what do you mean hiring off of the street? what did they do before?

they used to hire only ex-military controllers, re-hires from the patco strike, or CTI graduates (a dozen or two colleges in the country with approved air traffic control programs.)

Can anyone tell me what the reason is for the age-restriction?

ok so your saying that if im not any of those, i can get hired and they will train me? or do i still have to be some sort of CTI graduate?

i flew with one of the ATC ladies at my airport and she said its because they want a minimum of 25 years out of you. i believe mandatory retirement is 55??

Yes. This my understanding anyway. You DO NOT have to be a CTI grad. I believe you have to take the atc test though..... I forget what it's called... Ig your going to do it you should act quickly.

yes, that is true, its for retirement age reasons.

yeah. they are hiring off the street now so there is absolutely no need to waste money on an air traffic control degree.
CTI grads get trained too, just like an off the street person will. i think as far as training goes, only difference is that CTI grads get to skip like the initial 2-3 weeks of training. there is a specific name for the training that they skip, forget what it was called. as far as hiring goes, CTI grads go through a different process instead of having to apply through the public job posting like off the street people have to (see below.)

you do have to take the ATSAT, it's more general aptitude type of stuff... DO NOT NEED any kind of atc knowledge to do well on the exam. i have heard people worrying so much about the exam, in my opinion you have to be pretty darn stupid to get a bad score.
yeah if you want to do it you should do it quickly, but that is not up to you. the faa posts the job listing on their website periodically and randomly. you can only apply through this public posting. since they started hiring off the street few years ago, they have only posted 6 or 7 times. so right now all you can do is wait for them to post another vacancy.
p.s. i could be wrong but i dont think that they let you take the atsat until you start the application process, which you can't do until they actually post the job opening.

Where do you take the ATSAT kalyx522... I thought you needed to be on a simulated radar room to take the test.

would you say this is the job posting for off the street atc then? the requirements say you have to be a CTI graduate tho...

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