Question About Training Offer

[DHC-1 Jockey]

A question for the ATC gurus here: I just received my employment package in the mail and I noticed there's a part where it says "after completing Basic Airport Control Training, you may be offered employment with Nav Canada."

My question is has anyone ever passed basic training and not been offered a job? I ask because I'm quitting my current job and possibly moving, and I would hate to pass the training and have them say "sorry, but there's no room for you." Then I'm jobless.

I'm very excited to start the training, but this one little sentence is giving me pause for thought. Any help in this matter would be great!

[NJ]

I've never heard of someone not being offered a job. They won't run a course unless they need people, and if you think of the overall cost to train people, they don't really do it just to burn money.

[DHC-1 Jockey]

I figured as much, but I guess it might just be a case of over your a$$ in case for whatever reason they can't hire you.

Another question, is that I understand the ITA course needs to be done before reporting for training, but the From the Ground Up and associated workbook.. am I just to work through it at my own pace? Being a pilot, I know a lot of it has to do with the aircraft itself, engines, theory of flight, flight planning, weight and balance, etc. I know I should be very familiar with air law and weather, but is there really a need to know the insides of a piston engine or how a supercharger is different from a turbocharger? Just trying to separate the wheat from the chaff and focus on what's really important for the training without wasting extra time on non-essentials.

[NJ]

Important stuff would be types of airspace (even boring stuff like control area extensions and typical heights of those), a bit of the radio theory, weather, types of IFR approaches etc. When I went through 8 years ago we touched on theory of flight and other things non-atc related, but there was so much other stuff that it was a summary and then we moved on to Manops, which will be the majority of your course material.

You should know the ITA cold when you show up, and expect a test on it early on into class. Then use From the Ground the Ground up for background information. For more background, you should read through the RAC section of the AIM. That is a helpful book that is often overlooked.

[kevenv]

I figured as much, but I guess it might just be a case of over your a$$ in case for whatever reason they can't hire you.

Another question, is that I understand the ITA course needs to be done before reporting for training, but the From the Ground Up and associated workbook.. am I just to work through it at my own pace? Being a pilot, I know a lot of it has to do with the aircraft itself, engines, theory of flight, flight planning, weight and balance, etc. I know I should be very familiar with air law and weather, but is there really a need to know the insides of a piston engine or how a supercharger is different from a turbocharger? Just trying to separate the wheat from the chaff and focus on what's really important for the training without wasting extra time on non-essentials.

I posted this awhile ago but it bears repeating;

"You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Fail the ITA exam and everyone in the ACC knows you failed. Not a good way to start. You really should know all of that material cold before you get to your course. The overwhelming majority of students pass it. Don't be the one to stand out ..."

Good luck!

[Braun]

Recently at my ACC a generic student failed the ITA, don't be the guy who fails. People will think you don't really care and it is very difficult to rid yourself of that label. Judging by the amount of posts and their content here I am sure you will be fine learning the ITA and its contents. Good luck, keep us posted.

[HeadingAltitudeSpeed]

A question for the ATC gurus here: I just received my employment package in the mail and I noticed there's a part where it says "after completing Basic Airport Control Training, you may be offered employment with Nav Canada."

Could also relate to the fact that completing Basic Airport Control will get you posted to a tower for further training. Until you achieve full qualification and a licence you are a probationary employee and can be released. Likely a CYA statement and easier to communicate than running through the subtleties of the collective agreement.

As it has been said, they don't train unless they have a spot to put you. Although we have seen times when things go off the rail and following completion of a Basic course (IFR) students were sent away for 6 months before being offered employment.

[RexKrammer]

I posted this awhile ago but it bears repeating;

"You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Fail the ITA exam and everyone in the ACC knows you failed. Not a good way to start. You really should know all of that material cold before you get to your course. The overwhelming majority of students pass it. Don't be the one to stand out ..."

Good luck!

I will second this advice. You will be amazed at how much is known about each trainee on the course. Make sure things known about you are positive things, like "this student got fantastic marks in the exam". You are in control of how much effort and studying you put in. It makes a great first impression to ace the ITA. The pass mark is 80. You don't want to be aiming for 80.

