Originally Posted by blulavboy

Just as a point of reference, I was in the corporate world for over 10 years and was "let go" back in July and after having my paperwork in, I got a call from an air carrier office and here I am in OKC for a month. I came in as a GS-12 and hoping for my "13 bump" on my year anniversary. I've got 40 folks in my class with only 3 females. There is probably a 50/50 mix of civilian/military. I'm civilian with a 121,135,142 background.

There are around 6 guys that around the 30 age range having come from Mesa, Pinnacle and Compass. One of our instructors told us there was a recent new hire that came in at the ripe old age of 74!

The job so far is really boring, bascially because we're not trained and we've been sitting around doing out computer training and waiting for the OKC school house to start up.
I jumped at the chance for a few reasons....The major one being I needed a job. I needed a secure job. I wanted the ability to move to another location and from what I'm told it can be done. The fact that there are many other things to do within the FAA is also attractive. Like some of the other posters have mentioned, you can get in the UAV dept, NextGen, Flight Check. If you can get to DC, you can usually start at the GS-14 level. Another bonus is that you're compensated up to around 250-300 dollars per month for using mass-transit.
It's a different lifestyle no doubt, however from a stability standpoint, it's certainly the best in this business. I can try and answer any questions, since it looks like I'm the newest on board.