Networking is IMPORTANT, even for CTI's!

chuck_c Newcomer Seattle, Washington

Real quick, this is a long post, and there is a TL, DR at the bottom. But I encourage you to read the whole thing anyway. Sorry for the probable over-use of commas. :P

My fellow CTI graduates (and ongoing students), I post here in the hopes that you will not make the same mistake I have since graduation. That mistake is to sit on your tail and simply expect a job to fall into your lab because you are a CTI applicant.

I made referral lists for both Washington state and Oregon this past spring, after a December 2008 graduation. On the 21st of April, much to my dismay, confusion and financial sorrow, my ASAP page updated to inform me that I had been selected for hire in neither state. Washington was an "Another candidate has been selected..." and Oregon was "The office has either decided not to fill the vacancy, or hired another applicant from elsewhere," basically.

I understand that not everyone will have been told the same thing I was at school, and that is a good thing. But what I was told, incessantly, endlessly, without exception by my instructors, was that the FAA is so desperate for controllers that you, as a CTI student, are virtually guaranteed a job upon graduation.

This might possibly have been true in the past, when I started my 4 year Bachelors of Science at the University of Alaska, under Hoffman, LaRue and the (in?)famous Bill Butler.

THAT IS NO LONGER THE CASE, if indeed it ever was. When I began there were 13 CTI schools. There are now some 31 schools, who's student output combined with VRA and OTS applicants, far exceeds the number of new controllers hired every year regardless of retirements.

Now hopefully most of you had/have the good sense to do what I did not: NETWORK. Go online or get on the phone to your local NATCA region, find out the District Manager for the region you want to work/have listed on your application. Try and get a meeting with them! It is vitally important that you make contact with the person who will be picking your name off the list, and to make a good impression!

If you can't get a meeting with the DM, then start doing tours of facilities in your areas like a madperson! Find out who the facility manager is, and try to get in a handshake, a few words about yourself and your desire to work at that location or area! District Managers are the sorts of people who benefit from asking Facility Managers for ideas or information about candidates for hire, so get your name out there!

"Taking the time and effort to set up a meeting like this and taking that extra step are what make the difference between CTI students who get hired, and those that don't." This was said to me by the District Manager of the Seattle/Washington area just yesterday in my meeting with him.

He also said to me, "That's not necessarily true anymore..." when I explained what my instructors had told me about hiring for CTI grads.

You must speak for yourself! Do not expect your CTI degree to do the work for you. Do not expect WQ status and good GPA to be your meal ticket. Do not expect the retirement issue, the increase in air traffic across the country, or under-staffing in certain locations to be your easy way in.

TL,DR: Network. Meet District and Facility managers. Expect questions about yourself and why you're better than someone else on the referral list. Do NOT expect an easy ride into the industry because you are a CTI grad!

Good luck this run through selections, one and all.

PS: I have nothing but respect for Bill Butler and my other instructors at UAA. They are intelligent, experienced, and loaded with accurate information about how things work at a facility. I do not intend this post to demean them in anyway. And besides, Bill Butler is a titan amongst ATC teachers, and I count myself EXTREMELY fortunate to have had him as a TRACON and Tower lab instructor, and as TRACON lecture instructor.

dasipe Newcomer

I completely agree with you. Being a CTI grad and having a good GPA means little if nobody knows who you are besides a name on a list. If you dont go out of your way to get your name out there, someone else is doing it in your place.
I have done my share of networking and its helped me out a great deal. Its lead me to meet people, make connections, and get great advice from people who have an input from the "inside". Thats the kind of thing all of us in this process should be doing. Looking out for our interests because, at the end of it all, this whole process is survival of the fittest!

PapaGolf Senior Member Biscuit

This goes for any job/college graduate.. At least that's what I thought? (under normal circumstances.. i.e. the president didn't just fire every current employee in your field or something odd like that)

But way to re-emphasize the importance. It seems everyone knows what they should be doing, they just don't do it.

otterstrom Trusted Member of NATCA

some good advice. back when i was picked up CTI bids didnt even exist. we were all on a list and given offers automatically. as previously stated, the FAA has been flooded with applicants and you actually have to work to get your job (like the real working world, haha.)

rogersjf Trusted Contributor New Jersey

Completely agreed with the networking, however CTI schools still do not graduate enough to fill the numbers, 2 years out looks like pubnats will be over.

otterstrom Trusted Member of NATCA

yeah, they come and go.

Whirlybird19 Chief Editor Phoenix

I only “kinda” agree with the OP. I still believe every single person has a different story so it really varies on a case to case basis. For me, networking didn’t do anything and I too was one of the people who started down the road to a career in ATC when there were only 13 CTI schools and it was the only way in. I went to ERAU and also had every instructor telling me I was pretty much guaranteed a job given the current situation with the FAA and hiring numbers. I met Fac Managers from all over the state of Arizona but there was nothing even the best impression could have done for me. I believe it was the fact that I had 5 states on my CTI application that got me an offer. If I would have only had two, I would have put Arizona and Nevada, and most likely would not have been selected. When I asked HR why I was selected for FL instead of the other states, she simply told me no one was selected for my home state (AZ) and the need at the time was in FL. This is probably what happened with Oregon and Washington State in your case. The person they chose just happened to come up before your name did. I highly doubt it had anything to do with him/her shaking the right person’s hand. There was no need in Oregon and a limited need in Wash State. Simply a case of bad timing for you.

