Virgin Atlantic MPL - Application & Selection day

Towards the end of 2015 I applied to the Virgin Atlantic MPL in partnership with CTC Aviation. For those of you who are not entirely sure what the Virgin MPL is, its effectively sponsored pilot training programme which at the end of a tough 18 month training period, will enable the lucky individual to act as a First Officer for Virgin Atlantic flying the Airbus A330. Globally. As you can imagine this kind of course is extremely competitive. In the first year this programme opened, roughly 8000 people applied. Have a guess how many places were available? Any ideas? Well let me put you out of your misery. 12! Yes, 12 places were available. So obviously I would need to perform to the best of my ability and more and really be the creme of bunch to have any chance of getting through to the final stage being an interview with Virgin Atlantic at Gatwick. (Only 50 people or so got through to this stage).

So the process started by applying on CTC's website and filling in an online application form detailing basic personal information as well as current and past work experience/roles, educational achievements, flying experience and referee's while lastly answering a number of questions including, "why do you want to be a Virgin Atlantic pilot" and "how do you keep up to date with the aviation industry". After completing my application and having sent it off, a couple of days later I received an email saying that I had passed the first stage of the process and had been invited down to Dibden Manor in Southampton to undergo further selection. (This had a cost of £295). I had about 2 weeks until I was due to complete the next stage at Dibden, so I made sure to get my head down and revise. I made a month's subscription to Latestpilotjobs (£30) and purchased a joystick (£20) from the local computer store. The aptitudes tests that I practised online were practically identical to the ones that I completed on the day so would without doubt recommend to anyone attending a CTC selection day to purchase a months subscription. More information on the aptitude and maths tests can be found on the CR Community.

Having spent a couple of weeks preparing for the big day, it was finally time to head down to Southampton. My Step-Dad came down with me and we stayed in a local B&B (The Pilgrim Inn). The Pilgrim Inn is literally 2 minutes away from Dibden Manor and is a lovely place to stay and eat. For more information click the link here. I would highly recommend staying local the night before and doing a dummy run that evening so you know where you need to go and so that you can keep the stress to a minimum in the morning. Trust me, it really is nerve-racking the night before. Having a chilled evening in a local hotel/B&B does really help!

As far as the morning goes, it was the same as any other morning except add a load of nerves and a mind that's in overdrive going over and over mental maths skills and remembering any tips and tricks for interview and group exercise(s). I arrived at Dibden manor at about 8:10am for an 8:30 start. Again make sure you arrive early. I walked in a short while after and signed in, collected my name tag and sat down with the other candidates there that day. One thing that hit me after a short while of talking was just how experienced everyone else was and how much older they were than me. (I was 18 at the time). The group consisted of ATC officers, RAF personnel, aircraft dispatchers, computer programmers... the list goes on. At 8:30, we were all lead into an adjacent room where the CTC assessors briefly went over the day ahead, emergency information etc. While lastly, a Virgin Atlantic pilot went over the course outline in a little more detail and took questions from us candidates about working for Virgin and the course. She stayed around for the whole day so we got to speak to her a lot more in between tasks and while waiting for our interviews.

The group was then split in two, roughly 10 in each group. My group was faced with completing the maths and Pilapt first. The most worrying bit for me. I am not going to go too much into detail about the Pilapt as you can find that information elsewhere on this website. However, what I will say is that I absolutely flopped the maths test. Not because I am bad at maths, but because of the pressure of the day. We had 15 minutes to complete 15 questions without a calculator. The questions consisted of basic GCSE standard mental maths including, multiplication & division, currency conversions and unit conversions. Due to how nervous I was, I just didn't concentrate as well as I could/should have done and ultimately it cost me.

After I completed my tests I headed back out to the waiting area, filled with comfy chairs and a TV showing aircraft take off and land. Once everyone had finished their individual tasks, the groups swapped round and my group of 10 were faced with the group exercise. Although I am unable to provide information regarding the actual tasks we completed, as long as you have revised the airline and you are a genuine team player you will be fine. For the group exercise it is crucial that you contribute so that the assessors have something to write about you. Yes they will be wiring pretty much everything that you say, and also how you say it. So be sure not to express even a hint of anger or express any kind of feelings that would show you to be a poor team player. For example, certainly do not interrupt anyone or disagree with someone in an aggressive or rude manner. Again more information and tips on the group exercise stage can be found on the CR Community. After, the group exercise we had lunch provided by CTC. This also gave us the opportunity to speak with the careers adviser and other CTC cadets in training to ask any questions or find out any previously unknown information.

Having devoured a wrap and some salad while making sure to stay away from the onion and anything that would immediately put off my interviewer, we headed back to the waiting room/lounge and waited to find out our interview times. Some people decided to cram in some more revision (this was me), some decided to take a stroll in the gardens outside while others sat and waited inside while talking to the Virgin Atlantic pilot/representative present on the day. Having waited an hour or two after lunch it was finally my time for the interview. I was greeted and taken to the room where my fate would ultimately be decided. The interview lasted about 40 minutes and consisted of a number of questions such as "tell me about yourself" and a range of competency based questions including "tell me a time you have met a goal". Its safe to say that in hindsight, I really was not as prepared as I ought to be, and this really did show. The interview was by far the toughest I have ever sat and really was one of those ones where I just wanted it to end. As you can imagine I was delighted once it was over and I was then free to go. I stepped outside to the car and knew that I hadn't done enough to pass this stage but I can assure you that I learnt a lot of lessons and gained a huge amount of experience that day.

A few days later I got the expected email saying that I unfortunately had not done enough to progress to the final stage. I received a call the day after from CTC and they were extremely helpful by hinting that I had effectively passed the Pilapt however I need to work on my maths (under pressure and in a time limit) while also making sure that for the future interviews, my competency examples were concise. It's safe to say that yes I did flop the assessment day however I needed this experience and it really has helped me.... as you'll find out in later blogs. (hint to stay tuned :p) I was just delighted that the first time I ever applied to a flight school I got down to the last 400 when roughly 8000 people applied. And for it to be with Virgin Atlantic really encouraged me to continue and persist with my dream.

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