Hiring Bid FAA-ATO-20-ALLSRCE-65607

Just don't take the atsa again. I scheduled mine not realizing I could use the same score again and called hr. They said just don't show up because if you take it again they take the new score whether or not it's better.
Did you schedule your ATSA from this bid?
 
I took my atsa in 2018 and got BQ and then never got a tol. Scheduled it in 2019 and never took it after talking to hr. This time I've got my security clearance and I'm just waiting on medical to come in.
Scored BQ in 2018 but never received a TOL. Applied again in 2019, didn't receive invite for test because I did not attach my college transcript. Going to roll over my scores for this one.
 
While I'm waiting for this next go around I applied to be a rail traffic controller for DC metro. Said ATC experience was a plus. Doing it as a backup if it don't get picked up. Anyone have any experience with this side of controlling and how much the aptitude transfers? Still would much rather do ATC again but have learned to expect the unexpected.
 
While I'm waiting for this next go around I applied to be a rail traffic controller for DC metro. Said ATC experience was a plus. Doing it as a backup if it don't get picked up. Anyone have any experience with this side of controlling and how much the aptitude transfers? Still would much rather do ATC again but have learned to expect the unexpected.

How do you search for those jobs? Is the pay similar to ATC?
 
While I'm waiting for this next go around I applied to be a rail traffic controller for DC metro. Said ATC experience was a plus. Doing it as a backup if it don't get picked up. Anyone have any experience with this side of controlling and how much the aptitude transfers? Still would much rather do ATC again but have learned to expect the unexpected.
Super funny, because I got into ATC the opposite way. Thought dispatching trains would be cool, boyfriend was like, I bet you would like planes, and yup. I do. I just thought it was funny that we both had similar thoughts. I never went through with train stuff though so I can't say how similar they are.
 

If anyone is willing to move to Alaska, they just opened off the street bid for air traffic controllers there.
 
If anyone is willing to move to Alaska, they just opened off the street bid for air traffic controllers there.

It's a 2152 position but it's FSS, not actually controlling traffic. Poke around here for threads on people who went FSS from the NEST... theoretically-on-paper you can get back to controlling planes, but apparently the FAA won't let you try to transfer back and NATCA has no interest in fighting for it. I suppose someone picked up on this bid could apply to another ALLSRCE bid in the future, but that's the only way they'd get to be a controller.
 
It's a 2152 position but it's FSS, not actually controlling traffic. Poke around here for threads on people who went FSS from the NEST... theoretically-on-paper you can get back to controlling planes, but apparently the FAA won't let you try to transfer back and NATCA has no interest in fighting for it. I suppose someone picked up on this bid could apply to another ALLSRCE bid in the future, but that's the only way they'd get to be a controller.

not if working as an 2152

Oh okay, I misunderstood the bid. I just saw it under 2152 with a open bid to the public and thought it was the same.
 
If I have a 1st class medical from flying would that suffice for my medical clearance? Also, how long does it usually take for us to be updated on if we get passed the application and can take the ATSA?
 
1. No

2. Varies but a couple of months at least.

FYI:

I don't even think they can re-use your MMPI-2 if you had to take it on a deferral for your 1st Class Medical. I also don't know if they can simply re-use records related to physical medical conditions/history or neuropsychological stuff (like the Cogscreen AE) either in your FAA Blue Ribbon file.

Note: for ATC, everyone takes the full MMPI-2, and some people get tier 2'ed. There's a ton of posts on here about how "painful" tier 2 is (imagine the hurry up and wait you're dealing with now, but 10x worse). I also don't know if a previous P&P (Psychological and Psychiatric eval, which is typical for HIMS pilots or people who have any sort of in-depth Psychological care history) from a deferred pilot medical can replace a tier 2 exam either if you wind up in that boat.
 
Also...on that note, mentioning HIMS, and substances. If any of you were not aware:

If you've smoked weed any time within the past 6 months (or a year if you have a pattern of doing so of any kind), you should drop out of the bid NOW and try again next time, assuming at least 6 months to a year has passed. Adjudicative guidelines in the federal government for cleared positions (including this one, which requires secret and therefore an SF-86/eQIP to be filled out) state you generally cannot have used MJ in the past year. This is the case even if you did it overseas or if it is legal in your state, as federally, it's still illegal, and the government doesn't care about foreign sovereignty in this regard. Also lying on the SF-86 is terrible idea, even considering we're not subject to a full SSBI for ATC and it may not be found out. Don't do it, consequences are severe if they do find out.

If you've had more than one DUI in your life, you're probably also out of luck for a clearance and for medical and you should also probably stop illegal downloading if you're doing that and in general be a good citizen. Also, luckily, the FAA should be able to reuse a security clearance from another agency if you already have an active one and it is secret or higher (not guaranteed though).

See here for adjudicative criteria for clearances that are pretty much uniform for jobs requiring a secret clearance or higher if you have any skeletons in your closet otherwise.


Also, regarding meds, it is probably very similar to what is approved for pilots. See here for what is ok for pilots.

 
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If you've smoked weed any time within the past 6 months (or a year if you have a pattern of doing so of any kind), you should drop out of the bid NOW and try again next time, assuming at least 6 months to a year has passed. Adjudicative guidelines in the federal government for cleared positions (including this one, which requires secret and therefore an SF-86/eQIP to be filled out) state you generally cannot have used MJ in the past year.

This is not strictly accurate. The position does require an investigation, and the investigation is based on the SF-86, but it is NOT a cleared position. It's Public Trust, you don't get a security clearance (unless maybe if you work at ADW or JCF or something). And the security process uses a "whole-person" concept, they will take mitigating factors into account.

Now where you will run into trouble is the medical clearance. The form—again, a federal form you shouldn't lie on—asks if you have any history of "substance abuse" in the past two years, and defines "abuse" to include any use of an illegal substance, including marijuana. Kind of harsh IMO but that's what it is. The form is not the be-all-end-all, the final approval lies with the flight surgeon, but from what I understand they're a lot more cut and dry than the security people.
 
This is not strictly accurate. The position does require an investigation, and the investigation is based on the SF-86, but it is NOT a cleared position. It's Public Trust, you don't get a security clearance (unless maybe if you work at ADW or JCF or something). And the security process uses a "whole-person" concept, they will take mitigating factors into account.

Now where you will run into trouble is the medical clearance. The form—again, a federal form you shouldn't lie on—asks if you have any history of "substance abuse" in the past two years, and defines "abuse" to include any use of an illegal substance, including marijuana. Kind of harsh IMO but that's what it is. The form is not the be-all-end-all, the final approval lies with the flight surgeon, but from what I understand they're a lot more cut and dry than the security people.

Then why are they using SF-86? Shouldn't they be using an SF-85P in that case? SF-85P is literally designed for public trust positions and is ALOT shorter.

Blegh, doesn't make sense.
 
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