Too late for ATC Career?

[RUNNINHORN]

thanks right turns........debating whether to get my MBA and stay in FEDEX Express' mgt program or go to ATC........

 

[atcloser]

ATC is fun and the pay is good, but it is a long hard road to get FPL (full performance level) controller. very long hard road. very very long hard road. get my drift?

 

[RUNNINHORN]

ATC is fun and the pay is good, but it is a long hard road to get FPL (full performance level) controller. very long hard road. very very long hard road. get my drift?

everything desireable in life comes thehard way........if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.......

 

[psysicx]

To me it sounds like you wouldn't recommend it.When is hiring suppose to start again?

 

[ISaidRightTurns]

I agree with loser. It takes a real toll on everything in your life. If you get picked up, and then end up at a 12 - you can't imagine just yet how hard it will be. I can only speak from a center view, but money should not be the motivation for this career.

Then again, many people are better at it than me, maybe they feel different.

 

[RUNNINHORN]

yea, is there a current hiring freeze?

 

[RUNNINHORN]

Last I heard the new hires are sent to ARTCC's or Level 7 towers. Your best bet is to go to an ARTCC if you can. ARTCC's are the highest paid facilities, and the radar experience will open up more opportunities to you later in your career. Level 7 towers are generally small non-radar facilities with no TRACON. Pay at a Level 7 tower is considerably lower than an ARTCC, plus you get no radar experience working there.

which of these 14 schools would you think going to would give you the best chance to get into an ARTCC?


Currently the FAA is hiring candidates who have graduated from of the 14 schools* across the US:

• College of Aeronautic, Flushing N.Y.
• Community College of Beaver County, Beaver Falls, Pa.
• Daniel Webster College, Nashua, N.H.
• Dowling College, Oakdale, N.Y.
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona, Fla.
• Hampton University, Hampton, Va.
• Inter American University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, Fla.
• Middle Tennessee State University, Tenn.
• Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, Calif.
• Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.
• University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, Ala.
• University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D.
• Minneapolis Community & Technical, Eden Prairie, Minn.

 

[smellthejeta]

Your facility assignment is a 100% crapshoot. Trying to game the system will result in nothing but disappointment... it's like saying that all you want to do is fly the 747 at UAL. You may never get to UAL, and if you do, you may never bid the 747, and if you do, you might be so damn old that you'll get paid like a 747 CA but never actually fly the thing because it's not worth their time/money for the short time you'd fly it before retirement.

Getting into an ATC career requires a mindset that you will be happy (or at least willing to tolerate) the first assignment you get. If you're an "all or nothing" type you will most likely be disappointed.

P.S. The program in Minneapolis used to be an ARTCC only track, but that is no longer true.

 

[Lrjtcaptain]

Doensn't matter where you live or who is desperate....it matters, does the FAA have enough money to hire new people and how many will actually certify. Your in a bind....28.....gonna be a tough one to pull off....Find a CTI with a 2 year and do it now!!!! I waited 3 years after graduation from a 4 year before I was even in at the academy. It makes no difference where you live and where you bid....they send you to where ever the hell they want to....

 

[smellthejeta]

Doensn't matter where you live or who is desperate....it matters, does the FAA have enough money to hire new people and how many will actually certify. Your in a bind....28.....gonna be a tough one to pull off....Find a CTI with a 2 year and do it now!!!! I waited 3 years after graduation from a 4 year before I was even in at the academy. It makes no difference where you live and where you bid....they send you to where ever the hell they want to....

Hell, you don't even "bid" for your first job. You fill out a regional preference (that's the nine-region system) sheet with your top three choices. Maybe you get your first choice, maybe you get your second choice, and even maybe you get your third choice. They advertise that if none of your first three picks select you, that you are gone, but I don't know if that's true. Some regions have a MUCH longer wait for hiring than others. For instance (and I know this to be true to the best of my knowledge) if you want to go to the Southern region, people that graduated with me in May '05 will be given an assignment sometime in FY07. People who want to go to the Central region were given assignments within three months of graduation.