I've learned some things in my reinstatement process that I really wished I knew sooner. DO NOT wait until you've been out a year to take action toward your re-entry if you want to get back in to a new facility as soon as possible.
Here's what I mean...
1) A few months before I was out for a year, I got an ATM to agree to hire me once my year was up. I had a couple others tell me no, but long story short, my application got submitted when I was out for 1 year and 1 day because I had that part taken care of. Don't assume that you can waltz in to your dream facility on the day you're eligible, have the ATM agree to hire you, and have all of the paperwork submitted that day.
2) There are a handful of documents (mostly SF50s) that have to be submitted when you apply for reinstatement. Track these down ahead of time. It took me WEEKS to get some of those specific SF50s from the government. The earlier you do this, the better.
3) Apply for a prior experience bid 4-7 months after you're out of the FAA. This way, you can complete your Medical, Security Clearance, drug test, and MMPI. These clearances are good for at least a year. You can get them all done, and then they'll give you an FOL for your previous facility. You simply don't accept it. Then, when the time comes to apply for reinstatement, you go straight from TOL to FOL in a couple weeks and get a start date much sooner. This can cut a few months out of the reinstatement hiring process.