Career Advice - Ground-OPS or a Second Career?
Due to Covid and the uncertainty in the aviation industry, I'm currently between a rock and a hard place and I'm not sure what to do. I'm currently finishing my PPL and I'm not sure if I should go into a ground-ops position within my school (not sure if this is common in other countries but it's very common here) or if I should study ACCA (accounting) which would take at least 4 years. My main goal is to work is to fly business jets (for multiple reasons), luckily enough a few business jet operators have relocated to where I live due to the favourable taxation system on foreign companies. Some of these operators have an internal hiring "cadet pilot programme". Working in a ground-ops position at my school would help tick off the work experience requirement most operators ask for with regard to ground-ops positions. This would give me a direct way into a biz jet operator. Becoming an accountant on the other hand would also give me a chance of being employed by these operators due to the way ACCA is structured (you need 3 years of work experience to become a qualified accountant). Even though I like accounting but I'm not sure if I would regret starting ACCA because I wouldn't be working towards a position that would be directly related to aviation but a position which if I'm lucky would lead me to be employed by an airline. Add to this the fact that after finishing my PPL, I have to fund the remaining 50k myself, either through a bank loan or by working and paying my training as I go. Summing everything up, going into ground-ops would give me exposure to the aviation industry whilst becoming an accountant would qualify me for a sector not affiliated with the aviation industry but which could still lead to employment within it. I realise that for some of you this may seem like a stupid thread but for me, this is a decision that will affect me for at least the next 5-10 years of my life. At some point in my life, I will move over to flying full time be it business jets/airlines/instructing, which is why I'm not sure if getting another qualification is for me.