A method and apparatus for transmit power control (TPC) while switching a beam among a plurality of beams in a wireless communication system. An antenna array generates a plurality of directional beams and preferably an omni-directional pattern and switches a beam among the plurality of beams preferably including the omni-directional pattern. Link quality on at least one of the plurality of beams is measured, and a beam having a greatest link quality is selected. If the selected beam is different from a current beam, a beam is switched from the current beam to the selected beam. While switching a beam, TPC parameters are adjusted based on the link quality difference between the link quality of the current beam and the link quality of the selected beam, and optionally, base on other parameters.