Air Traffic Controllers

Control air traffic on and within vicinity of airport and movement of air traffic between altitude sectors and control centers according to established procedures and policies. Authorize, regulate, and control commercial airline flights according to government or company regulations to expedite and ensure flight safety.

tasks jobzones knowledge skills abilities work_activities work_context interests work_styles work_values

Tasks

• Complete daily activity reports and keep records of messages from aircraft.

• Review records and reports for clarity and completeness, and maintain records and reports as required under federal law.

• Inspect, adjust, and control radio equipment and airport lights.

• Organize flight plans and traffic management plans to prepare for planes about to enter assigned airspace.

• Compile information about flights from flight plans, pilot reports, radar, and observations.

• Analyze factors such as weather reports, fuel requirements, and maps in order to determine air routes.

• Conduct pre-flight briefings on weather conditions, suggested routes, altitudes, indications of turbulence, and other flight safety information.

• Relay to control centers such air traffic information as courses, altitudes, and expected arrival times.

• Check conditions and traffic at different altitudes in response to pilots' requests for altitude changes.

• Initiate and coordinate searches for missing aircraft.

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Job Zone

• Name: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

• Experience: Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

• Education: Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Some may require a bachelor's degree.

• Job training: Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers.

• Examples: These occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include funeral directors, electricians, forest and conservation technicians, legal secretaries, interviewers, and insurance sales agents.

• Svp range: (6.0 to < 7.0)

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Knowledge

Browse Knowledge

• Transportation
  Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

• Customer and Personal Service
  Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

• Education and Training
  Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

• Computers and Electronics
  Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

• Geography
  Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

• Public Safety and Security
  Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

• English Language
  Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

• Psychology
  Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

• Law and Government
  Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

• Mathematics
  Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

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Skills

Browse Skills

• Active Listening
  Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

• Coordination
  Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

• Instructing
  Teaching others how to do something.

• Complex Problem Solving
  Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

• Monitoring
  Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

• Critical Thinking
  Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

• Learning Strategies
  Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.

• Active Learning
  Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

• Judgment and Decision Making
  Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

• Speaking
  Talking to others to convey information effectively.

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Abilities

Browse Abilities

• Time Sharing
  The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).

• Oral Comprehension
  The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

• Speech Recognition
  The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

• Speed of Closure
  The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.

• Flexibility of Closure
  The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.

• Oral Expression
  The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

• Problem Sensitivity
  The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

• Visualization
  The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.

• Selective Attention
  The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.

• Deductive Reasoning
  The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

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Work Activities

Browse Work Activities

• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
  Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.

• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
  Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.

• Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
  Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.

• Getting Information
  Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

• Processing Information
  Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.

• Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
  Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

• Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
  Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.

• Communicating with Persons Outside Organization
  Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.

• Performing for or Working Directly with the Public
  Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.

• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
  Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.

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Work Context

• Indoors, Environmentally Controlled
  How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions?

• Contact With Others
  How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it?

• Importance of Being Exact or Accurate
  How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job?

• Frequency of Decision Making
  How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization?

• Work With Work Group or Team
  How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job?

• Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results
  How do the decisions an employee makes impact the results of co-workers, clients or the company?

• Freedom to Make Decisions
  How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer?

• Importance of Repeating Same Tasks
  How important is repeating the same physical activities (e.g., key entry) or mental activities (e.g., checking entries in a ledger) over and over, without stopping, to performing this job?

• Coordinate or Lead Others
  How important is it to coordinate or lead others in accomplishing work activities in this job?

• Physical Proximity
  To what extent does this job require the worker to perform job tasks in close physical proximity to other people?

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Interests

Browse Interests

• Conventional
  Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

• Realistic
  Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

• Enterprising
  Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

• Investigative
  Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

• Social
  Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

• Artistic
  Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

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Work Styles

• Stress Tolerance
  Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.

• Attention to Detail
  Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

• Dependability
  Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

• Adaptability/Flexibility
  Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.

• Achievement/Effort
  Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.

• Self Control
  Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

• Persistence
  Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.

• Initiative
  Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.

• Cooperation
  Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.

• Analytical Thinking
  Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.

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Work Values

Browse Work Values

• Authority
  Workers on this job give directions and instructions to others.

• Security
  Workers on this job have steady employment.

• Achievement-Mean Extent
  Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

• Ability Utilization
  Workers on this job make use of their individual abilities.

• Achievement
  Workers on this job get a feeling of accomplishment.

• Company Policies and Practices
  Workers on this job are treated fairly by the company.

• Responsibility
  Workers on this job make decisions on their own.

• Activity
  Workers on this job are busy all the time.

• Moral Values
  Workers on this job are never pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.

• Support-Mean Extent
  Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.

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