Nearly all of us love the job and why not?
It's demanding . difficult to master , fast moving , rarely repetitive in a boring way , real time - so placing you in a position where you may need to recall all of your skills regardless of time of day/night or wellbeing, and above all it gives you responsibility for hundreds of lives both in the air and on the ground.
It really is the ultimate Computer Game!
But please don't leave a well paid career unless you have a burning desire to become an ATCO.
The timing is wrong.
We are now underpaid for the task we try to acheive and earn less in real terms than we did back in 1970.
European Legislation is going to have a major effect on both Airspace Usage and Controller Licencing in the next few years. Most forcasts predict pressure to bring about lowering salaries as airspace becomes more Managed and less Controlled by the use of technology and a cheaper EEC workforce.
The financial positon of NATS is still ridiculous.
Our Pension Scheme is still at risk.
We are seeing our sectors being farmed out to Foreign Controllers and this may well become a future trend as we look to reduce labour costs and now it appears that some training has been deferred to save money at a time of undermanning.
I'm sure others will add more but basically I'm saying - go for it but with your eyes wide open and leave an escape route back into your old career.