Originally Posted by
nomess
Firstly, well done on self funding via savings, that’s not easy and it’s commitment.
No advantage doing a diploma, probably one of the biggest time wasters known to man. Nobody cares. I worked in recruitment in a previous employer, and it didn’t contribute to the decision making.
First job will be as challenging as you decide to make it. Some sit at home and email out resumes and wonder why they don’t get employed, some do the tour of employers but have the same Diamond diploma as the other few hundred. Instructor ratings these days are expensive, but I believe it will somewhat be a less bumpy way to enter the industry. I built up a profile at my training outfit (many many years ago) and was talking about an instructor rating well before I finished my CPL. I built up the relationship in a way that I had a job instructing before I even finished the CPL. You will probably need to move to Australia, we have taken on some Kiwi pilots recently who came over to Oz to start instructing, I’d probably to a rating over this way with a place that might hire you if you intend to go down that path.
Don’t worry about the airlines. Too many people get focused on that from the start. We have taken on many new hires recently, I think some of the lower experienced was about 5/6 years in GA.
Nomess thank you very much for that insight. Yes it seems to be that Aussie is the place to be at the moment, have watched a couple of mates from home head off, particularly up north so definitely something I'd look at. As you mentioned, the diploma seems not to have much value in today's market - the only real reason I had it as a consideration is the ability to take out a student loan for it here in NZ, which would speed up the process. However, self-funding would definitely save money in the long run and seems like that's a good way to go with all things being said. The instructor rating definitely also seems the way to go, as you said; particularly here in NZ, where work seems very limited for low-hour CPLs outside of instruction.
Originally Posted by
john_tullamarine
No advantage doing a diploma,
But do give a bit of thought to a marketable degree. I fondly recall Ralph Caponi in Melbourne. Originally an ANA pilot back in the day, started his GP quals while still flying, ended up a GP, then qualified as an electrical engineer, possibly a LAME as well (?) and ended up running an EI&R business at Essendon while playing at being a GP in his spare time.
Flying is great fun, but it is a bit tenuous in the long term due to the medical fitness link. Not nice to be out on your ear mid-career and nothing much else to fall back on.
University degrees have no value.
Maybe yes or maybe no. I got into Ansett largely on the strength of my engineering background. My flying experience was minimal (near invisible ?) when compared to that of my intake colleagues. PhDs in basket weaving possibly don't offer much in the way of marketable valued added attraction ...
Thanks, John; it seems like the consensus is pretty clear as to the diploma. Very good point you bring up re a degree, particularly as a fallback, and this is something I've seriously considered. I am trying to explore a few different pathways, including undergrad study while trying to work on a CPL at the same time. This will definitely be tough, especially cost-wise, but something that could be achievable if I am able to manage time and money. Of course, this would increase the time needed to complete the CPL by a few years and in this game, time is quite valuable. Do you think this would have much of an impact when wanting to get into the industry, or are a few years here or there quite negligible?