Apply to be an Air traffic controller.

Be ATC - FAA Hiring Air Traffic Controllers | Federal Aviation Administration
The 2023 application window is open May 5-8, 2023.


https://www.faa.gov/be-atc

https://www.usajobs.gov/job/723857500

^^^^MAY 5-8th!! This is when you can apply, and above is the link to apply on USAJobs^^^^

https://pointsixtyfive.com/xenforo/w...cess_overview/

^^This is a good website to get started on what the hiring process generally looks like, and what you can expect


What is Air Traffic control?

Basically these are the people who are either in a tower, or a government building that talk to planes/pilots and give them clearances for takeoff.. clear them to land.. move them around weather.. basically make sure that everyone in the sky doesn't hit one another.

How much can I make with ATC?

Generally even a low level tower (think of a tiny airport near you) will make 100k+ with overtime and different differentials. But the real $$ is going to be made at either a bigger tower aka bigger airport... or with a Tracon or Center. These are the locations that cover all the other airspace in the US around the bigger airports. Think of when you're flying above the clouds 30,000 ft above the air, these are the people who are talking to the commercial airlines or even the GA pilots that take off from middle of now where airports. Once you are done with training, you will make 160k+ with increases in pay yearly. However even "halfway" done with training you are still making 100k+ a year because you have ratings and big raises as you progress through training.

What do I gotta do in order to get hired?

You have to input your resume on USAJobs.. and find the announcement when the days happen. To find an announcement, search for job series "2152", and make sure U.S. Citizens is marked in the "who may apply box". The job title is Air Traffic Control Specialist - Trainee, and the announcement number will be something like "FAA-ATO-16-ALLSRCE-49075". Note the "ALLSRCE", this indicates the "no experience" bid. The FAA also announces its internal bids on usajobs; if you SEE these, they are not hiring announcements for NEW hires.

What qualifications do I need?

You need to either have a 4 year degree.. a 2 year degree with 1-2 years full time work experience.. or 3 years full time work experience. You also need to be UNDER 31 YEARS OLD.

What happens after I apply?

You will wait for an email and set up a time for a test that you need to pass in order to get to the next step.. in this test there is basically a bunch of "games" and math problems that you need to do well on. Things like "separating multiple dots on a screen while also doing math problems".. and "memorizing 10 sets of numbers in order", etc. etc.

If you score high enough.. you then get an offer letter to go to Oklahoma City for 3-4 months (paid) for the FAA Academy where they teach you how to do the job in a smaller way. This part is actually pretty difficult. Won't sugar coat this part, but generally around 50% of the people who come here don't pass..... HOWEVER from what I've read they've done a much better job of being able to pass people on a more consistent basis, while also being able to pocket 3-4k while you're down there.



Why am I posting this on here?

I work in a Center.. and I'm at the bottom in terms of seniority. My area continues to see less and less bodies around the floor, simply due to retirements, or people doing other duties and wanting to try something else within the agency.. Me personally, I don't like OT and like to enjoy my home life and $$ so I want as many people on a line with me as possible. And the only way to do that is to get people to apply and make it through training.

So anyone who generally wants to know more. Let me know..



Tower environment:








Center environment:

under 31, there goes most miscers


also that chit seems stressful af

Why do you need to be under 31 to apply, and does this apply to other countries as well?

2 of my friends went to ATC school and washed out. Apparently the last exam you take is hard as **** and you have to have a great working memory to pass. Gotta be able to track a ton of **** in your head at the same time.

I believe it's due to studies being done that at age 56 you start to have really noticeable mental decline in this job. 56 is the mandatory retirement age, but they want to get at least 25 years out of you. I'm sure there's other reasons, but that's always the one that I assumedThe final evals are really stressful I can't lie. Not so much in that they are "hard", just that you're nervous and don't wanna mess up and when you do (cause no one is perfect) being able to bounce back and continue working without obsessing and thinking about your mistake, and making it worse.

id kill someone staring at that boring fuking monitor

Fair enough

Yeah, because thats who i want controlling air traffic, a fukkn miscer.

Sounds like they are discriminatory against a protected class. Damn!

Bump.

ATC is something I would consider if I were ever blacklisted from my current career (cybersecurity).

Age is 28 though, so about 2 years left before it's a non-option.

Whenever a miscer is like: "What jobs give good salaries?" I of course recommend cyber. However I immediately defer to ATC if they're below 30.

