Questions? Start here.

In almost all cases, yes: you must apply before your 31st birthday. The ceiling exists because controllers face mandatory retirement at 56, and the FAA wants a full career of service. The main exception is certain qualifying veterans, who may be eligible for an age waiver. If you are close to the cutoff, apply the moment an announcement opens.

Not for the Off the Street route. The FAA hires trainees with no degree and no aviation background. The ATSA and the checks are what matter. A degree from an FAA-approved CTI program is its own separate route with advantages, but it is not a requirement. The career guide covers all four routes in.

Very. Public "Off the Street" announcements can draw tens of thousands of applicants for a limited number of seats, and they sometimes stay open only a few days. The ATSA is the primary filter, and a strong score is what separates the selected from the merely eligible.

At the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City. After you clear the ATSA, medical, and security steps and receive a training slot, you complete intensive initial training there. It is paid, at roughly $22.61 per hour, with health and housing benefits. From the Academy you are assigned to a facility, where you train on live traffic to full certification.

Confirm you meet the basic requirements, then prepare for the ATSA. It is the one step you can control before an announcement even opens. If you are not sure the aptitude side fits you, our short Discovery Test gives you an honest read, and the full ATSA prep is built to get you to a passing score.

No. Most controller applicants come from outside aviation, and the announcement is open to them. What matters is showing the underlying skills, judgment under pressure, multitasking, and clear communication, in the language the application scores for. That reframing is exactly what our resume services do.

Review ($29.99) is for when you already have a resume: a controller reads it and gives you specific fixes to make yourself. Writing ($149.99) is done for you: we write your resume end to end, keyword-tuned and submission-ready. Full Package ($229) is the whole federal application: the resume plus your KSA and narrative statements and a targeted cover letter. See the resume page for a full comparison.

Yes, in the Full Package. Federal controller applications often turn on more than the resume. The KSA and narrative statements and the cover letter carry real weight with the hiring panel, and the Full Package covers all of it, written to the specific announcement.

The controller announcement caps the resume at two pages, which is unusual for federal hiring and catches a lot of people off guard. Go over and it can be rejected; pad it with filler and the important lines get buried. Fitting the right content into two clean pages is part of what you are paying for.

Fast, because hiring windows are short. Send us your resume or history and the announcement you are targeting, and we get it back to you quickly so you can submit before the posting closes. If you are up against a deadline, tell us and we will work to it.

Yes. Anything you send us, including a resume, work history, or documents, is used only to provide the service you asked for. It is kept private and confidential, never shared or sold, and removed on request. Payment is handled through a secure checkout, and we never see or store your card details. Our full Privacy Policy spells out exactly what we collect and why.

No. ATC Career Prep is an independent study resource built from publicly known content and real candidate experience. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by the FAA. The FAA controls the actual tests and hiring and can change them, so always confirm current details through official channels.

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