Honest Advice.... PLEASE.

[MrMirai]

I will try to keep it brief. I was very interested in applying/going through the process to become an ATC. However, I live in London, I have a mortgage, two kids and a better half. We think we could somewhere make life work whilst I studied etc in Hampshire. The only thing that is now putting me off, is the fact that once I pass. I could literally be sent to Scotland, with no say on the matter. This is something that is completely unrealistic. My partner still has work in London, and our kids go to school here. The ATC salary is appealing. But not THAT appealing...
I think im answering my own questions here. But I just thought i'd ask for the opinion of anyone in a similar situation, or anyone whos been in the job and had to relocate etc... is it worth it! It might be worth saying. Becoming an ATC isn't some life long dream of mine. Im currently a control room supervisor for the metropolitan police, and frankly. This organisation is going down the toilet. Plus the ceiling for promotions / pay increases is very low!
Thank you.... I appreciate your time.

[AyrTC]

Honest,

As has been pointed out on many occasions you will have very little say or influence about your initial career/posting. NATS will decide if you will be Area streamed ( Prestwick Centre or Swanwick ) or Aerodrome streamed ( Aberdeen, Aberporth Range, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Farnborough, Gibraltar, Glasgow, London ( Heathrow, City, Luton and Stansted ), Manchester, Southampton and TC at Swanwick ).

You may also find that your initial training will be in Cheltenham or even Jerez in Spain.

As you have intimated you have probably answered your own question.

Having just written the above I have just found this link to NATS latest social media dabbling and it is quite accurate!

https://spark.adobe.com/page/1hXpXosu6KAuu/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=facebook_page&utm_medium=NATS%20Careers

Rgds
AyrTC

[lemonhead]

Don't leave out the ranges, everyone's favourite posting.

You will have to be willing to work anywhere in the UK, the contracts they have might change overtime. If you refuse your initial posting you will be liable to pay back £36.000.

If you show any reluctance to go anywhere then you will likely not be selected for training.

[BigDaddyBoxMeal]

NATS will send you where their business requirement needs you. Historically they’ve given trainee’s own preferences/circumstances very little consideration (i.e. none at all) It’s a great career but if you are thinking of NATS you really need to go in with the attitude that you can and will end up anywhere.

You could consider ANS at Gatwick? They are currently recruiting for trainees Careers Gatwick (http://airnavigationsolutions.co.uk/careers/careers-gatwick) Keep in mind they also provide ATC at Edinburgh, not sure if they have an open posting policy too. Be snappy though, applications close on Monday!

[flightcatcher]

The other replies are correct. The company will send you where you're needed, it's safe to assume you'll have no choice in that. If you absolutely can't accept a posting to, say, Aberdeen airport, or the Prestwick centre, then you have indeed answered your own question! My first airport posting was several hundred miles (and in a different country) from where I'd wanted to be, although with hindsight it turned out to have been the best experience I could have wished for (plus I didn't have a young family at the time).

Despite some of the grumbles you'll read on here, NATS really is a very good employer, and ATC is one of the best jobs in the world. Good luck with whatever decision you make.

[kcockayne]

I will try to keep it brief. I was very interested in applying/going through the process to become an ATC. However, I live in London, I have a mortgage, two kids and a better half. We think we could somewhere make life work whilst I studied etc in Hampshire. The only thing that is now putting me off, is the fact that once I pass. I could literally be sent to Scotland, with no say on the matter. This is something that is completely unrealistic. My partner still has work in London, and our kids go to school here. The ATC salary is appealing. But not THAT appealing...
I think im answering my own questions here. But I just thought i'd ask for the opinion of anyone in a similar situation, or anyone whos been in the job and had to relocate etc... is it worth it! It might be worth saying. Becoming an ATC isn't some life long dream of mine. Im currently a control room supervisor for the metropolitan police, and frankly. This organisation is going down the toilet. Plus the ceiling for promotions / pay increases is very low!
Thank you.... I appreciate your time.
I am someone who would only employ a person who is enthusiastic about ATC. You need that enthusiasm to be able to put up with a posting to a place which doesn’t suit you, for one thing. So, it looks like I wouldn’t employ you - which is of no consequence, since I am retired. ATC is THE best job in the world, but you need enthusiasm & interest in it to get the rewards & to enjoy it. With NATS it is very well paid , many of the Units are interesting & challenging & you can prove yourself to yourself (& others); & there is a useful career path, too. I served 37 years & I don’t think that I “worked” a day in all that time. Your question pretty much betrays how you feel so, I would forget it - if I were you ! Unless something that I have said appeals to you.

[GiveMeABreak]

Spot on as always kcockayne.

[The Fat Controller]

Becoming an ATC isn't some life long dream of mine.

The ATC salary is appealing. But not THAT appealing...

MrMirai, those are two very telling statements, I do not think ATC is for you.

ATC training is very intensive, you have to accept whatever posting you get and even when you get there it's not a done deal, you have to validate at the unit which can take a while.

[Heathrow Harry]

As Lady H said years ago "Don't take a job as a lighthouse keeper and then complain about working nights......"

