Restaurant and retail jobs may go begging, but air traffic control jobs are very hard to land. The FAA will hire 1,500 controllers this year, but 57,956 people applied for those jobs, which means about 1 in 20 will be hired, and half of those will wash out in training.
Actually the selection odds are considerably worse than that, because a significant of those hires come from the military, be rehires, or have other prior experience. Statistically, it’s far easier (or at least, the odds are better) to get into medical school (according to this article).
This is high pressure work, with no margin for error. You have to be under 30, a U.S. citizen, and you don’t choose where you’ll work. You could end up in Alaska or Mississippi or South Dakota. Or New Orleans, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, or New York City. Work schedules vary and are inconsistent. And you won’t necessarily work in an airport tower; many facilities are off-site (e.g., the FAA has a traffic control center in Auburn, Washington, serving the Pacific Northwest, photo at left; see details here).
Pay varies; the FAA says median salary is $138,556, and some controllers earn over $158,000 a year. Those working in high cost-of-living locations are paid more. The mandatory retirement age is 56. If you enter training at age 25, your career will last no longer than 30 years.
See story here, FAA’s list of qualifications here, and more details about the job here.
