This new FAA exam is disturbing....

[twharrell]

http://www.fox10phoenix.com/story/27699 ... ontrollers

This article is from December but it's quite unsettling. I'd love to get some opinions from all of you guys who are real world controllers or who are training right now to be a controller. Interesting that some veteran controllers secretly took this new BA exam and failed. I feel bad for those students who excelled in CTI but were passed over because of this silly exam. Shameful, really.

Todd

[Ryan B]

I'm only disappointed for the whole thing

The way it was working was great! CTI students were basically guaranteed jobs if you met the test standards.

A lot of my acuaintances, whom are very sharp, smarter than me, arent making it now... It's just silly that suddenly it's more about outward appearances.

I'm glad I got in when I did....

[Jorge Rojas]

http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2 ... -in-skies/ Is a more detailed and VERY good article about the issue. I am currently a student at a CTI school. There are a number of controllers here who have graduated with honors and high scores and were passed over by off the street hires.

There is legislation (H.R. 1964) to change things back to preferential hiring for CTI grads and remove these types of exams. You can't even really call it an exam because they changed the cutoff scores after the test was taken. Who knows what they are looking for.

[twharrell]

How do you score a test that asks about personal and life experiences?

You know something is not right when 30+ year ATC veterans are secretly taking the test and failing.

[Jorge Rojas]

How do you score a test that asks about personal and life experiences?

You know something is not right when 30+ year ATC veterans are secretly taking the test and failing.

Exactly... The message that comes up after you fail the test (and therefore are found not eligible for position, since you don't meet the requirement of passing the exam is:

Based upon your responses to the Biographical Assessment, we have determined that you are NOT eligible for this position as a part of the current vacancy announcement.

The biographical assessment measures ATCS job applicant characteristics that have been shown empirically to predict success as an air traffic controller in the FAA. These characteristics include factors such as prior general and ATC-specific work experience, education and training, work habits, academic and other achievements, and life experiences among other factors. This biographical assessment was independently validated by outside experts.

What is funny is that there is a report that says that the use of biodata is not connected to the success of a controller.

[twharrell]

I take it that the "outside experts" are not air traffic controllers.

[Ryan B]

You're applying logic... That is where you fail!

[Jorge Rojas]

I take it that the "outside experts" are not air traffic controllers.

Or even FAA employees. It's a private company.

FAA aviation medicine employees said that the use of biodata is not a predictor of success. http://www.faa.gov/data_research/resear ... 201408.pdf