Is switching from controller to supervisor for better money/transfer chances worth it?

Ad1234 said:
Absolutely this. Next to go is good time if it would be better for your family either due to location or work hours or you don’t need to retire early.
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IMHO losing atc good time and taking a standard 30 year fed retirement isn't necessarily a bad trade at all vs going the supe route if improving your QOL is the goal. A supe is still working shift work, still working weekends, etc.

If the object is to leverage atc experience into a totally different job series or a staff job (where you can still still be natca but your seniority realistically doesn't matter) natca seniority is the absolute last of my concerns.
 
GulfBravoPapa said:
The catch is you have to do a crap ton of paperwork. Controllers are always complaining to you, or texting you asking you to look at their leave request. You have to brief/enforce policy you didn't make and may not agree with. You may or may not get a break throughout your day. Plus your OM/ATM wants you to do more PROCs and answer all the emails and go to supe meetings on your day off and teach Recurrent Training and "donate" $5 to wear jeans on Friday. But hey at least you get to get your eight hours of currency at five am on a Saturday morning each week.
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ive never texted a supe
 
Soul_Controller said:
Currency and proficiency are two different things. Yeah, you still get to control but now you suck at it. The pay thing isnt true for a lot of places, CPCs take home more in general. And you get shit on by all controllers and upper management.
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They only take home more because they're working a shittier schedule. More night diff? Over time? In charge? Is that suppose to be a pro?
 
Someone made a comment that stuck with me.. if you get something because it's new and shiny, eventually that shiny will wear off and you will be stuck with something dull. If you take a sup job for the money, the excitement of the bigger paycheck wears off eventually and you are stuck.

Do what you think is best for you and your family. Become a sup because you think it's challenging or rewarding. I fear sups that just do it for the lay raise become crusty and angry and then suck to work for.
 
Nottatummmah said:
Someone made a comment that stuck with me.. if you get something because it's new and shiny, eventually that shiny will wear off and you will be stuck with something dull. If you take a sup job for the money, the excitement of the bigger paycheck wears off eventually and you are stuck.

Do what you think is best for you and your family. Become a sup because you think it's challenging or rewarding. I fear sups that just do it for the lay raise become crusty and angry and then suck to work for.
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This can be applied to everyone in every industry regardless of position. They get a new job, certify or become vested and then just become complacent or bored and become pieces of shit.
 
Peter Gibbons said:
IMHO losing atc good time and taking a standard 30 year fed retirement isn't necessarily a bad trade at all vs going the supe route if improving your QOL is the goal. A supe is still working shift work, still working weekends, etc.

If the object is to leverage atc experience into a totally different job series or a staff job (where you can still still be natca but your seniority realistically doesn't matter) natca seniority is the absolute last of my concerns.
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^ This. QOL > Good Time > NATCA Seniority
 
GulfCharlie said:
^ This. QOL > Good Time > NATCA Seniority
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Absolutely, however I’d like to throw in one caveat. Correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as I know, normal feds have to work MRA+30. As I understand it you need to work at least 30 years AND be age 57. So for a lot of folks that would be more than 30 years of work depending on when you got hired. For example the guy who got hired at 21 years old needs to work until 57 which would be 36 years of work. Having good time lets you retire much earlier than your other fed peers with retiring at 20 years at age 50 or 25 years at any age. The guy who got hired at 21 can retire at age 46. There are other good time jobs besides ATC. Federal firefighters and law enforcement. So that may also be an option if you want to keep good time and retire early, but in the end do what you think is best
 
SolicitSVFR said:
Absolutely, however I’d like to throw in one caveat. Correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as I know, normal feds have to work MRA+30. As I understand it you need to work at least 30 years AND be age 57. So for a lot of folks that would be more than 30 years of work depending on when you got hired. For example the guy who got hired at 21 years old needs to work until 57 which would be 36 years of work. Having good time lets you retire much earlier than your other fed peers with retiring at 20 years at age 50 or 25 years at any age. The guy who got hired at 21 can retire at age 46. There are other good time jobs besides ATC. Federal firefighters and law enforcement. So that may also be an option if you want to keep good time and retire early, but in the end do what you think is best
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You are correct, I'll throw this in there too, you keep the 1.7% you worked for the years worked as a 2152 then if you revert to a normal fed job you go back to 1% per year worked as a non-2152.
 
