AL Cadet programme

Roar83

i just finished the test. i did the tests over two days, i did the verbal (hard) and the numbers one yesterday but was feeling tired so i said i would do the rest tomorrow. It was the right decision as, you really do need to be well rested and "in the zone" to do them. The last flying through the tube one i found very hard, i did it on a laptop and i am wondering if it would have been easier with a standard mouse......oh well, a bad tradesman always blames his tools !

pamsym

@RoaR83 had exactly the same difficulty with the complex test....was a nightmare with the mouse pad and definitely think that it would have been a whole lot easier with an "actual mouse".

I also accidently got "blocked out" of the personality test after only 6 questions and couldn't get back into it. I have emailed the cadet email address to ask if i could somehow have it unblocked but im not too hopeful that the email will even be looked at.

rache611

pamsym wrote: »

@RoaR83 had exactly the same difficulty with the complex test....was a nightmare with the mouse pad and definitely think that it would have been a whole lot easier with an "actual mouse".

I also accidently got "blocked out" of the personality test after only 6 questions and couldn't get back into it. I have emailed the cadet email address to ask if i could somehow have it unblocked but im not too hopeful that the email will even be looked at.

I plugged in a mouse to my laptop and it was much easier..
Same thing happened to me with the personality test and they did unblock it for me when I e-mailed them, just hope it's within the 5 days of your e-mail so you can do it in time, it took about 2 days for them to unblock it for me.

pamsym

I received the email on Wednesday afternoon so hoping I might be able to do it tomorrow. Good to know that someone else was in the same position and got it sorted.

I should have done the same with the mouse but was apprehensive about plugging in a mouse after the issue with the personality test getting blocked. As a result I had a nightmare in that section but the rest went ok.

kirving

I'm just after logging onto the Aer Lingus site to do the inital application for to find that it is closed! It said the closing date was today.

I know that I should have done it earlier, and leaving it until today was cutting it fine, but I was working all week, and intended on doing it this weekend. I ended up going away on Friday night though and didn't get back until late last night.

I really really wanted to apply, I know I should have applied earlier, but I do feel hard done by, particularly since I did well in the Air Corps competitions the past two years. I know there'll be thousands of applicants, but I don't suppose an email to AL would be of any use at this stage?

rache611

Kevin Irving wrote: »

I'm just after logging onto the Aer Lingus site to do the inital application for to find that it is closed! It said the closing date was today.

I know that I should have done it earlier, and leaving it until today was cutting it fine, but I was working all week, and intended on doing it this weekend. I ended up going away on Friday night though and didn't get back until late last night.

I really really wanted to apply, I know I should have applied earlier, but I do feel hard done by, particularly since I did well in the Air Corps competitions the past two years. I know there'll be thousands of applicants, but I don't suppose an email to AL would be of any use at this stage?

Definitely not, they wouldn't even change the date for others who really wanted to apply but were getting their LC results 2 days late, they won't make any exceptions. Always next year.

kirving

Thought not, but that was done on purpose I'd say, to get older people in.

I now the chances of getting it are slim anyway, but I really really wanted a shot. (I know leaving it till today doesn't indicate that)

XWB

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Thought not, but that was done on purpose I'd say, to get older people in.

I now the chances of getting it are slim anyway, but I really really wanted a shot. (I know leaving it till today doesn't indicate that)

Applications closed at 1700 local today.

If you really wanted it you should have applied earlier. Always next time....be the 1st in next year!

I had a look at the hand/eye test today from one of the guys I know. From what he said all they wanted to see was that you could indeed co-ordinate you hands and eyes. I wouldnt worry aboy crashing too much, they are aware that everyone's hardware is different. As long as you made a decent fist of it you pass.

Jim236

And now the waiting starts...

Overall it was ok, the spatial reasoning was very hard though and I think I might end up not getting it because of that.:( I did a lot better in the other sections though so hopefully that might make up for it.

No.username

Hi folks, has everybody got an email back with the assessment link?? I applied on Wednesday and havent heard anything back yet. Anyone else still waiting?? Thanks

richgeezer

I applied on Friday and havent recieved anything yet:(

XWB

richgeezer wrote: »

I applied on Friday and havent recieved anything yet:(

Give it a week or so!

richgeezer

Thought part two the verbal one was very hard.what did everyone else think?

G.JRAB

I thought the Verbal Reasoning was hard also, I made a couple of stupid mistakes in the maths (2 that i know of), just rushed and got flustered, not sure of the standard they want but I have a PPL so hopefully that sticks out a bit.

Good luck everyone!

