Career Overlap Occupation record
RecordJob

Where an air traffic controller can go next

5 destinations recorded, ranked by how much of the target role an air traffic controller already meets. The closer to the top of Table 1, the less there is to learn.

Air traffic controllers assist pilots by providing information concerning the height, speed and course. They assist pilots in order to facilitate a safe take off and landing of aircrafts. They are responsible for maintaining a secure and orderly movement of aircraft along major air routes up in the sky and around airports. They control air traffic in and within vicinity of airports according to established procedures and policies to prevent collisions and to minimise delays arising from traffic congestion.

Also known as flight controller, air traffic controller instructor, air traffic control officer, controller of air traffic, air traffic control specialist, air controller.

Technicians and associate professionals 36 skills on file 5 career moves 1 above 60% overlap Closest: airspace manager, 64%

Fig. 2 · Career map 5 nearest · ESCO v1.2.1
airspace manager 64% covered second officer 48% covered aircraft dispatcher 39% covered aviation data communications … 39% covered helicopter pilot 36% covered air traffic controller You are here
  • 70% and above · short step
  • 50 to 70% · real move
  • Below 50% · substantial retraining
The 5 nearest destinations from air traffic controller, each one a link to that move’s record. Distance from the centre is how much retraining the move takes; the figure on each is how much of that role an air traffic controller already covers. All 5 are listed in the tables below.
Table 1

Table 1 · Within reach

Table 2

Table 2 · A bigger jump

Possible, but expect real retraining rather than a sideways step.

Table 3

Table 3 · What the job itself asks for

An air traffic controller needs 32 required skills and areas of knowledge. These 10 are the ones fewest other jobs share, so they say the most about the work.

Required skill Area
  • assist during take off and landing communication, collaboration and creativity
  • assist in the conducting of flight checks working with machinery and specialised equipment
  • operate airport control tower working with machinery and specialised equipment
  • use of air traffic services document assisting and caring
  • monitor aviation meteorology information skills
  • celestial navigation natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
  • pre-flight procedures for IFR flights services
  • read 3D displays information skills
  • carry out navigational calculations information skills
  • operate radar equipment working with machinery and specialised equipment
Table 4

Table 4 · Jobs that lead here

The reverse view: occupations whose skills already cover much of what an air traffic controller does. The figure is how much of this job each one brings.

Index

Look up another occupation

Air traffic controller is filed under Technicians and associate professionals, ISCO major group 3. The full index lists all ten groups.

Note

How these figures were compiled

Overlap is how much of the target role is already part of an air traffic controller’s work. It is directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. Every entry above opens the full comparison for that move: what carries over, what is missing, and where to start. The full method.