Decisions, Decisions

[Orvil]

Hi All,
I have a bit of a conundrum at the moment as I'm not quite sure what path to take.
I currently have my CPL/MEIR (275 hours) and am a little "mature":}
I have been offered work has an instructor but this would mean doing the relevant rating, I have worked out the cost to be about £7000 inc. everything and living expenses.
I haven't done my MCC thing yet but have found a training provider and it will be £3000 (inc JOC).
I eventually want to work for Netjets or similar outfit but I'm not limiting my options, I'd work anywhere and for anybody.
Now my problem is should I do the FIC first and wait to do the MCC or do it the other way round. I can't afford to do both straight away and will have to wait 6 months before doing the one I dropped.
I also have to consider my age (36ish) and that it's March and most airlines have probably recruited by now. So I'm tempted in doing the MCC last.
However, this knocks me out of the running for loads of jobs (just in case my numbers come up )
So my brain says FIC (work thru summer as FI) and then do the MCC in September/October.
However, my heart and "gut" feeling tell me to do the MCC in the next month and do the FIC later. This could mean sitting on my bum for the whole summer not getting a sniff of AVGAS.
I would appreciate any comments.
P.s I'm not usually this in decisive (honest :ugh: )
PPS Not interested in SSTR!!

[Night_fr8]

Yes many airlines try to stop recruiting after March as their high season is the summer, and keeping trainers off the line adds considerably to the woes of their respective crewing departments.
My advice is to pay for and take the MCC / JOT as soon as a place is available.
Should a vacancy suitable for your level of experience then come up you can slot in quickly where others may not be so readilly available.
Should there be a delay in getting that job there would be the option of obtaining the Flight Instructors rating and getting a few more hours through the summer.
You do not mention where you got the licence !! is it from a JAA country ?
Some operators are still recruiting and others are experiencing training delays and will probably suspend recruitment untill the backlog is resolved.
Get that important MCC / JOT completed you will learn much more about yourself and what is required in a airline.
Hope this helps
BTW there are older people in the same situation as yourself, currently age is not a major factor.

[Orvil]

Hi Night_fr8,
Thanks for the reply. That's my feeling too. I have a JAA licence done mostly in the UK ie, PPL,IMC,NIGHT, CPL plus exams IR in Spain.

The the problem with doing the FIC and then working is that it will take a while to get the money together due to the money being poor.

I was thinking of going abroad to do the FIC, to save cost and time. Any ideas, any body?:)

[IDENTING]

Yeah, a lot of people have been in your shoes, including me.
I got the MCC first because of that 'what if', but even in todays market getting that job is as tough as wallnuts. I got promised interviews with BA CONNECT and thomsonfly, which never materialised, and I doubt I would have got that far had I not had the MCC.
BUT... In hindsight, I wish I got my FI rating first because then I wouldn't have been sitting on my arse for six months not flying for a living. Now I've been instructing for a year and I love it. I've got loads of hours and tons of contacts. I've had to renew my MEIR and I've forgotten everything I learnt on the MCC 18 months ago.
If you want to get your FIC just to build your hours you'll probably end up hating it. If you like dealing with people of every conceivable background and enjoy passing on your hard earned knowledge to others, then insrtucting is for you... but only for a year or it will drive you nuts and single engine pistons will ruin your hearing.
After a year you will probably be offered an airline job and saved enough for an MCC.
What I really wish I had done at the beginning (after the MEIR) was apply for the ctc aqc course and worked my arse off to get thru to the type rating. My mates who did that as I started the FI course now fly for easy and earn £50,000 a year.:{ I'm affraid at 36 you might be too old:(

[Night_fr8]

Ageism is against the law and employers who practice this are open to legal cases which could cost them £1000's.
36 is by no means too old, there are APP students going through OAT in their early 40's.
Most older pilots tend to stay with an employer, whilst younger persons with less comittments have itchy feet, i know i was one.
There is a pilot shortage already out there, and its getting worse for the airlines.
Already companies are finding it difficult to get the right quality of person into the right seat, and to retain them.
Those who sit arround waiting for a job to come to them are living in cloud cuckoo land, those who are proactive in their job seeking get employed.
Once you get that first job, getting another is usually somewhat easier.
A training captain once told me that staying as an instructor, air taxi pilot for too long would not help in a persons chances to break into the airline industry.
Of course in the past that was the only course available to many, but in the current climate things have changed.

[IDENTING]

When I say you might be too old I dont mean for finding a job, I mean for applying to ctc. 36 is definately NOT too old for job hunting in todays climate!
Because ctc is a training provider I dont know if it falls under the same age related employment laws as employers do.
The age limit to apply for ctc was 32, maybe thats changed recently?...