XWB

G.JRAB wrote: »

I thought the Verbal Reasoning was hard also, I made a couple of stupid mistakes in the maths (2 that i know of), just rushed and got flustered, not sure of the standard they want but I have a PPL so hopefully that sticks out a bit.

Good luck everyone!

Wouldnt worry. They just want you above a certain mark on each test.

Interestingly I was talking to an Irish Emirates Skipper(former fly-in buddy and he was a ryanair skipper before going east). He said that he was leaning toward semi-retirement and offered to do some FO work in Aer Lingus. They told him he would have to sit the psychometric tests as he was not previously employed with the company.
Anyhow, cut a long story short...he basically rang up HR and laughed down the phone at them....he has 15, 000+ jet hours and 3000+ a330 yet they doubt he has the "apptitude" for a summer contract.....I mean I am a company man and I stick up for the company against auld Micky Blue eyes....but even I was somewhat taken aback by that gem.....

EI-A330

As Miley outa glenroe " OH HOLY GOD" sure thats not on.

G.JRAB

XWB wrote: »

Interestingly I was talking to an Irish Emirates Skipper(former fly-in buddy and he was a ryanair skipper before going east). He said that he was leaning toward semi-retirement and offered to do some FO work in Aer Lingus. They told him he would have to sit the psychometric tests as he was not previously employed with the company.
Anyhow, cut a long story short...he basically rang up HR and laughed down the phone at them....he has 15, 000+ jet hours and 3000+ a330 yet they doubt he has the "apptitude" for a summer contract.....I mean I am a company man and I stick up for the company against auld Micky Blue eyes....but even I was somewhat taken aback by that gem.....

XWB funny you should say that, I know an EI FO (he flew for FR before joining EI). Prior to joining the company he also had to take the psychometric tests and apparently he got in by the ‘skin of his teeth’ so to speak. However I was speaking to him about the cadet scheme and he was talking about the online assessments. He says this process frustrates him as he knows so many guys who have been turned away by EI on the basis of falling short in the maths or spacial reasoning. They are great pilots scoring highly in hand-eye and multitasking tests etc but because they forgot some maths formula on the day they didn’t make the cut. One guy in particular now flies the 757 for TC so there must be some truth in what he says.

eurokev

XWB wrote: »

Wouldnt worry. They just want you above a certain mark on each test.

Interestingly I was talking to an Irish Emirates Skipper(former fly-in buddy and he was a ryanair skipper before going east). He said that he was leaning toward semi-retirement and offered to do some FO work in Aer Lingus. They told him he would have to sit the psychometric tests as he was not previously employed with the company.
Anyhow, cut a long story short...he basically rang up HR and laughed down the phone at them....he has 15, 000+ jet hours and 3000+ a330 yet they doubt he has the "apptitude" for a summer contract.....I mean I am a company man and I stick up for the company against auld Micky Blue eyes....but even I was somewhat taken aback by that gem.....

Ah feck is that right XWB. I made a balls of the numerical, just ran out of time overthinking things. Id imagine I only got 60%, whereas Id be very confident of having performed well in all the others. I wouldnt mind but numeracy is my strongest area by far.

Can you or someone else confirm if you have to reach a certain standard in each test or is there an overall mark?

cuterob

i heard from a former captain that this is part funded 80% by aer lingus in the past

XWB

eurokev wrote: »

Ah feck is that right XWB. I made a balls of the numerical, just ran out of time overthinking things. Id imagine I only got 60%, whereas Id be very confident of having performed well in all the others. I wouldnt mind but numeracy is my strongest area by far.

Can you or someone else confirm if you have to reach a certain standard in each test or is there an overall mark?

They are presented with your results and they tag them onto your application and sort of look at the 2 I think. So falling short in numeracy or hand eye might be made up for by having a ppl or degree. Depends what you have in your cap.

TBH anybody who looks good on application and has a degree or ppl or some flight may well be called for interview with a "competent" psycometric score.

I was doing some recon on this and it seems that there were nowhere near the amount of applications people think there were....number i heard was just over 500 that met the grade...seems the 100k may have scared a few off so Aer Lingus may well not have too may applicants to sift through. So having a good application may well carry more weight!

John_Mc

XWB wrote: »

They are presented with your results and they tag them onto your application and sort of look at the 2 I think. So falling short in numeracy or hand eye might be made up for by having a ppl or degree. Depends what you have in your cap.

TBH anybody who looks good on application and has a degree or ppl or some flight may well be called for interview with a "competent" psycometric score.

I was doing some recon on this and it seems that there were nowhere near the amount of applications people think there were....number i heard was just over 500 that met the grade...seems the 100k may have scared a few off so Aer Lingus may well not have too may applicants to sift through. So having a good application may well carry more weight!

