How to get hired

[vclean]

We could take it one step further. Get your private at 16, drop out of high school and fly, fly, fly. By the time you are 22, you should have 5,000 hrs or more. Never mind about high school, you'll have time to get your GED after you lose your medical.

 

[350DRIVER]

Knowing someone gets you an interview.

I cannot recall the large number of guys that have approached me in the past pretending to be a "good friend" to attempt to obtain a LOR from me, etc, etc. If you have not flown with that particular person then you may be putting your own reputation on the line, be wise. With age comes wisdom, how true in this industry. It is great to lend a helping hand but proceed with caution. I shy away from most all requests unless I have personally flown with that person on multiple occasions and can attest to their flying abilities and skills.


I think Yip is DO or something along those lines and has quite a bit of pull at US so be careful if you may end up interviewing there at some point down the line. I think he was simply making a point and offering some information that may be beneficial to quite a few who frequent this board, nothing more and nothing less. If anything he did a few a favor by posting this thread.


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[typhoonpilot]

What Yips says makes some sense, but I offer an alternative. Do the five year college plan with an early emphasis on getting all ratings through CFI in the first two years and then instruct/fly charter for the last three years of school. By the time you graduate at age 22/23 you will have 2000 hours and an ATP and be able to get on with a regional ( provided they are hiring ).

If you go to the right Uni then it is pretty easy to schedule classes on two or three days of the week and then flight instruct the remaining four or five. Alternatively just take classes in the morning or evening while flight instructing the remainder of the day. If you attend a schoold with an Aero program then it is real easy to find students.

Of course this plan requires someone to know what they want to do in life by the age of 16.


Typhoonpilot

 

[mooser]

I'm Bored!!!

 

[Magneto]

Here's my problem. I would love to have my degree not only to have it help me in my career if so required but also to be an example to my kids. Sure would suck to have your kids tell you they don't want to go to college because Dad didn't and he's successful.

Maybe I'm just being hard headed but I've spent so much freakin' money on flying that I really don't have the desire to go deeper in debt just to get the thing. I shun debt now like the plague.

 

[bobbysamd]

Alternative to the alternative

What Yips says makes some sense, but I offer an alternative. Do the five year college plan with an early emphasis on getting all ratings through CFI in the first two years and then instruct/fly charter for the last three years of school.

For that matter, why not try to finish college in three years or less? It can be done by going to summer school.

Young people in high school could go to summer school and plan to graduate in January instead of June. They could enter college for the spring semester and just truck on through to graduation, finishing in two-and-a-half years. Yes, it could mean missing the spring prom(s), but it might be worth it to get an early start on college.

This is written in part tongue-in-cheek, but could be workable for some people.

I like vclean's (tongue-in-cheek) comments, above.

 

[enigma]

TJ PIC will get you the job; ........................................................................................................ the other candidate starting flying out of HS, got his first 135 job at age 19, his first jet job at 21, made TJ PIC at 23, he now has 5500TT, 4500MEL, 2500 TJ PIC

Hey Ipsy, If you want to really help beginning pilots, tell them how to get TJ pic at 23. Seriously, do you realize how hard it is for a beginner to get employable flight time? I don't know how you started out, but if you started in the navy, you have no idea about the plight faced by a 19 year old civilian wannabe pilot.

There just aren't that many jobs available to a teenage pilot regardless of his education level. IF the jobs were there, I'd tend to agree, but I just don't see a lot of available jobs for a 19 year old professional pilot.

After thinking about this situation, and having been on both sides of the debate, I think that I will come down on the side of the
attending the four year, on campus school for the youngsters. I did the distance learning thing, and have in the past recommended it to others who were already in the adult world with adult responsibilities (bills). However, in looking at my friends who attended a traditional university, they all got jobs not because of having a degree, but because of the network they built while in college. A good friend has been a professional pilot ever since college. He obtained ever pilot job he ever got with assistance from his college network. Fifteen years ago, I was flying a Lear for a very rich dude, (logging TJ PIC) and my buddy was flying a beat up 19 seater; we thought that I had it made and he was getting that rejected feeling. Soon after, his network was able to pull him into SWA. You know, a student who was a senior/CFI when my friend was a freshman, gave him an inside recommend for the interview, etc. In passing up the traditional on-campus college route, I never developed that network. The moral of the story is: don't get married at 19 , but thats another story. Seriously, don't overlook the importance of the relationships one is able to build by attending a four year college program.

If the pilot is past his early adulthood, and still without a degree, then I'll agree; fly and take the independent study route to a bachelors.

regards,
enigma

 

[bobbysamd]

TJ PIC

Hey Ipsy, If you want to really help beginning pilots, tell them how to get TJ pic at 23.

Really. Or at 37 with some flight time already under one's belt.

 

[350DRIVER]

Hey Ipsy, If you want to really help beginning pilots, tell them how to get TJ pic at 23.

enigma, and age means what? I was accumulating quite a bit of part 135 multi-engine turbine PIC time well before I hit the "23". Age means nothing, you should realize this since you have been in this industry long enough. I have seen many young pilots get hired at numerous part 135 outfits at a relatively lower flight time and most have been successful in moving up the ladder.

do you realize how hard it is for a beginner to get employable flight time? I don't know how you started out, but if you started in the navy, you have no idea about the plight faced by a 19 year old civilian wannabe pilot.

It is no more difficult to do this than most other things in life. If you want something bad enough and you have the right attitude then this is well within a person's reach. If you are waiting for something to be handed to you on a silver platter then you are probably not going to get very far. Yip is the a DO at USA but he has no idea huh? Just when I thought I have read some whacky stuff on this board.

Each person's situation may be unique and different but I surely don't think that Yip is way off base here, not even by a long shot.


Get off the "age" issue, means very little if anything. No one will be given a "free ride" due to age nor do the younger generation of pilots have it any easier than a 40yr old getting hired into the right seat of a regional jet.

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[enigma]

350, Always happy to help someone let off a little steam. Do you feel better now?

Glad that you were sitting left seat in a 135 TJ before 23. I know of a heck of a lot more guys who flew years in the right seat of a 152 before 23, than I know who got to the the left seat of a jet before 23. It's not like we graduate high school and are able to flip a coin for either Jet PIC or college. Virtually every 18 year old can get into college. It is the rare 18 year old that can walk into the left seat of a jet. Your milage may vary.

enigma