Generation easyJet Pilot Training Programme - Selection day 1

Okay, I'm going to try and make it difficult for you to know how well I've done and I'll try and let you know at the end of this post if I passed or not. However the massive smile on my face may come across throughout so sorry in advance :P

Mum and I arrived at The Pilgrim Inn in the afternoon of Monday 5th September and spent some time wandering around the New Forest before heading back to the B&B and sitting down for some dinner. After a rather long wait for dinner (food was good though) we headed back to the room so I could have a last minute brush up on my mental maths before bed.

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 my mental maths (umm déjà vu from a previous post). Like before, I made sure I arrived at Dibden Manor early. At about 10:15 I headed into the waiting room and sat down and started chatting to everyone else who was completing their day 1 assessment. At about 10:30 the group was split into two and my group was taken to a room to complete the maths tests first.

This was it! This is the bit that would either stop me in my tracks or enable me to progress to day 2. (Given that I pass Pilapt like before).

We sat down in the room and made ourselves comfortable. The assessor ran through the rules etc and handed out our papers. Before I knew it, my head was down and I was tackling the first question. All I can say is that the practice I had been doing had really really helped. Not so much because I was better at maths but because I was a lot more familiar with doing the sums quickly. A couple of the questions I was unsure about but made sure to answer them by ruling out other answers that were clearly wrong.

For example, what is 10 x 12?

A. 12,000 (way too high),

B. 12 (way too low)

C. 365,276 (ugh surely not)

D. 120

If you're still unsure the answer is D. 120 :P.

Ruling out clearly wrong answers is something that I'd definitely recommend doing if you're unsure on the answer. If you still don't know then take an educated guess. Having completed the maths test to a standard that I was happy with I headed back out to the waiting room. Once everyone had returned from their respective tasks, it was time to tuck in to some lunch. Once again provided by CTC. I had a yogurt, some fruit, a chicken roll and salad and I also couldn't resist a slice of chocolate cheesecake that was asking to be eaten. It was delicious.

After lunch, the group's swapped round and my group sat the Pilapt tests. We entered a separate room to find a number of laptops set up with joysticks. We found the laptop with our name on and sat down. The assessor went through the basics of what we were about to do and after that she left us to it. This was the part of the day where I could relax a bit more so to speak. I felt reasonably confident and was well prepared. After an hour or so (can't quite remember exactly how long it took) I completed all of the Pilapt tests, got up and quietly left the room, taking into account that others were still doing their tests. I gathered my bags, signed out and 5 minutes later I was sitting back at The Pilgrim Inn drinking an ice cold lemonade. Day 1 selection... Done!

I wouldn't say that I was confident I had passed, however I knew that I had done my absolute best and if my best was not enough then at least I could be happy knowing I couldn't have given any more. After changing, Mum and I headed to Lepe, Hampshire to walk along the coast and relax a little before heading back home.

Once I was home came one of the worst parts of the whole process. The wait to hear back. Luckily, I didn't have to wait long as the day after my selection assessment I received an email from CTC saying that I had passed selection day 1!!!

I'm over the moon to have made it though, after my experience before I've worked incredibly hard on my area's of weakness and it's paid off. Now I've got to book myself on a selection day 2 assessment which won't be until October/ November time. In the meantime while, I wait, I am going to make sure I am well prepared for that interview. The most important interview of my life!

#easyJet #Southampton #CTCAviation #Pilot #Aviation #Flying