Additional Information
Being an air traffic controller is a stressful but exciting profession.
If you'd like to pursue a career directing air traffic, try a job-shadowing
program with a controller in your community.
The more you know about the industry, the better.
Keep a lookout for recruiting seminars. These are held for people interested
in becoming air traffic controllers. For information on these, contact the
FAA.
Veteran controllers strongly advise going out into the world and getting
some real life experience before deciding to become an air traffic controller.
Anyone who wants to become an air traffic controller must write an aptitude
test. Applicants who score highly on this test advance to the second stage
of recruitment -- the personal interview.
The point of the personal interview is to see if the applicant has the
characteristics needed to become an air traffic controller. Interviewers look
for qualities like motivation, practical intelligence, and the ability to
speak clearly.
Former air traffic controller Tim Schroeder says that academic abilities
are not valued in the field and good grades alone won't get you far. However,
the ability to make spontaneous, creative decisions is crucial.
"It can't be something that you've read in a book. You have to be able
to improvise....That's probably the most redeeming quality of most of the
air traffic controllers that I've met. They're able to take a complex situation
and do a very quick analysis and a very quick improvisation of what needs
to be done to accomplish the objective," he says.
If you are successful in the interview, you have to pass a medical exam.
This exam tests your health, hearing and diction, color perception, eyesight
and other physical qualities.
Those accepted into the training program undergo 13 to 17 weeks of training
at the FAA's training academy in Oklahoma City. Classroom training periods
are followed by on-the-job training.
Be prepared to clock your time in less popular areas. Rookie controllers
have to work their way up to the more popular assignments. You may also have
to move around a lot in the first five years.