good enough for that of the exam. I used various online sites such as 'latestpilotjobs.com' and 'pilapt' to practice my aptitude which were extremely useful and although they were slightly different to that of the real thing, the concept was the same and made the actual tests seem much more manageable. The most beneficial practice was the multi-tasking test which was much harder on the website than the real thing. After hours of practice on all the tests and double the practice on maths I felt reasonably confident leading up to the selection day. In the mean time I was brushing up on the latest world and airline news and preparing for some of the obvious questions that may come up in the interview. Having done drama for five years at school, I felt quite comfortable with talking to people and presenting myself well. However, finding the right thing to say and how to say it took a lot of practice. I luckily found a company based at Gatwick airport called ‘Airline Prep’ which was an intensive day course, preparing me for my selection day. I had a one on one session so I learned a lot from that day and it made me feel much more confident with the interview and group exercise.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: www.airlineprep.co.uk/app 

For the interview, practice answering why you want to be a pilot and why you want to train with CTC. Try to be concise, tell them what they need to know but don't ramble on. Know about the course, the partner airlines and the career, be aware of the reality and the ups and downs that come with the job. Express your passion! Also have a few examples of when you showed leadership, team work, success, failure, conflict etc and show how you've used/applied airline pilot qualities. They don't have to be anything spectacular, just real. DO NOT MAKE IT UP!

With the group exercise, if you've had previous team experience then this will help. Find a good balance between listening and contributing. Ask open ended questions that involve every member of the group. Don't be demanding and over powering but at the same time don't just sit back and let others run it. Ask people for their opinions and always look involved and interested. Remember, you're being assessed on how you interact with other people, not the end result of the task.

how a few of the tests would appear

So, when it came to the selection day, although I was very nervous, I was quietly confident that I would perform well. I arrived at Dibden Manor the evening before the selection day so that I didn’t have to get up stupidly early the next morning and travel which would only add to the stress of the day. This allowed me to take my time, get used to the facility and most importantly, talk to current cadets who were doing their AQC (Airline Qualification Course). This helped me settle down and took care of most my nerves. After a good night sleep my nerves had returned but I kept telling myself how prepared I was and made an effort to chat to everyone who turned up for the selection day and every member of staff I saw. Once everyone had arrived and gotten to know each other we were given a detailed presentation on the CTC course and then divided into groups. One half went straight into a room that looks very similar to that of a driving theory test room and completed the maths and aptitude tests, whilst the other half did the group exercise. Once the aptitude tests had all finished there was a short break and the groups swapped over.

I was very nervous as I was waiting to start the aptitude tests but once I’d got those headphones on and got the first couple of maths questions out the way comfortably, I settled into it and ended up going through it at my own steady pace. Everyone then met up in the lounge and discussed how they thought they’d done. The groups then swapped over and I moved on to the group exercises. I actually enjoyed this part, it was fun discussing and working with the other guys in my group. We didn't finish one of the exercises in time but we worked well as a team and didn't panic when the extra items were added. 

Both groups then met up and had lunch whilst discussing how their second morning session had gone. In the mean-time the selectors were deciding who would be offered an interview and who would be going home. The wait seemed to go on forever, it was very tense! Eventually we were split into two groups again (different to the morning groups) and told whether we had passed or failed the morning assessment. Thankfully, I was one of the lucky three that was offered an interview. I was absolutely delighted. I then needed to wait another hour or so to have my interview. I spent that time talking to the current cadets who were giving me advice and it really settled me down. When I went into the interview I felt surprisingly laid back and was just myself, I got everything across that I wanted to and came out feeling pretty positive. The next day I got a phone call from CTC offering me a place on the Wings Cadet course. Finally! All the work I’d done had paid off and I was absolutely ecstatic. I’ve never felt so happy. So, with a place on a CTC course secured it was time to deal with all the paper work. Lots and lots of paper work….

My main tips would be:
1) PREPARATION - "If you fail to prepare, then you prepare to fail". Make sure that you have got a reasonable grasp of the aptitude tests, get your mental maths up to scratch and do it under timed pressure, practice answering potential interview questions to yourself in the mirror or to friends/family, get used to expressing important things that will make you appealing to assessors.

2) LOOK SMART, ACT SMART - Dress in a smart suit, dark (shined shoes), tidy hair, clean shaven; look like a pilot. Interviewers are looking for future pilots and if they can picture you as a pilot then that's no bad thing. If you turn up looking scruffy and disorganized then that's not going to help your chances. When do you ever see a pilot looking untidy? Also remember that you are always being assessed (even if it is not an allotted selection time). Don't let you're guard down. Look and act like a pilot!

3) BE YOURSELF - Assuming you've prepared well enough and have given yourself plenty of time, just relax and be normal. Interviewers will see right through you if you're pretending to be someone you're not. Back the skills you've accumulated so far and do your best.

Dibden Manor