Interested in becoming an ATCO

[Andy_20]

Firstly, apologies for this being quite a generic topic, but hopefully someone will be able to answer just a few pretty simple questions for me.

I have recently become interested into how someone becomes an ATCO. I have done a little digging and the only information i have found for becoming one is by doing training, either by, "pay for yourself/part sponsored" training or going through NATS.

My question is this, once completing such courses how do you get a job working in a specific part of the country? reading through NATS, it suggests that around 80% of its students get based at either Prestwick or Swanick in area control. But what if you wanted to say, work in Exeter or Manchester. How would you go about applying for jobs in that area? Is it just simply a case of phoning them up and submitting a CV or are they all connected to one main group and people are just posted in places?

Or is it a case of having to work you way up to a position in where you get a choice or locations? or do you just have to be lucky?

What is the job market like in the ATC world? hopefully not as dismall as it is in the Pilot world.

Apologies again for what may appear to be a bit of a naive post but, its the easiest source of information to find out answers quickly.

Thanks in advance.

[rab-k]

If you work for NATS, you're a mobile grade and despite having the ability to request a particular posting, you go where NATS needs you to go; he who pays the piper...

If you want the flexibility to go where in the world you should wish, you can either apply to NATS with the intention that at some point down the line you'll seek out pastures new; as countless people do whether by accident or design.

Or alternatively, fund yourself through training at a 'non-state' (not that NATS is truly "state" anymore) ATC training facility, then fire your CV out to all and sundry in the hope that somebody somewhere gives you a job.

The liklihood that you should end up where you want geographically speaking is not guaranteed on either pathway. At the end of the day, if the only job you were to be offered, having laid out all that cash to train privately, is up at Teeside, then guess what...

Sticky threads at the top of the ATC section may be of use; suggest you have a read.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

First of all, you have to hold an Air Traffic Controllers Licence, which is much like a Pilot's Licence. This may also contain ratings for particular ATC services, e.g. Aerodrome Control, Area Control, etc. Each part - the basic Licence and the ratings require examinations to be taken with a high pass mark. After all this, when you go to an ATC unit you have to validate the ratings for local use. At some places your salary whilst training would be lower than post-validation.

If you were accepted for training by NATS and were successful you would be issued with a licence and then be posted wherever NATS decided. Early in your training you would either undertake Area Control or Aerodrome Control. If you remained with NATS you would be posted to a NATS unit, but you would have little choice on location. Some airfields are run by other ATC agencies, e.g. Oxford. They employ their own staff so you could apply to one of those. However, you would still need an ATC Licence if you wished to apply for an ATCO post.

You also have to pass a fairly stringent medical - an "Initial" to start with and then one roughly every year.

The job market is variable. ATCOs are in short supply in NATS but, for some reason, they do not recruit very often. If you eventually obtain a licence with appropriate ratings you could try overseas, for example.

HTH