[chevvron]

Doesn't happen nowadays but even during training and before my final posting after graduation, I did field training at places as far apart as Glasgow, Sumburgh,(Shetlands), Preston and Lindholme, (a large joint civil/military radar unit near Doncaster) as well as attending the various rating courses at the College which in those days was at Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, while my home at the time was in South Bucks.
You have to accept the fact you're 'mobile' with NATS and will need to go wherever they send you, whereas with ANS you might be a Gatwick or Edinburgh and if you pay for your own training with someone like Global, you will need to 'hawk' your services around the various non NATS ATSUs, plus other ANSPs like SERCO, Airwork and Safeskys who you will often find won't employ you unless and until you have a bit of actual operational experience.

[chevvron]

Honest,

As has been pointed out on many occasions you will have very little say or influence about your initial career/posting. NATS will decide if you will be Area streamed ( Prestwick Centre or Swanwick ) or Aerodrome streamed ( Aberdeen, Aberporth, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Farnborough, Glasgow, London ( Heathrow, City, Luton and Stansted ), Manchester, Southampton and TC at Swanwick ).

Rgds
AyrTC
You missed out Gibraltar!
Does NATS do Aberporth now? It's years since they did the airfield which is now AFIS rather than ATC and I heard the range control was now done by Newquay Airport.

[arthur j negus esq]

You missed out Gibraltar!
Does NATS do Aberporth now? It's years since they did the airfield which is now AFIS rather than ATC and I heard the range control was now done by Newquay Airport.

NATS still operate the range, howeve Newquay also provide radar for RPAS operations.

[rolaaand]

If the salary isn’t appealing, you’ve no burning desire to work in ATC, and you really don’t want to move away from home and family (understandable), then honestly, applying to Nats is a non-starter for you. As others have pointed out,Gatwick might be more your thing.

[Tagzy]

I'm in a sort of similar position regarding the need for some advice! The job I currently do is very physical and I fear I may be out of a job in the coming years due to an injury that simply isn't going to get much better. I have always been interested in aviation and my dream was to become a pilot, but a lack direction in school and then funds in later life has put that dream to bed. I am really, really interested in becoming an ATC however as I do meet the requirements, plus the lack of a need to fund your training has made this very appealing to me. I am also quite interested in the work itself, going back to my enthusiasm for aviation. The problem I have is like the OP, I have a young family and a mortgage in the north west. Now I would certainly be willing to relocate for my job, even to Scotland or NI, but I am wondering how easy and for how long a transfer closer to home would take? Also regarding the training; if you are sent to Jerez, would you have to provide your own accommodation there? I've also just read on the NATS website that the starting salary for a trainee is £17k. Is this from day one of employment? I only ask because I'm sure I read somewhere else on the website that the starting salary for trainees whilst in college was c.£13k. This quite clearly presents a problem if said training takes place in Hampshire, where property is considerably more expensive where I currently live.

Thanks for all your help!

[Tagzy]

Thanks for that clarification! Can you tell me more about the rent allowance in college?

[Saintsman]

I would worry about being selected for training before you think about salaries and postings.

Get the nod and then you can think about whether it really is for you before you commit.

[ZOOKER]

Saintsman, surely if a prospective candidate hasn't decided that 'it's for them', they shouldn't be in a position to "Get the nod"?

Especially when the cost of training an ATCO, (from Day 1 to validation), is around £500,000 a shot.

[10 DME ARC]

I am with most people here you need 'commitment and drive' without this you're not going to get through the interview board and that's after you've proved your self in the aptitude tests! NATS in my day normally started with 2-3000 applicants per year, tested around 8-900, interview 2-300 and take on 30! Out of the 30 up to 15 wouldn't make it!
Interest in aviation?? Well it certainly helps during first few years but the youngest person on my course had no interest in aviation, didn't know the front end of an aircraft from the back and made one of the best Radar controllers on our course!
In NATS as an ATCA I was posted to London Centre(LATCC), training in Bournemouth, I was at LATCC five years. Then Bournemouth again for two and a half year Cadetship with visits to Manchester, Edinburgh and then when about to go to Area OJT we were posted out due staff shortages. Interestingly I took a 25% pay drop to train as an ATCO which in 1987 was £9000p/a I thought the starting salary of £13k, its just gone up to £17k, was crazy all these years later!!
My first posting was Sumburgh my 8th choice most people went to LATCC. After two years in Sumburgh I then left NATS as I was about to head back to LATCC(Nothing wrong with London Centre I loved the work but cost of living in west London was stupid!!). I spent 18 great years at 'home' in a none state aerodrome, showing my years there!! Which I thought would see me to retirement but in 2008 I ended up in Dubai! I have been here ever since, I hope to retire early in around 3 years after forty years in ATC(I was 17 when I joined NATS). So I have had a long and varied career during which I have loved every minute! l still cannot believe people pay me to do this!!

[chevvron]

MrMirai, there are at least 2 earlier threads on this forum on the same subject, one is still on this page entitled 'Where will NATS send me?' so why not look at them too?