Thinking of becoming an ATCO
Hi all, I have for the last 15 years worked in aviation, avionic maintenance fixed wing and rotary, Tornado simulators, technical author etc mostly MoD contracts, I am pondering to restart my career as an ATCO as my husband is soon to lose his job with BAE on the Harriar (Thanks Mr Cameron) and we are thinking of swapping roles, me going back out to work and dear hubby staying at home to look after our son. I have looked at NATS which offers a salary whilst training, done the maths and we can survive on the money for the 11 month training, but my concern is, does the pay after that, at a unit which will undoubtadly be Prestwick or Swanwick, of 15K have to pay for accomadation and travelling as well or do we get a living allowance. At the moment 15k would only be suffiecient for working close to home as I cannot afford both my mortage and rent to live elsewhere. The long term prospects are excellent but the short term costs have to work out. Also do I understand correctly we do not get fully quallified and earning good salaries until after two years after finishing the college course ie 3 years in total? At 38 years old, although I come from a good aviation background and have a good 20 years plus emplyment still ahead of me, am I deluding myself with this change of career? The alternative is a dead end job at the local Tesco's!!! Thanks in advance for any advice.
Catherine