[Braun]

I posted this awhile ago but it bears repeating;

"You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Fail the ITA exam and everyone in the ACC knows you failed. Not a good way to start. You really should know all of that material cold before you get to your course. The overwhelming majority of students pass it. Don't be the one to stand out ..."

Good luck!

I will second this advice. You will be amazed at how much is known about each trainee on the course. Make sure things known about you are positive things, like "this student got fantastic marks in the exam". You are in control of how much effort and studying you put in. It makes a great first impression to ace the ITA. The pass mark is 80. You don't want to be aiming for 80.

True, but in general if you work hard and don't get the best grades it will still be noticed that you have a good work ethic and take the training seriously. Being an OJI is really tough, especiall when your trainee gives the impression to not give a F***. But 95% this isn't the case and trainees are very hard working. If there is on positive thing about the long selection process it is that when most people get places on courses they are aware of the rare oppurtunity and that you may not get second chances so go all in!

[Acey91]

On my IFR course so far, ITA has been the most difficult test by a good margin. Having said that, if you are already a pilot, don't bother opening From the Ground Up; I don't think anyone on my course has looked at it and some coming in didn't know an aileron from an elevator. Everything you need to know for ITA is on the CD they give you, and thereafter everything you need to know is in the lesson plans provided, MANOPS, or back in ITA.

+1 on kevenv's post... everyone in the building seemingly knows how your group does on every exam, progress check, or evaluation before you guys even know.

[DHC-1 Jockey]

Thanks for the replies! Acey91, did the ITA exam focus on one part more than the others? Considering there's everything from weather to airspace to theory of flight, is there one area I should focus my time on?

And when do you get your schedule/syllabus? I know training is Monday-Friday but do they take extra days off for holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc?

[RexKrammer]

Focus on all of the ITA. You will be questioned from all sections.

You don't work stat. holidays whilst on the introductory training course. You should get your schedule the first week of training, but may get it a week or so earlier. However, the schedule is flexible and subject to change during the course, other than the set days off.

[Acey91]

Yeah I agree, the test seemed to hit all sections. They do a good bit of review with you for nearly a week before the test so you have a good idea of where your knowledge is weak.

In terms of scheduling, our course has been extremely flexible and has deviated significantly from the one they initially gave us. For various reasons, they ended up wanting to extend it so in addition to holidays they had us collectively determine which extra Fridays and Mondays we wanted to take off. I assume this is an anomaly.

[DHC-1 Jockey]

Thanks again for all the replies. You guys are a big help!! Still more questions though..

I am wondering how specific the questions on the ITA exam are. For example with regards to radio theory, are they wanting you know the basic concept of how radio communications work, or are they looking for very specific information like the frequency range in Mhz for DME equipment? Or for wake turbulence categories, is it fine to know to use the aircraft type designator document, or do you need to know its specific document number? (ICAO DOC 8463).

I only ask because this exam is so important and I want to start off on the right foot. I wouldn't say I'm nervous for the exam.. just anxious. I'm trying to build a broad knowledge base that covers all of the areas in the ITA, but I just feel like there's so much to know, even for someone who flies commercially every day.

I'm not looking for answers to the exams, rather just an idea of what to expect so I can really concentrate the most on the areas that people stumble on most often.

Feel free to PM as well. Thanks!

[hydro]

I am wondering how specific the questions on the ITA exam are. For example with regards to radio theory, are they wanting you know the basic concept of how radio communications work, or are they looking for very specific information like the frequency range in Mhz for DME equipment? Or for wake turbulence categories, is it fine to know to use the aircraft type designator document, or do you need to know its specific document number? (ICAO DOC 8463).

The type of questions asked might be in the nature of: state the categories and weight limits in lbs or KGs. What category is a Caravan or your DH8? The specific Document number, no way. I personally think people here overstate the difficulty of the ITA for someone with an aviation background like yourself. It's certainly better to know more than less, but the questions weren't ridiculous a few years back.

[DHC-1 Jockey]

Thanks Hydro, that's exactly the information I was looking for.

[RexKrammer]

You will also get a review of the ITA material over the first few days before you sit the exam. You should get a good idea from that the finer detail you need to know. But, as mentioned above, you will need to study every chapter and had a strong knowledge of the fundamental material in each.