On the other hand, one of my closest friends had networking work in his favor. He was told by the Fac Manager at Philly they would pull his name during the panel. In his mind he figured he was a shoe in for Philly. He later found out he was selected for Pittsburgh instead. One well written email to his contact in Philly later, he was switched to Philly. I guarantee he would not have gotten switched if it weren't for introducing himself to the right person.

I guess all I am trying to say is that there really is no way to guarantee yourself a job as a controller regardless if you are CTI, VRA, or OTS. It really all comes down to timing and need. If it is the right time and the need is there, then hope you have what they are looking for at that particular time, and that may not always be the highest ATSAT score or the best GPA or the most work experience. Hell, for all we know it could be that your name is Rufus and the person who selected you had an awesome dog named Rufus! Or they thought it was just a very unfortunate name and showed you pity.

IMO, networking is only okay advice and I dont really endorse the idea. I just feel the benefits are limited (especially considering the time and effort it takes) and there are other factors that are more important (and out of your control) when it comes to getting an offer.

jalvis81 Senior Member

Agree completely.

Rosstafari Daaaang. /X

You're right for the reasons you gave.

[soapbox]

How effectively networking is varies greatly by the job type. In my prior career of ministry, it's hugely important, as churches want to hire people they consider trustworthy and they rely heavily on the advice of their current employees.

Air traffic control applicants are at the opposite end of the spectrum. For new people, there's only one thing that really counts: actual experience. And the two largest group of applicants, CTI and OTS, don't have it. "But I went to the best CTI school in the country! I trained on simulators!" Yeah, that's great, but it's not experience. It's akin to landing a 747 at your home airport in FSX and thinking that it means you could do the real thing. Sure, it's reasonable to expect some things like a flying background will help, but in the end it's pretty common knowledge that it's either a skill you have or you don't, and it doesn't come out until you're actually doing the job. CTI's, of course, do get preference over the generally uneducated OTS, and rightfully so because it cuts down on classroom time and shows a prior commitment to the career path... but that's not a huge edge.

Here's about the only part when "networking", and I hate to mislead what it is by calling it that, can come in useful. If you're able to find a place allocated slots to fill at your upcoming panels, if you're able to find a person who's doing the selections (or will pass along a recommendation to the person who is), if said person is willing to listen to you, and if you make a good case for yourself beyond "it's totally my dream facility!" -- then you might get a small advantage. But notice all of those qualifiers. If if if if.

More often than not, you'll come up short. I did the same thing applying through the OTS track. Knowing that my group was bottom of the barrel, I went out and got a private license, took some courses, did all I could short of enrolling in CTI (which I would've done if I was passed over again) or the military (too old), and then I started to make calls to tell people why I would make a good candidate. Far more often than not I was turned down. Places weren't hiring the next panels. The ATM didn't "talk" to applicants. Or he/she did but could care less about who I was. It was probably luck more than anything that the facility I wanted to be at the most was the one where the ATM was doing the selections and willing to listen to my case. My name was later down on her list when she went to the panels.

Had it not worked out there, I would've defaulted to my backup, where I had also spoken with the selector. It wasn't in my top ten options, but I knew I'd have gotten in there. You got to take what you can, especially as an OTS.

Anyway. For that reason, while "networking", if that's what you want to call it, can help you. It just depends on a lot of factors and may not turn out in the place you want to get to. At this point, I'd bet that ATMs are so tired of getting calls from applicants that it's less effective than ever. But hey, it's your career. Why not maximize every opportunity you get?


...oh yeah. One more thing. Last I checked, your GPA is entirely irrelevant. Get enough to graduate and get your recommendation, and then forget about it. It won't get you hired, and believe me, nobody cares how high (or low) it was when you start working.

Whirlybird19 Chief Editor Phoenix

I completely agree with Rossta on this one. And just to make it clear, in my other post I wasn't completely discounting networking as a whole. There are plenty of situations outside of the ATC hiring process where I think networking and knowing someone are damn near the only way your going to get a job. And although I wasnt involved in a frat, I think fraternities are a good example of networking paying off for some people by getting their foot in the door. But when it comes to the ATC hiring process, it may work for some and thats great, I simply think the costs are high and the benefits are low.

However, I think it would be interesting to take this thread in a completely different direction and involve some of that veteran knowledge thats out there. How beneficial is networking for veteran controllers? If you are interested in relocating, is knowing the right person and having strong relationships with the right people (I have no idea who that person would even be!) something that would help the situation? Or is the playing field pretty even?