Well today was the day; the day I have been eagerly anticipating for the past 11 months: Interview Day. It was one of the most relaxed and casual interviews I have ever had the pleasure of being a part of.
Luckily I had joined an air traffic control message board a while ago, and some kind people had remembered and wrote down what questions are on the interview, so I had a bit of inside knowledge as to what to expect. Questions follow:
1) Tell me about yourself.
2) How did you prepare for this interview.
3) Remember a time at work or school where you were working as a team with a group of people and you were under a stressful situation that your team handled well. How did the outcome of this situation affect you personally and how did it affect the group What did you do to come to a positive outcome, and what did you contribute personally.
4) Same question but where you didn't succeed.
5) Same question but a time where you personally where only involved in the stressful situation and not with a group and you succeeded.
6) Same question but where you personally didn't succeed.
7) Do you have any ATC experience outside of CTI school. (actual controller experience)
8) Why do you want to be an ATC.
9) What qualities do you have that would make you a good ATC.
10) Where do you see your career going in ATC.
11) How did you become interested in ATC.
12) How do you feel about shift work.
13) Is there anything else you'd like us to know.
14) Do you have any coping mechanisms.
Most of them are your standard interview questions, and 95% of these I was asked in pretty much the same exact wording as seen above.
After the interview I took a tour of ZAU (Aurora Center), and everybody I met, talked to, and shook hands with was extremely friendly and happy to answer any questions and explain what they were doing at the moment. I even got to "plug in" and listen to an ATC talk to some planes up above. Luckily ZAU is the exact type of facility ZHU (Houston Center) is, so what I saw here today is what I can expect when I get down to my facility in Houston, ZHU.
At the end I was told I "passed" the interview portion, as it's a bit of a pass/fail or yes/no type of interview. You either go on to the next step or you get a "thanks for your time, but this isn't for you." So on to the next step for me, which is a physical, drug test, and a psychological exam. Provided all those go well, I will receive a Tentative Offer Letter (TOL). After that, some more forms, and sercurity clearances and background checks to go through. Provided those go well, I receive my Final Offer Letter (FOL). Then off to Oklahoma City for 3 months of training, and shortly upon completion, off to ZHU.
Unfortunately there is no cold hard date as to when I go to OKC. Anywhere from 3-8 months it seems. Thus, more waiting...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Interview
Got the call today. I am set up for an interview on Thursday at 11:00am. Can't wait. Though this can be perceived as a "wheels are in motion" type of thing, it's only a little slip of the cog actually.
Interview, then (in some order) drug test, physical, psych exam. After that, I receive a TOL (Tentative Offer Letter). Then more waiting until security clearances, credit checks, background checks all go through. Eventually a FOL (Final Offer Letter).
Interview, then (in some order) drug test, physical, psych exam. After that, I receive a TOL (Tentative Offer Letter). Then more waiting until security clearances, credit checks, background checks all go through. Eventually a FOL (Final Offer Letter).
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Why?
When the eventual time for an interview comes, one of the questions that will come up will be "Why do you want to be an air traffic controller?"
Those of you that read this...(nobody...heh)...probably have wondered the same thing. So here goes:
When I was younger, I always loved, when flying, listening in on the air-to-ground communications. I never knew what the jargon meant, but I found it fascinating. I always thought that whatever it was would be kind of neat to do as a job. The whole suit and tie, 9-5 job really isn't for me; hence the previous job as a photographer for the news. Something most people don't think about, and the behind the scenes unsung hero of day to day life. Without a photog photoging you wouldn't have the news. Without the ATC talking to those pilots, you'd have a lot of planes crashing into one another.
It's something where not everyday is the same. You always have to be constantly thinking in a variety of spatial directions. Vertical distance between planes....horizontal distance between planes....speed up....slow down....ascend....descend....turn left.....turn right. Just frantic, nonstop work.
Sure it's stressful, but that's not really a problem for me. It's something technical, constantly changing, and something that most of all makes me want to go to work everyday, and come home being proud of what I do.
So something to that effect is what I'd say come interview time. I suppose it was kind of a fall-back, but hey who gives a fuck right? Plus the fact that it pays extremely well and mandatory early retirement + good pension is a bonus. Well and that it's a very steady job in an unsteady job market and economy.
Those of you that read this...(nobody...heh)...probably have wondered the same thing. So here goes:
When I was younger, I always loved, when flying, listening in on the air-to-ground communications. I never knew what the jargon meant, but I found it fascinating. I always thought that whatever it was would be kind of neat to do as a job. The whole suit and tie, 9-5 job really isn't for me; hence the previous job as a photographer for the news. Something most people don't think about, and the behind the scenes unsung hero of day to day life. Without a photog photoging you wouldn't have the news. Without the ATC talking to those pilots, you'd have a lot of planes crashing into one another.
