Certified ATC Going Through Academy

[WagonWheeler]

So I’ve been a contract controller about two years now, I’ve applied to both the off the street and prior experience bid. I was offered a terminal class date for the OTS bid and if I don’t hear back from the prior bid by then I’ll probably just go to the academy to get in. Has anyone gone in after being a certified controller? I’m guessing just forget everything about the real world and play the academy game.

 

[FightingIrish2012]

So I’ve been a contract controller about two years now, I’ve applied to both the off the street and prior experience bid. I was offered a terminal class date for the OTS bid and if I don’t hear back from the prior bid by then I’ll probably just go to the academy to get in. Has anyone gone in after being a certified controller? I’m guessing just forget everything about the real world and play the academy game.

Yes, go if that is the only way you can get hired, and yes, it will be probably a lot harder than you think to have to forget about real life and play the academy game. Lots of people in your position have struggled with it, and believe it or not I think the wash out rate for people like you are even or slightly higher than true OTS because of it. I'm not saying that will be you I'm just saying it is more of a game then you probably imagine and there will be lots of adjusting.

 

[Phillytroll69]

Yes, go if that is the only way you can get hired, and yes, it will be probably a lot harder than you think to have to forget about real life and play the academy game. Lots of people in your position have struggled with it, and believe it or not I think the wash out rate for people like you are even or slightly higher than true OTS because of it. I'm not saying that will be you I'm just saying it is more of a game then you probably imagine and there will be lots of adjusting.

Listen to this guy. The real world does not apply. For instance a go around was a way to simply get a plane out if a problem lol

 

[WagonWheeler]

Yes, go if that is the only way you can get hired, and yes, it will be probably a lot harder than you think to have to forget about real life and play the academy game. Lots of people in your position have struggled with it, and believe it or not I think the wash out rate for people like you are even or slightly higher than true OTS because of it. I'm not saying that will be you I'm just saying it is more of a game then you probably imagine and there will be lots of adjusting.

Appreciate it. Obviously I would prefer the direct hire route but if I don’t hear anything soon I’ll just go to get into the agency and pretend like I was never a certified controller.

 

[MickWhoopin]

Appreciate it. Obviously I would prefer the direct hire route but if I don’t hear anything soon I’ll just go to get into the agency and pretend like I was never a certified controller.

If you've already applied to the year round bid I'd suggest you check the status, they've started to pull a few onto the referral list

 

[WagonWheeler]

If you've already applied to the year round bid I'd suggest you check the status, they've started to pull a few onto the referral list

So I checked USAjobs and it says that my application is on the referral list, this is my first time with the prior bid but is that pretty much an indication of a TOL? Well, or as much of an indication as you can have with the FAA.

 

[RomeoTangoRT]

For what it’s worth, I’ve never personally heard of someone applying to a prior experience bid with the qualifying requirements and not get hired. Medical notwithstanding.

 

[MickWhoopin]

So I checked USAjobs and it says that my application is on the referral list, this is my first time with the prior bid but is that pretty much an indication of a TOL? Well, or as much of an indication as you can have with the FAA.

It means a TOL will be coming

 

[Seymour Nips]

So I checked USAjobs and it says that my application is on the referral list, this is my first time with the prior bid but is that pretty much an indication of a TOL? Well, or as much of an indication as you can have with the FAA.

Not necessarily. Not sure what their hiring is looking like nowadays for OTS and Prior Exp. A referral just means your application and documentation provided met the requirements of the bid. Doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get a TOL. Also, I’ve heard of people in the past being hired from an OTS bid, getting in touch with HR and letting them know that they have prior experience and getting an offer letter as if it were from an experience bid. Might be worth calling HR and inquiring about it.

 

[darthmoses]

Had a guy in my OTS class who had been military then contract for a while. Academics and table tops were easy for him but he definitely struggled through the TSS Sims. In the end he passed with one of our highest scores.

If you’re already referred from the prior experienced bid, I imagine you got a damn good chance of getting a TOL. If you don’t get picked up somehow I suppose going OTS couldn’t hurt. You’ll have to take the ATSA tho and getting a good score isn’t a guarantee. Neither is getting referred.

 

[32andBelow]

It’s so dumb that they can’t just waive the academy for you at this point.

 

[ajmezz]

Uprooting your life twice in less than a 6 month time frame sounds awful and expensive as shit. Personally, I’d wait for the prior exp bid. Saves you time and money, not to mention having more of a say in where you end up (ranking your list) versus playing the game at the academy and having to figure it all out on short notice.

 

[DynamicD]

I believe if you are hired under previous experience you start at D3 pay and 6 hrs of leave vs lowest D level and 4 hrs with OTS. Not to mention what everyone else has said or something really weird happening and risking academy failure.

 

[MickWhoopin]

I believe if you are hired under previous experience you start at D3 pay and 6 hrs of leave vs lowest D level and 4 hrs with OTS. Not to mention what everyone else has said or something really weird happening and risking academy failure.

Lowest D pay only if prior military or DOD. If you are not prior service or DOD you still start at AG pay.

Pay set IAW NATCA CBA Article 108, Section 5, Paragraph D AT LOWEST DEVELOPMENTAL LVL FOR ASSIGNED FAC.

 

[32andBelow]

Don’t like 100% of prior experience people who qualify get hired?

 

[Sassyquatch]

You could even call HR and ask the status of your prior exp bid application.

My opinion, I'd wait for the prior experience bid to get picked up if you can. You'll get way more choices that way & start out at a higher pay band. Plus you get to skip OKC initially and regardless if you have experience, there's still a chance you could fail if you go OTS. You have much better odds going prior exp & if you already have an offer for the ots tower class, I'm sure you'd have no issues getting straight into the prior exp bid.

 

[Jacrooster]

All of your medical and preemployment stuff you did for the OTS bid will carry over to the prior experience bid, so once you get a TOL for the prior experience bid you'll just be waiting on receiving a list. You'd likely end up at your facility around the same time for both bids if not earlier going the prior experience route

 

[TermLimits]

I went to the academy because of an OTS bid rather than prior. Had two others in my class in the same situation. We all made it but one barely scraped by playing the academy game.

I would suggest calling HR and asking about your prior experience bid and its status. Let them know about the non-prior bid to see if they can somewhat expedite the other hiring track.

 

[atcrick]

im x instructor ,you will be shocked how many prior experience atc fail. its equal or greater than no experience .the faa dont care you think you know atc. show me you can run non radar first, if you cant do that you wont get a chance to show me how great of a controller you are, so study hard. cool your jets on jumping over the academy , if you do direct hire your lucky cause 50% chance you wont pass academy

I dont mean to slam you, and yes non radar is for enroute, Just beware that you MUST play the academy game, Dont get caught up in (I AM A CONTROLLER) so I will pass.
OTS folks have a advantage in such they dont know real ATC, so they play the game better, Good luck, if you study and take it serious you should pass.