I'm going thru the process to become an Air traffic Controller and was wondering what I can expect.?

I've taken the AT-SAT last month and I think the next step will be the interview. What will that be like? Where will it be? After the interview how long does it take for the other stuff to be completed? When everything comes back, is there a long wait to go to Ok for the school? Do they provide housing? Pay? I tried to find info online but can only find general information. Any insight will be great!I'm going thru the process to become an Air traffic Controller and was wondering what I can expect.?
I'm currently at the FAA academy and I had a lot of similar questions because the FAA didn't really tell me anything until I got here. It was almost exactly 6 months to the day from when I took the AT-SAT to when I arrived at the academy. Most of the guys I know here waited about the same amount of time: 5-7 months.





My interview was at the nearest FAA ATC facility. I met with the tower manager. The FAA mainly just wants to put a name to a face and have contact with you. She asked me some of the usual job interview questions, but it wasn't a difficult or stressful interview. Of course, you don't have the interview until you get (and accept) what the FAA calls a ';tentative'; job offer.





After the interview you have to take a psychological exam called the PF-16. It's nothing to study for. I just asks you a bunch of simple life-situation questions and you just answer how you feel about it. (ex.: Do you consider yourself an organized person? A. Yes B. No C. Maybe)





After that, you should have gotten more info from the FAA and will need to complete a bunch of forms, mainly the background check information, fingerprint cards, etc., and have a thourough medical examination by an FAA certified doctor, which includes a drug test.





I completed my medical and all other paper work and next-day mailed it to the FAA on a Monday evening, and on the following Monday I got a phone call from the FAA asking me to come to the academy in 10 days! I told them that was too soon for me, and they were able to give me one more week.





You need to find housing, but there are several places that are not run by the FAA, but are FAA friendly. Go to www.faa.gov then after .gov type: /education_research/faa_academy (yahoo keeps truncating the address). If that doesn't work to go www.faa.gov and search for FAA Academy. Once there, click on ';student services'; on the left, then on ';housing.'; That will give you a list of places that are ';FAA friendly.'; The apartments are your best bet, and some even have cars you can rent for less than $10 a day. You just need prior insurance.





Pay is sufficent if you don't have many other debts. You get per diem of almost $80 a day, 7 days a week, working or not. You will also get your pay that was specified in your offer letter, which is usually around $18,000-20,000 annual for new-hires. Like other jobs, you usually don't get paid on the first payday you are there and have to wait about 3 weeks for your first paycheck.





As far as the academy goes, the hardest thing isn't the academics, it's just talking to airplanes! We all think we know what to say, but at first it's really difficult to say the right words in the right order and keep it flowing. I would suggest listening to controllers in any way you can (buy a radio and drive to your local airport or find a live stream on the internet) and repeating out loud what they say. If you can go to an airport with a radio, try watching the planes and making the calls before the controller does and then see if how the controller says it. Keep in mind, however, that not all controllers use the exact phraseology that they teach at the academy and you might have to learn something different at the academy.





Hope that was helpful. Let me know if you have other questions!I'm going thru the process to become an Air traffic Controller and was wondering what I can expect.?
Be prepared to wait. You are slicing through red tape after all. You thought it took a long time to get your tax refund back... The interview might be at the facility you've been selected for or at a more local facility with their people. You'll be paid a few cents over 78 dollars a day per diem, they will not provide housing. Trust me, the local OK City economy knows to the cent what you are making and they'll adjust prices to ensure none of it ever leaves the Sooner State.





If you want info on housing and stuff to do go to www.atccti.com They have links to things to do and apartments that serve ATCers.