Let me preface this response with this: It’s fine if you have aspirations to be a sup, BUT do not mention to your coworkers your intentions. Wait until after you certify and apply for jobs. Again, I would keep it on the down-low.
So here are the reasons.
1. You are generally hated as a sup by controllers.
2. Upper management give you all the busy work.
3. So much BS paperwork that is not fun.
4. A lot of people bid sup jobs to bypass NCEPT or because they are afraid of working busy traffic. If that’s you, that’s fine, just know that controllers talk.
5. We, as controllers, get many breaks throughout the day, sups, not nearly as much.
6. The pay increase isn’t all that great considering you don’t get all the premium pay that controllers get. Yes, generally sups make more base pay but not necessarily after training pay, CIC pay, and Overtime is factored in.
Those are just the few reasons I can think of on the top of my head. I’m sure there are more.
All that being said, the only reason I can possibly think of being a sup is if you aspire to be in upper management, such as an Air Traffic Manager. In that case, being a supervisor is a necessary step.