Expert: Dacus T. Grant - 11/21/2007

Question
Hi I am taking the AT SAT in January in Atlanta, I was going to a CTI school up here in WA to become an ATC but when the FAA started hiring off the street I applied, so now I will be taking the test even before I'm done with school. My question is whether I will be able to choose where I might work. I would love to work at Seattle Center because it is so close to home. Would I have to wait a couple years till I'm certified or would they let me go there. Oh and just how stressful is this job, when I visited Seattle Center last year all the controllers seemed relaxed.

Answer
Hi Josh.
    I have the same questions that you have.  My son took the  ATSAT in OCT and he has gotten about 10 emails from facilities in FL, but he still doesn't know exactly what will happen.  Each email wanted him to rank the facilities in FL in in order of preference of where he wanted to work, but they only included FL.  I think that stress depends on the individual.  I have seen some controllers that nothing seems to bother them, and I have seen others who were afraid to come to work each day.  For me, I think the job of a controller was a lot less stressful than being a supervisor.

Good luck on taking the ATSAT.

Hope you get hired soon.


Dacus Grant
dacus@iwon.com