Breaking Bad made not not interested in that job.

whats the difference between this and sitting in an office all day? oh thats right, nothing.

fkn lmao at officecels

pretending to be black with pepperoni nipples on a gay indian bodybuilding forum pays 150k a year?

I told my friend about the last opening because of your previous thread, he went to ATC school as well.

He ended up scoring Well Qualified and didnt get picked to move forward, he's 31 now, its over for him lol. But he got a good career in the med field so

There's already a few miscers doing it that have reached out to me previously lolI actually started out in healthcare IT and wanted to transition to cybersecurity before doing this. I think that an IT background can work in your favor, it did for me, helping with typing speed, typing while talking, and just overall used to SOP's and kind of the methodical method of what each problem needs.

I'd assume that cybersecurity and ATC are kind of similiar in $$ once you get a few years under belt, with maybe a higher ceiling for yours but a more stable career + retirement +pension with ATC.

ATC seems like the tradie of aviation. You'd get more respect from the pilots from being the sloot that brings you pretzels and water honestly.
Well op to sell it more what are you coworkers like? Any bros/sloots or are they all old fuks/retired military?

that seems like an awesome job. no women in sight. must be nice to work in a locker-room environment.

imagine theres a lotta drinking off work too...good times if thats your thing.

Lol.. I'd say we get a ton of comments from pilots on some "we thank you everyday for what y'all do!" when talking to them. Most probably are always a lil surprised when they see how young some of us look/are.

There are more and more women, at least in my facility, coming in. But generally it's white guys still, I can't lie. Younger crowd like myself are generally very chill and cool. Older crowd has been through it so they seem to be upset with life a lil more.

If you're around certain guys it's def a locker room environment lol. Some of the tower transfer people are always surprised how corporate center life is, cause apparently working in a tower does have a very "Bro" like mentality.

at least that's what some of the tower transfer people have said. A lot of them are prior Air Force, or Army

Kinda mirin but I'm too old

Yea no thx

You're legit always on the clock and have to be on your game till the shift ends

I'd burn out in less than a year

Sounds like an absolutely horrible job in literally all regards except the pay.


Don't rope before retirement bro.

interesting

would rather be a pilot srs


also i dont think i could work in any kind of call center thing. i dont think i could fully concentrate on a conversation with a pilot with other people doing their own convos right next to me.

There's better ways of making 150k/year

deets please? asking for a friend.

Sorry man me and broke *****s don't get along

a few years ago i had the chance to go off to USAF ATC school. had a school date & everything (but got notified legit last minute & couldnt make it). at that time i think there was a waiver w/the FAA or something allowing up until the age of 35 if you had a CTO. well im 37 without a CTO so chit's a lost cause. GL to whoever applies.

but my whole thing was i would have spent 5-6 months at tech school plus a year on station training....... all for something enlisted and if i were gonna dedicate that much AD time, it would have to be for an O slot. so that was another reason i turned it down. yeah i technically could have made it to Biloxi MS in time but.... meh.

Some one said once its more stressful to be a flight controller than a special forces operator lol

im sure hiring ATC for diversity will work out well. i know miami and nyc and la (ala jew central) will have white controllers while your families fall from the sky.

fuking lol

No you really aren't.. we work pretty close to 1 hour on position, 1 hr off position. You can do whatever you wanna do on your breaks, they have a cafeteria, gym, spaces to just chill, alot of people go outside and there's a small walking path or bring a relaxing chair and umbrella and read a book by their car

The hr on position, can be VERY repetitive on a normal work.day. For example, in the morning you're gonna get a decent push from certain airports going East bound, and once that's over its pretty quiet. At night those same aircraft end up coming back westbound. Cycle repeats

I won't lie I've thought about being a pilot , but in the end you can get your pilots license on your off time if you really wanna fly. Plus FAM time will make its way back eventually, where ATC gets to fly "for free" in order to get familiarization with what pilots/airlines deal with.

Best thing about the job is BS'ing while on position with some cool people. You learn VERY fast to have a conversation, while also listening to what's going on around you. So many times I've heard someone is shipping an aircraft to my frequency and I know how much time I got to make a decision on what altitude I want them at and what routing I should give them, and I'm not surprised when they come over.I think we've talked before about this type of stuff.. it sucks cause I do think it's still 35 with military or maybe CTO? Regardless going military route kinda was also a thing for me, and kinda glad I didn't do it. Have heard good things, but feel it's better to not put all your eggs in this basket.

Will rep you cause I think you fly right?