SolicitSVFR said:
Absolutely, however I’d like to throw in one caveat. Correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as I know, normal feds have to work MRA+30. As I understand it you need to work at least 30 years AND be age 57. So for a lot of folks that would be more than 30 years of work depending on when you got hired. For example the guy who got hired at 21 years old needs to work until 57 which would be 36 years of work. Having good time lets you retire much earlier than your other fed peers with retiring at 20 years at age 50 or 25 years at any age. The guy who got hired at 21 can retire at age 46. There are other good time jobs besides ATC. Federal firefighters and law enforcement. So that may also be an option if you want to keep good time and retire early, but in the end do what you think is best
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Yes it's totally dependent on your individual situation. If you got hired in your mid to late 20s (which I'd say is a good portion of us), and let's be real the majority of us end up staying till 56 anyways, it's definitely worth thinking about the tradeoff between working what may amount to an extra year or two vs the next couple of decades of nights weekends holidays etc in exchange for (again individual situational dependent here) what could amount to just a handful points off the pension.

I'll use myself as an example. I got hired at 27 with a bit of active duty military on the front of that, planned on working till 56 anyways, have 10 years in the agency. So I'd be trading a year of time and 5 percent of pension for a better quality of life for the next 20 years of my life.

Those nights, weekends, holidays and vacations when I want them mean something when you have a family and healthy social life outside of work and controller friends.
 
Peter Gibbons said:
Yes it's totally dependent on your individual situation. If you got hired in your mid to late 20s (which I'd say is a good portion of us), and let's be real the majority of us end up staying till 56 anyways, it's definitely worth thinking about the tradeoff between working what may amount to an extra year or two vs the next couple of decades of nights weekends holidays etc in exchange for (again individual situational dependent here) what could amount to just a handful points off the pension.

I'll use myself as an example. I got hired at 27 with a bit of active duty military on the front of that, planned on working till 56 anyways, have 10 years in the agency. So I'd be trading a year of time and 5 percent of pension for a better quality of life for the next 20 years of my life.

Those nights, weekends, holidays and vacations when I want them mean something when you have a family and healthy social life outside of work and controller friends.
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Yeah I got hired before I turned 22, 39% at age 47 to retire is unbeatable, to get everything to go to 1.7% I'd have to work another decade, I'll take the first option every day of the week
 
GulfBravoPapa said:
I'd say a majority of controllers staying until 56 is a stretch. Like AB I got hired at 22. There is no way I'm staying past 50.
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Of the guys I know who have retired I'd say more often than not they've aged out, not pulled the rip cord at 20. That's totally anecdotal but that's what I've seen.
 
Peter Gibbons said:
Of the guys I know who have retired I'd say more often than not they've aged out, not pulled the rip cord at 20. That's totally anecdotal but that's what I've seen.
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Those are the guys that seem to be remembered in the center st least. But the only old timers still around now are the ones that went the distance
 
AB19 said:
Yeah I got hired before I turned 22, 39% at age 47 to retire is unbeatable, to get everything to go to 1.7% I'd have to work another decade, I'll take the first option every day of the week
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Yes, but you also get that extra decade at 1.7% also. So it's like 59% vs 39%. 50% more of a pension? That's quite a lot, so it's not the easiest call to make.

Most of the people I've worked with become eligible, and then it's kind of like the burden is lifted knowing they could go whenever they want, so they just keep working a few more years anyway... whether or not that's all the way to 56.
 
blarg said:
Yes, but you also get that extra decade at 1.7% also. So it's like 59% vs 39%. 50% more of a pension? That's quite a lot, so it's not the easiest call to make.

Most of the people I've worked with become eligible, and then it's kind of like the burden is lifted knowing they could go whenever they want, so they just keep working a few more years anyway... whether or not that's all the way to 56.
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You get 20 at 1.7 and the rest is at the standard fed rate which is 1.3
 

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