This is very good news as I did terribly in the maths. It's been a very very long time since I had to calculate the area of a cylinder or triangle, and I didn't do any revision before the test.

I have an honours degree in computer science though and I'm a software engineer, so I'm hoping that might cancel it out.

I was thinking it would be some filter parameters in a list which would eliminate me. I'm a bit more hopeful if each application is being checked manually.

Jocry

John_Mc wrote: »

This is very good news as I did terribly in the maths. It's been a very very long time since I had to calculate the area of a cylinder or triangle, and I didn't do any revision before the test.

I have an honours degree in computer science though and I'm a software engineer, so I'm hoping that might cancel it out.

I was thinking it would be some filter parameters in a list which would eliminate me. I'm a bit more hopeful if each application is being checked manually.

Im pretty much in the same boat as yourself (degree with Computers, etc), Ive felt pretty bad about my performance in this over the weekend. Numeracy wasnt great for me as was Complex Control, thanks to a terrible laptop and mouse so Im just praying to god that they look at my CV which I really put alot of effort into. However Im still pretty much resigning myself though to the fact that I blew it and if its meant to be it will be

Im kinda shocked by the numbers of only 500 though. I find it interesting why more people wouldnt have just applied to atleast give themselves a chance, especially since how much Aer Lingus are actually going to the pay towards the course has yet to be announced.

delta_xray

It should be interesting to see how it turns out alright. I would definately agree that experience is key.

I have a handful of hours flight time (nothing recorded though), but I'm lucky in other respects as I'm in my early 20's, have a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and have worked for Airbus.

If what you say about numbers is true then I am very shocked.

ABC 123

delta_xray wrote: »

It should be interesting to see how it turns out alright. I would definately agree that experience is key.

I have a handful of hours flight time (nothing recorded though), but I'm lucky in other respects as I'm in my early 20's, have a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and have worked for Airbus.

If what you say about numbers is true then I am very shocked.

Delta Xray, are you currently working in airbus?

XWB

delta_xray wrote: »

It should be interesting to see how it turns out alright. I would definately agree that experience is key.

I have a handful of hours flight time (nothing recorded though), but I'm lucky in other respects as I'm in my early 20's, have a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and have worked for Airbus.

If what you say about numbers is true then I am very shocked.

Well the 500 were only those who met the "minimum requirements"...there may have been a few more applicants who were too young/old or didnt have the academics. DX - you may well catch their eye as a fairly high ranking candidate, but it will depend largely on if they want "horses for courses" or something more. I get the impression from what I hear from the old heads that Aer Lingus want some guys who will progress quickly to the line. That may well mean they go and throw a net over guys with 40+ hours and bring them in. Cadetships in all airlines have a long history of coneheads wanting to step into the right seat, and then finding that their practical flight apptitude is lacking. When I was involved in training it was an issue we often had to deal with. That being said Aer Lingus seems to ignore the advice of experianced pilots and do what the desk jockies in HR thing is right...:mad:

cuterob -

i heard from a former captain that this is part funded 80% by aer lingus in the past

In the good old days of yore yes. That was the old cadetship. I was on one like that. Aer Lingus paid for you up to MEIR and then you were bonded for MCC and TR(cost taken out of your wages over a few years).

delta_xray

ABC 123 wrote: »

Delta Xray, are you currently working in airbus?

ABC, no not any longer, I did an internship with them last year which was part of my college degree, so I returned to college. I am expecting to graduate in the coming academic year. THe option is there for me to return though should I wish.

XWB wrote: »

DX - you may well catch their eye as a fairly high ranking candidate, but it will depend largely on if they want "horses for courses" or something more.

Horses for courses? how do you mean by that XWB??

And also if they were to recruit say 100 cadets, how likely is it that it will be 20/year over 5 years?

ABC 123

DX ..Your initials arent JOC by any chance no? :P

Delta Kilo

delta_xray wrote: »

Horses for courses? how do you mean by that XWB??

He probably means that AL may recruit those who have already committed to going down that route by already having PPLs, however considering that they wanted a captain with 3,000h on the A330 to do a psychometric test, I wouldnt be at all surprised if they didnt give two cahoots about what flight time you have. If you are the right candidate and you fit their model of what they want, have the ability to talk for yourself and highlight your abilities and be able to relate them to the job in the interview, you should do well regardless of flying time you have accummulated. Not many have the opportunity to do PPLs at 18 - 20 years of age.

delta_xray

haha well you got me but I'm still lost as to who I have :P

ABC 123

I sent you a 'private message' ...better off not putting up names on this!