A little help for a new guy

sixthman20 said:
Yeah. My pre-test relaxtion technique involved a six pack of Coors Light, a Chipotle burrito, and watching the Monday Night Football game in my hotel room. Good times.
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mine was eating a stick of tums, hurling and projectile pooping in my hotel room for 2 days before taking the test (I got food poisoning)

talk about cleaning out the pipes for the big event.

I nearly admitted myself for ER treatment but my fever finally broke an hour before taking the test ;)

lol. And i'm not making any of this up. ask GPaladino he was there.
 
Holy hell, and you still passed the test? That amazing, I would have laid there and cried like a baby for hours. I hate getting sick like that.
 
99.8!

wing and a prayer... wing and a prayer.


and yes.. I was crying.. most of the time.. especially while crashing planes in the ATC sim during the test.

lol. :banghead::(

Post # 900!!!!
 
don't freak out about the test. i'm not that great at math either. the good part about the test is that you can skip questions, and they will go to the end. so if you don't know the answer right away, then skip it so you will have a lot of time to think about it at the the end of the section. it seems that the test (at least some parts) are geared toward multitasking. i felt like the letter factory was the hardest part of the test. the "green book" has a CD with it. it really gave me a heads up on the letter factory. to make a long story short, i thought i failed the test. i passed with a 97.2. you can see my timeline of events in my signature. time will vary depending on the needs of the facility you are chosen for.
 
WOW, almost a year later thats alot of excitment then wait; excitement then wait...etc. When you select your geo pref, do many people get to go to the facility that they have chosen, or is to be expected that you will need to move.
 
Apart from knowing what is on the test, it is honestly hard to study for, since it is an aptitude test. It does not measure how smart you are, nor does it completely relate to everything ATC-related. Instead, it asks you questions and runs scenarios similar to what you might need to be able to do on-the-job.

Example 1: If a plane is traveling at 150 knots and is 15 miles away from the airport, how long would it take for the plane to arrive?

Example 2: A plane is descending from 10,000 feet to 8,000 feet and is traveling at 240 knots with a 40 knot headwind. How far will the plane have traveled before it reaches its new altitude?

Then you may see a digitized picture of a cockpit dashboard with all the dials at particular levels, and it may ask, "What is the ground speed of the aircraft?" or "What is the oil pressure level?" These questions just involve being able to read and interpret a static dial image. You could liken it to looking at your car's dashboard and having someone ask you how fast you were going or how much fuel you have left.

Then there is a mini-psychological evaluation that you HAVE to answer honestly. The questions are designed, both in wording and in number, to make sure you answer honestly. For instance, it may ask you if you work well in stressful environments, and then at another point it may ask you if you panic in stressful environments. If your answers conflict, you set off a red flag in the system that you are trying to game it. Be honest.

Don't fret over the test. If you are selected to take the test or just want to feel more informed, buy the "green book" - http://www.amazon.com/Traffic-Contr...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235594975&sr=8-1. The book will also help answer a lot of questions about the job, as well as give you an example of what goes on in training. You may want to get it just as a reference guide to the whole career field, and I'm sure some of the folks here wouldn't mind selling you theirs, (me included!) since we don't really need them anymore at this point.

The whole point of the test is to see how you think. If you do not get a Qualified or Well-Qualified score, it does not classify you as "dumb"; rather, you do not possess the train of thought/pattern of thinking that the FAA believes is necessary to properly assume the role of an Air Traffic Controller.
 
KT430 said:
WOW, almost a year later thats alot of excitment then wait; excitement then wait...etc. When you select your geo pref, do many people get to go to the facility that they have chosen, or is to be expected that you will need to move.
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It's a craps shoot. You pick two states where you would be willing to work, and in the case of large states, or states with a lot of airports (Illinois, New York, California, etc.), you can specify a particular city you would prefer. I picked Missouri and Tennessee, and even though Missouri is not a big state, I listed in the comments that I would prefer St. Louis because my wife is from there. Lo and behold, I got picked for a St. Louis airport! I didn't get the main airport (Lambert), but I did get a regional airport that is still in the metropolitan city.

I have my PEPC on Friday, at which point I hope to receive my TOL (tentative offer letter) for SUS (Spirt of St. Louis Airport). Then I will wait for my FOL (firm/final offer letter), which should list the same airport. There are a few instances of people getting a TOL for one airport/center and being assigned a different one in the FOL.

Typically, the FAA will try to give you your preferred location. If you happen to pick states that are not hiring, however, then you will not get an invitation to the interview. And before you ask, no one knows which facilities are NOT hiring at any given time, nor do we know which ones ARE hiring. You pick the two places where you prefer to work, and if there is an opening and your application/test score are good enough, you should receive an invitation to the interview.
 
Thanks, for the very helpful information. Now I'm just waiting for a new announment to come up, so I can at least get the ball rolling. Once again that was very helpful information. Thanks.
 
I'm hoping to go to SLC, or and I'm not sure about this one but SNA,
(or that area. CA) if they even have a facility like that. That's not a very big airport.
 
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