I might as well post a serious answer in this thread on the off chance someone is interested.
Job
Air Traffic Controller (Official title is Air Traffic Control Officer).
Company
Nats.
www.nats.co.uk
They used to be NATS (National Air Traffic Services) but after a multi million pound rebranding exercise started to give the ridiculous amounts of managers something to do, the name was changed. I'd have come up with the idea for £100.
Day to day
Typical day involves starting a shift at either 0700, 1400 or 2200. I go into work, brief myself on the weather and any new instructions that may be in force. I then go into the Ops room and take over from a controller who is just finishing their shift. I plug in my headset at the radar position and the outgoing controller gives me a handover, i.e. explains what is happening and what he/she is doing with the aircraft in their airspace. Once I'm happy, I take control. I usually work for 30 mins then get a 30 min break. Rinse and repeat until the end of the shift or until the supervisor says I can go home.
The controlling of aircraft involves issuing instructions to pilots using VHF radio. I'm responsible for one particular bit of airspace known as a sector and all of the aircraft within it. The objective is to take aircraft which have just taken off and climb them up to an intermediate level (~15000ft) before handing them to en-route control whilst taking inbound aircraft from en-route control and descending them down to a lower level (~8000ft) before handing them off to approach control. The inbounds and outbounds often go through the same airspace so I have to get them up and down without banging any into one another. There are also overflights, training flights, military flights etc. to deal with.
I do this for aircraft in and out of Heathrow, Luton, Stansted, London City, Northolt, Cambridge, Southend, Southampton, Bournemouth, Brize Norton, some Gatwick and many more smaller airfields.
Overall Job
I love it. I get a great buzz after a busy session and a great feeling of satisfaction. Some situations like handling an emergency and guiding it down safely can also feel extremely rewarding. I work shifts. 6 days followed by 4 days off. They usually consist of 2 morning shifts followed by 2 afternoon shifts followed by 2 night shifts. Night shifts can often be replaced by another set of morning or afternoon shifts.
Perks
Very good salary, especially for my age.
Good pension (although not as good as it was).
Overtime paid at a handsome rate when available.
Lots and lots of leave. I worked less than 180 days last year.
Job security. Training someone to do my particular job takes between 3 and 4 years.
Downsides
Having to book leave far in advance. E.g. I have just had to book whatever leave I want in November '09 to Jan '10 even though I haven't a clue what I will be or want to be doing.
"Incidents". As we're only human, mistakes can and do happen. When you have an incident, despite being scared ****less and stressed out, you have to be investigated. If your particular incident was in any way nasty, your licence can be suspended leaving you unable to work until the investigation is complete.
Stress/pressure. Sometimes this subject can be blown out of proportion and a lot of us controllers like to pretend it doesn't exist - a bit of a macho thing
The truth is that at times the pressure can become too much and your brain turns into soup and you feel like absolute crap. I'm not talking about every day but during the summer when it is extremely busy it can be once or twice every week or especially when something goes wrong. i.e. an emergency, an accident, a loss of separation, equipment failure and anything along those lines.
Bull**** management. The company is top heavy with useless managers who's ultimate goal is self preservation and a short sighted bonus. They anger me and I have no time for them.
Education?
3 rubbish A Levels. B in ICT, D in Mathematics and an E in Physics. Academic qualifications are irrelevant up to a point. You either have the correct mindset and ability for the job or you don't and the aim of the selection process is to discover that. There were two PhD holders on my course and both of them failed the training.
The training process is not easy. For my particular discipline, start to finish takes between 3 and 4 years assuming you pass everything first time. The college which at the time seems ridiculously difficult is the easy part. All the theory and simulator training is carried out here. On successful completion of a college course you are given a Student Air Traffic Controllers Licence which allows you to train on live traffic at a unit. Live training is difficult and many trainees fail at this stage.
Do you like your job?
Love it. Can't imagine doing anything else for quite some time. I did put in a lot of hard work to get to the stage that I'm at now but I can't help but feel very lucky to be in this position at my age. Before the end of the year I'll be an instructor and I'll be aiming to become an examiner as soon as I'm able. I'll be instructing people twice my age
