[ajcowing]

As far as lateral transfers go, I hear that it's fairly easy to transfer to another facility within the region where you work, but very difficult to transfer laterally to a facility outside of your region. In the latter case, someone from that region would have to be wanting to transfer into your region, in order to transfer out. This is what one of my ATC professor's told me anyway. So, pretty much either start small, so that you could get promoted to a larger level facility outside of your region, go to a desirable region (like the South East), or make darn well sure that you accept a position in a region that you would like to stay in. Everyone wants to go straight for the big bucks, as far as facilities go, but in some ways it's best to start small, that way you have more avenues to explore, once you become certified, and you're not tied down to a certain geographical area.