Pre-Employment Screening & Tentative Offer!

[rbtower2]

Hi everyone!
Just want to let you know about my process into the world of ATC. I applied for the State of Florida in May 2007. Was selected to take the AT-SAT on 10/2007. Got my Grade of 97 and placed on referal list in 11/2007. In December 07 I was selected for Interview and recieved a invitation for Pre-Emploment Screening. This January I went down for the screening. From what I could understand this is a Relatively New process so I will give a little detail in the process. I guess their idea is instead of applicants running around trying to get all the pieces done on thier own they invite potential ATCers to one location and get everything done in one shot. This is what the day consisted of:
1. Interview
2. Drug Screening
3. Medical Evaluation including EKG
4. Psychological test (370 questions)
5. Security Screening including Fingerprinting
6. Inputing Work Application including 10 year work history, 10 year history of where you lived and other information!

It was a pretty long process however it was nice getting all that done in one shot. At the End of the day I recieved my tentative offer for Miami Center! =) Im still not 100% sure if this is what I want to do with my career or not. Still have a little time to think about it till my final offer comes through. Im still a pilot at heart!
I wanted to share my experience with everyone so they have an idea of the process

[AP2B]

Good for you! You sure beat the hell out of that test.

[whysoserial]

Beware of the Miami Center...big time back up going on there with trainees. What was it, a year wait just to begin training? Something less than desired anyhow.

[rbtower2]

a year wait? are you serious! thats really long! =( Anybody else have any info on Miami Center? Thanks so much

[whysoserial]

Well, it's by no means fast. I can't guarantee anything but everything I've heard is negative. I recommend you got to http://www.atccti.com and go to the forums...then read the Miami Center thread in the "Z's" category. Also here's an a bit from a NATCA press release in October last year.

There are 3,618 trainees currently in the system. But NATCA’s survey of the 314 facilities indicates that approximately one-third of the trainees are not certified on any position and cannot work alone, without a fully trained controller (a “Certified Professional Controller”) alongside them. Additionally, many facilities now have more trainees on staff than the resources available to train them. For example, at Miami Center, there are 102 trainees, comprising 34 percent of the total staffing, above the FAA’s maximum desired ratio. Sixty-two of these trainees have no functional training thus far and the backlog created in the training process has forced them to wait up to 16 months after arriving at the facility to receive any real training. Because of these conditions, nine trainees have quit this year, including four in the past two weeks.

[Beehive]

I have heard it would take three years to certify at Salt Lake Center. I'm hoping to certify at a Grade 6 to 8 facility than get the hell out of there in six months to a year and come back to Utah. I hear it is horrifying at Atlanta, Miami and Oakland Center. God Bless the trainees, and controllers for that matter at those facilities!

[magnetic907]

where exactly was your interview at.???? it was in florida so does that mean we all travel one place to get all of this done. or at each facility they are doing it??? did they pay for the expenses<??? thanx

[JT ATC]

Just a heads up. Everyone I've talked to in the FAA says once you go center, you are stuck there. There's no switching around like terminal jobs. Mainly because of the 3-5 year training timeframe.

And I got an initial offer to Indy Center, but I'm excited as hell about it

[ATC Vector]

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...04743768&EDATE=

[Charlee]

Does anyone have any idea if this day long Pre-Employment Screening is in effect for all areas? I like the idea of getting everything done all in one crack. Still waiting to be contacted with a date and time for my interview. The lady that called me mid January from OKC confirmed my contact info and said that someone should be calling me by the end of the month to set up my interview. Haven't heard anything YET. But I was hoping that the above Pre-employment Screening will be something they are implementing for the Hawaii area.

[Fox Xray]

Originally Posted by rbtower2

a year wait? are you serious! thats really long! =( Anybody else have any info on Miami Center? Thanks so much

Don't sweat the details ... way back when I trained it was not unusual not to train for the first year. That might actually be an advantage as you'll have time to learn the ropes a bit. Trainees in level 12's who are being hired and sent directly to training are not fairing well...

If you get ZMA don't sweat it... if ATC interests you then go for it. Don't let the details deter you. A year in a place like ZMA just ripping strips, doing flight plans, etc. you can learn A LOT.

Good luck to you and nice post on the time line... very helpful for a lot of the people who come on this board.

[ajcowing]

Originally Posted by Fox Xray

Don't sweat the details ... way back when I trained it was not unusual not to train for the first year. That might actually be an advantage as you'll have time to learn the ropes a bit. Trainees in level 12's who are being hired and sent directly to training are not fairing well...

If you get ZMA don't sweat it... if ATC interests you then go for it. Don't let the details deter you. A year in a place like ZMA just ripping strips, doing flight plans, etc. you can learn A LOT.

Good luck to you and nice post on the time line... very helpful for a lot of the people who come on this board.

What kind of pay do you receive when you're waiting to train, and working in the facility? Do you get $9/hour, like you do in OK City?

[Polarbear]

Originally Posted by ajcowing

What kind of pay do you receive when you're waiting to train, and working in the facility? Do you get $9/hour, like you do in OK City?

All pay info can be found here:http://faaimposedpayrules.natca.net/

To answer your question, D1 pay.

[Fox Xray]

Originally Posted by ajcowing

What kind of pay do you receive when you're waiting to train, and working in the facility? Do you get $9/hour, like you do in OK City?

You will either be A/G (academy graduate) pay or D1, it varies from facility to facility. You will get night diff, Sunday pay, probably even some OT.