This is a great thread.
I did a comprehensive top end GA 4 lyf and now fly a jet for an airline, so from that perspective my advice is ENJOY IT!!
People will tell you GA is some of the best flying you’ll ever do, and it’s true. Don’t see it simply as a stepping stone. You get out what you put in. Learn as much as you can, hone your skills. Get used to being thorough in your knowledge and application of rules and procedures. GA is a great opportunity to build real skills you will use later.
I have seen heaps of people complain about their GA life always looking towards the next thing. Always miserable. Ambition is good but make sure you stop and smell the (desert) roses, enjoy what you’re doing at the time and appreciate that not many people get to fly and aeroplane in the middle of the desert or over the Buccaneer Archipelago etc. Keep a positive attitude in yourself and it’ll be the best years of your working life.
Don’t fret if you’re hanging around Kunners/Broome/Darwin for ages not landing a gig. Just keep plugging away. If you want it and persevere everyone gets a job eventually. All the advice on posts above is good. Be smart - if the companies in town do scenics get a job in tourism there and learn to talk to tourists about the region. Show this off in your interview.
Dont waste too much of your career in a company that doesn’t pay award. Get the hours you need and get into a good place that has twins to progress onto and runs the operation legally. Dodgy operators moan about pilot commitment but there is a reason nobody wants to stay and if they’re not paying legally it’s pretty obvious.
Dont burn bridges though. If someone has acted like a dumbass at one company, everyone knows about it when they step through the door at the next. Treat every pilot you meet with respect because you will come across the same ugly mugs again and again throughout your whole career. If you make a bad name for yourself people remember.
Please please keep safe out there. Commercial pressure is real and will be a big new thing to manage for you. Don’t take an aircraft if it’s not legal to fly, don’t push into weather you’re not comfortable in just to get the job done and please the boss. You set your own personal standards and you don’t have to break rules just because other people do. It’s not worth it and people have died in that exact situation. It’s your job to keep everyone safe.
Enough random thoughts. There used to be a thread called ‘information regarding the top end’ that info was generally good too.