hey guys, im new here. im 20 years old and hopefully on my way to being a ATC. i just been looking around mostly, lots of great info on here.
anyway, i have been notified that im chosen to take the AT-SAT. ill be going monday for the exam. i have a few questions though.
1. I have been using the ATC career prep book to do all my studying, as i am an off the street canidate. is there anything else i should look at that might not be in the book? also i have a litte bit of trouble with the letter factory part and where you have to manage all the planes on the screen. how big of a part of the AT-SAT is this? Sorry, but I can't help you here, I didn't use the books
2. What happens after i take the test? when will i be notified of my results? how long does it take for you to get sent to okalahoma? After you take the test, like everyone said, you wait. The is not a standard waiting period, but your ATSAT results should be back rather quickly.
3.Just a basic question, those who are ATC's or becoming ATC's. do you love your job? is it everything they say it is? is it as hard as they make
it out to be? or do you just get used to it after doing it everyday? I am currently a student at OKC for the terminal option. I disliked some of my tasks (the academic aspect and memorizing the phraseology, but it for the betterment of my career), I love my career (if fate will so have it). From the training simulations at the Academy, it is as hard and stressful and fun and exciting as everyone that I have ever talked to with ATC experiance as told me (a.k.a. while you will be busier some times than others, it is only as hard as you make it). I'm sure (this is only a guessmation but I am sure you/I/we/CPC's get used to the work load of the facility physically I can't speak to this, but I'd put my money on what ATLTRACON said).
4. Is it like doing the same thing day after day, or is everyday a different story? i know their gonna be different planes, but asfar as the situations you face at you jobs. Even in the simulations, it is different situations EVERY day, heck sometimes there are different situations within the same computer simulation during the runs, it just goes to prove that ATC is never the same, if it was the same routine everyday I probably wouldn't love this job half as much as I do right now.
I have zero idea what the training is like once you get to your facility, but the academic courses are dry and boring. Hopefully you get instructors like BW and DB for your basics or AL and SJ for your "phase 2" training.
thanks for all the info guys. im very excited to take my test and i hope i pass it, which i should since i been studying my butt off lately I wish you the best of luck and remember keep your arms, legs and anything else inside the rollercoaster at all times, and hand on for the ride of your life!