Working Life After Flying

[Joe R]

Transitioned from uniform to suit, two years ago. Some advice.

[long time reader, first time poster]

I decided to become a pilot when I was five, and decided to quit flying when I was thirty-five and a captain. I went into management consulting at a Big Three consultancy. Here are some thoughts, well-intended.

Thoughts on working as a pilot

1. Piloting a four-engine long range jet through the night, over a foreign continent, above the lights of cities the names of which you'll never know (shame on you, Lido) while exchanging dirty jokes with your colleague and earning money for it? That is the best job you can have. Full stop. Don't appreciate the pprune rants too much. There are only two key points to consider:
2. First key point is not to make it your only stake. Because if your livelihood depends on Medical+License+Economy, there are too many variables you do not control. Also, as every industry, as flying moves from exclusivity to commodity, industry margins, wages will go down. This is economics 101, and no union will ever stop this.
3. Second key point is to meditate deeply if it is acceptable that the smartness/impactfulness relation for the pilot job is unfavourable. You need to be pretty smart to do the job (more precise: to do the right thing when the s* hits the fan, not necessarily at 30° west), however, you will leave no dent whatsoever in the universe. And there is an easy path to burnout when the work doesn't feel purposeful. This is the part that moved me away from flying.

Thoughts on working as a consultant

1. I now work more in a week than most pilots log block hours in a month.
2. I never knew that I still had to learn that much. About the world, about me, everything.
3. There is no 30° West moment. The mental load of the work is raw data ILS with gusts, all the time, 08AM to 12PM.
4. On the upside - there is a huge dent in the universe now, and that dent is mine. In one of my first projects, I helped to put together key analyses for sustainable fuels, hydrogen aviation and the commercial viability of these technologies; the work has influenced hundreds of industry leaders, including some in Toulouse. When my son asks my what I did for his generation - I have an anwer.
5. There are less dirty jokes, but I really do enjoy the presence of smart colleagues, and having really inspirational conversations about math, religion, logic or ethics over a late night pizza in the office. Didn't happen to me that much in aviation.

Thoughts on working in everything else

1. As a consultant, I have the chance to peek into many corporates. Verdict: working as a corporate ant is well paid, but dull - and most of the corporates I have seen have a really bad culture, nothing comparable to the work atmosphere with a crew of halfway well-selected, well-trained and CRM-proficient colleagues.
2. There are so many other opportunities I never knew about or thought about as a pilot. Join a startup in NY, Berlin or TelAviv. Learn coding at microverse.org. Become a freelance designer/writer/editor/researcher at upwork or Fiverr. Become an official at a public national or supranational institution. Become a Kindergarten gardener helping kids to grow their own tomatoes. Drive ambulance.

Thoughts on your qualifications and way forward.
Here are some things I learned about qualifications transferrable and not transferrable to the pedestrian job world.

1. A master's degree (a real one, not stolen from Embry-Riddle) + you are still in your thirties? Good, some corporate roles are probably open for you.
2. Not in your thirties anymore, but you have a master? Try higher-ranked public sector jobs in lower-tier institutions
3. Not in your thirties anymore, or no academic degree? I'd suggest not bothering getting a degree. Instead, go to coursera.org, or edx, get a MicroMaster in e.g. DataScience and try to land a job with that. You would need to refresh matrices and multivariate calculus, though.
4. Master's + 2-3 years of work experience in a tech startup or a managerial role in the airline + not too much above thirty? Consultancy might be open to you.
5. You learned a craft? Probably the best of all situations. At least in my country, there is a s*load of money you can earn with this. And you can still do it as a part-time hustle once flying picks up...
6. Problem solving: as pilots, we think we are trained in that, but we really are not. What we lack are divergent / creative problem solving techniques, like Design Thinking. While flying, the solution to any problem and the desired and state is to land the plane safely. In business, we a) often don't even know what the problem is b) need to invent the checklist and c) may have completely different viable solutions.
7. Interpersonal skills: as flight crew members, we are better trained than most other pedestrians. Way better. Leverage that in your interviews.

I do wish everyone of you the best luck going through this crisis. I for my part, am not done with flying yet. Hopefully before not too long, we'll all be de-dusting our logbooks,
slip the surly bonds of earth
and dance the skies on laughter-silvered wings.