I have been aware of an awful lack of meaningful employment for Flight Instructors during the past few years, and have struggled to make ends meet myself. I have been disgusted at the willingness of apparently 'reputable' flying schools to offer insulting payment for what is a highly skilled and demanding job.
I am grateful to WWW for allowing my post to remain and would like to make it clear that the Cambridge Aero Club prides itself above all else in the quality of it's instruction, and working conditions for it's Instructors. We pay among the best wages for both part-time and full-time staff, and furthermore we do not have to make a large profit to survive as we are owned by Marshall Aerospace of Cambridge.
Now, with so few meaningful employment opportunities available for new or experienced Instructors I have been amazed and frankly alarmed at the number of candidates turning up for interviews who don't dress reasonably smartly, find out anything about the airfield they will be operating out of, do any homework regarding the club itself, or it's owners, bring their log books, their licenses, their Instructor notes..... the list goes on. I have numerous phone calls from people dying to get their first 'proper' or full-time Instructing job who when asked can't make themselves available for an interview for a week because they are going away to see friends or something.
This is a highly revered and professional industry for which you have trained hard to be a part of. You are providing highly specialised training to people who are paying a lot of money and who expect to get something in return. When I qualified as an Instructor I would have gone to almost any lengths to secure that illusive first job, and indeed I know many others who have done. Maybe my recent experience is a sad reflection of attitudes toward Instructing as a whole in a climate that seems to be awash with diminishing standards and increasing trivia...
Have Instructors reached a level of such cynicism that they won't even try hard to get a job when one exists? Is the level of apathy in the business such that it is easier to moan about it rather than make yourself attractive to a potential employer? Come on people, now more than ever I would be expecting to see well informed and enthusiastic pilots/Instructors turning up at interviews, not people making the minimum effort expecting a job to land in their laps...
I know that there are many very dedicated and hard working Instructors and pilots out there, but I have no doubt that there is a growing group of us that seem to have just 'given up' and forgotten why we started - I think THAT is very sad indeed.
There are still some good jobs out there but they are more difficult to find now, so raise your game a little and give yourself the edge - it's still worth it
Best wishes,
SOS