My friend's son is interested in becoming an Air Traffic Controller. What's the best path?
Unfortunately there is no best answer in my opinion.
-The military is a great option. They pay for your training, pay for college so you can diversify while you are in, many employers (including the FAA) want to hire you, you have experience working real planes vs simulated ones. The problem for someone wanting to get to the FAA quickly is that some (maybe all) of the branches increased the ATC commitment to 6 years. You may get moved around several times (could be a + or -) and may end up in a war zone (again, could go in both columns).
-CTI schools will get you hired ahead of people "off the street" and could be a good option. Some are well into the 6 figures, some diversify and some have all your eggs in the ATC basket. I know there are many people that did this and didn't make it past the academy or through their first facility, they were sent packing and all that time/money is gone.
-Take the test, to me is the least best option. The FAA does occasionally hire people off the street via an aptitude test of some type. This is a good option if someone is sitting around bored and wondering if they can make a go of ATC. Considering how random they offer the test, how few are selected off the test and how many of those make it past OKC and then certify at their first facility, this isn't really the best path. It is the cheapest and easiest...if it works out for you.
If the AF offered 4 years still (what I did) I would say that is probably the best. Now that it's 6 years, I would see if the USMC or Navy offer 4 years and consider that. My understanding of Army ATC is there are very few that get to work facilities that get CTO's or radar ratings (may be wrong). Based on the 6 year commitment, I'd say its a toss up between enlisted guaranteed ATC in the AF and going to a CTI school. If money is no option to your friend, send him down to ERAU/UND and let him get all his pilot ratings, ATC certs and a degree. If money is an option, tell him to look into Beaver College (or one similar). They were the quickest to get a CTI cert in order to apply to the FAA last I checked...which has been a while. Then hopefully he can find something to do (CFI or whatever else he can find) while waiting on the FAA.
This is a very strange career. It's a weird path and can be hard to get in to. Many people put their eggs in the ATC basket only to be washed out at their first facility or the academy/military and sent packing. Sometimes they check out at a small/slow facility with dreams of getting somewhere bigger for the challenge or money and they wash and get sent to some other random small facility on the other side of the country. I just realized I was in the process of going full Nate so I deleted a bunch and am stopping here.
I hope it works out for your friends son. We for sure can use some more qualified people!!