It's something where not everyday is the same. You always have to be constantly thinking in a variety of spatial directions. Vertical distance between planes....horizontal distance between planes....speed up....slow down....ascend....descend....turn left.....turn right. Just frantic, nonstop work.
Sure it's stressful, but that's not really a problem for me. It's something technical, constantly changing, and something that most of all makes me want to go to work everyday, and come home being proud of what I do.
So something to that effect is what I'd say come interview time. I suppose it was kind of a fall-back, but hey who gives a fuck right? Plus the fact that it pays extremely well and mandatory early retirement + good pension is a bonus. Well and that it's a very steady job in an unsteady job market and economy.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Houston
All along I've known that at some point I'd have the opportunity to choose a state where I would want to live. As much as I love Chicago, I decided that for a variety of reasons that moving would be a good opportunity for me. So when it came time to choosing my two states where I'd want to live I had to look at all the options. I always thought I'd enjoy Nashville, but with this process, you can only put what state you'd prefer, not the actual city; so I had to look at other cities as viable options. Memphis is a shithole, so I ruled out Tennessee. So I decided to put Texas and Arizona as my two choices when it was time to send in my geographical preferences e-mail.
I really wanted to be selected for Austin, which I knew was a longshot all along, and pretty much one of the main reasons I put down Texas. Though looking at the whole state I wouldn't be too discouraged if I would get somewhere like Dallas, San Antonio or Houston. Ultimately I was selected for Houston.
I was immediately dejected. Despite having family in the Houston area, I like most people thought of the city as a huge sprawling, humid city with not much character.
It is sprawling and humid, but after doing some research on the city I'm actually really excited to be moving there. It doesn't have the character Chicago, NY or even a Seattle has, but that's okay. There seems to be some nice neighborhoods near downtown that I could live; which wouldn't be too far from where I would be working. There's a big museum campus and quite a bit of culture down there. It's less than an hour from the Gulf of Mexico, so beaches and the ocean are close, which is nice. Cold winters will be a thing of the past as well.
Plus being a big city there's major sports teams there. I'll always be a fan of the Chicago teams, but if I ever want to catch a Astros game or something like that, I can actually see some games with decent talent.
The more I read and the more I look into the diversity of the city, the more I look forward to eventually moving down there.
I really wanted to be selected for Austin, which I knew was a longshot all along, and pretty much one of the main reasons I put down Texas. Though looking at the whole state I wouldn't be too discouraged if I would get somewhere like Dallas, San Antonio or Houston. Ultimately I was selected for Houston.
I was immediately dejected. Despite having family in the Houston area, I like most people thought of the city as a huge sprawling, humid city with not much character.
It is sprawling and humid, but after doing some research on the city I'm actually really excited to be moving there. It doesn't have the character Chicago, NY or even a Seattle has, but that's okay. There seems to be some nice neighborhoods near downtown that I could live; which wouldn't be too far from where I would be working. There's a big museum campus and quite a bit of culture down there. It's less than an hour from the Gulf of Mexico, so beaches and the ocean are close, which is nice. Cold winters will be a thing of the past as well.
Plus being a big city there's major sports teams there. I'll always be a fan of the Chicago teams, but if I ever want to catch a Astros game or something like that, I can actually see some games with decent talent.
The more I read and the more I look into the diversity of the city, the more I look forward to eventually moving down there.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Luck?
In order to ease my pain throughout this whole process, I've tracked down and joined a couple ATC oriented message boards. So I'm able to see when people are getting contacted during the various steps along the process, and actually talk and get to know some of my future co-workers (provided all goes according to plan that is...).
Checking out the message board today, it appears I have dodged a bullet. There's been a lot of people that have been rejected for the ATC gig who have made it to the same step in the process as me. Lots of people that applied during PUBNAT 5, which is what I did, have received notice that they have not been accepted. Again, there is not a whole lot of rhyme or reason to any of this process, and why some get selected and others don't, so I'm just feeling a bit better about the whole situation today. Though I would still like to receive my interview e-mail this week.
For those of you that aren't sure what an air traffic controller does, or what the exact function of an air traffic controller is, I refer you to the ever hand Wikipedia. They can describe it much better than I can.
Air Traffic Control
and what "subcategory" within the whole ATC umbrella that I will specifically be doing
Area Control Center / Center
Checking out the message board today, it appears I have dodged a bullet. There's been a lot of people that have been rejected for the ATC gig who have made it to the same step in the process as me. Lots of people that applied during PUBNAT 5, which is what I did, have received notice that they have not been accepted. Again, there is not a whole lot of rhyme or reason to any of this process, and why some get selected and others don't, so I'm just feeling a bit better about the whole situation today. Though I would still like to receive my interview e-mail this week.
For those of you that aren't sure what an air traffic controller does, or what the exact function of an air traffic controller is, I refer you to the ever hand Wikipedia. They can describe it much better than I can.
Air Traffic Control
and what "subcategory" within the whole ATC umbrella that I will specifically be doing
Area Control Center / Center
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