Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) needed to recruit 20 air traffic controllers, and wanted to ensure an efficient, robust and objective selection approach that included ATC-specific testing.
The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is the national aviation authority and regulatory agency of the Republic of Ghana for air transportation in the country. GCAA provides air navigation services within the Accra Flight Information Region, which comprises the airspace over the Republics of Ghana, Togo and Benin, and a large area over the Atlantic Ocean in the Gulf of Guinea.
GCAA undertook a recruitment campaign in mid-2018 to recruit 20 new air traffic controllers. It had been a number of years since they last recruited so the organisation needed an approach that could handle testing of a large applicant pool, without being too labour intensive or lengthy.They also wanted to take a robust and objective approach to their selection process, evolving from traditional pen-and-paper examinations to modern, ATC specific web-based testing.
GCAA started their recruitment campaign in early August 2018. They used locally provided cognitive tests to address their unique cultural requirements, from which they shortlisted 214 candidates to undertake SureSelect’s ATC Skill Simulations at a testing centre.
This engaging gamified suite of role-specific tests assesses real on-the-job behaviours, with tests for short term memory, spatial awareness, remembering relationships, and effectiveness in a radar simulation (safety, efficiency and multi-tasking).
Candidates reported that they enjoyed using the tests, which look like a radar environment and are a great fit for the new generation of tech-savvy applicants.
The online tests were completed over two days in a supervised environment (to ensure ID checks), followed by a comprehensive report of results for each candidate from the automated SureSelect system. GCAA then completed interviews with their preferred candidates, followed by reference and health checks, and made training offers to 22 candidates.
214 ATC candidates successfully completed testing over two days, using SureSelect's online ATC Skill Simulations
GCAA extended their target of recruiting 20 air traffic controllers, and selected 22 candidates
Improved selection robustness and efficiency by removing any paper-based assessments, using validated test suits, and automating results