Hello!
I’ll add my opinion and tips below, in addition to what has been mentioned above. Generally speaking, my best pieces of advice for anyone willing to join IFATC are the following:
- Be ready to put a bit of effort, time, and energy into it. Remember that you are going to need these, alongisde a bit of patience, to be able to pass. For me, it is better to delay your application if you’re not fully ready for it, as otherwise, things may eventually end up in not the expected result (i.e. failing out or going inactive during the Recruitment process, which will mean having wasted the Recruiters/Trainers’ time, too).
- Make sure to study the ATC Manual. When you’re about to join IFATC, Sections 1. to 5. will be more than enough. It’s important to read it numerous times if you don’t understand it the first time (better safe than sorry).
- Practice as much as you can on Training Server and don’t rush it to the practical test. You will need to put into practice what you learned from the ATC Manual before taking the practical test, which is a mistake that many, including myself, have made. It’s much better to delay your test by a couple of days, rather than being too quick with it, and failing it immediately.
- Never panic and treat everything calmly. It’s a simulator made to have fun, after all, and there’s no need to beat yourself up on this or panic/get too nervous. Some nerves can be expected as they are tests, but if you take them calmly, everything will be much smoother, no matter the result!
Yeah, that is true. Many people on TS do not follow instructions or are a pain in general. My best advice would be to first watch this video, and then practice using an ATC Tracking Thread, so that (much more professional) people can come by at your airport and give you feedback.
I don’t think the whole operations system and how many you get depending on the instructions you send is public, and that’s because people would farm them too much, otherwise, and that’s not the purpose of it. You are supposed to have 500 ops to apply for IFATC as a sign that you are actually interacting with the ATC feature of the app and practised a bit. I would highly suggest not to focus too much on that number (although I do understand where you’re coming from, as it is necessary to apply), but rather, provide the best service you can while controlling, which will also help increase the number of operations.
I’m saying this as it’s a very important aspect. I’ve seen it sometimes, but a few newer people in IFATC too get these bad habits onto Expert Server controlling (or, mostly in some discussions within the team), and focus too much on a number, which has nothing to do with your controlling skills. So, ops are important, but only to a certain point.
Let us know if you have any questions, this community is always glad to answer those for you! 