Oh dear, I really hope I haven’t started another integrated v modular argument.
My point was about risk and exposure. Let’s put it another way; unless someone has guaranteed you a job at the end of it – and no-one will - any money you spend on training is a gamble. Call it an investment if you like, but the hard truth is that you’re spending a large amount of money in the hope that there’s a job at the end of it. There are no guarantees, whether you’re modular, integrated, or even sponsored.
Now that’s fair enough, it’s a risk we all take, and we wouldn’t be doing it unless we were optimistic about finding a job. However, that optimism must – absolutely must – be tempered with a cold dose of reality. You must consider the possibility that maybe, just maybe, you will be one of the 80-90% of people who start training but never make it to an airliner.
Now I am absolutely, utterly determined to succeed, but even I have to admit there’s a chance I won’t make it – and even if I do, I’ll always be 1 medical away from losing my career. The reason I can sleep at night is that I won’t gamble what I can’t afford to lose. There’s enough equity in the house to go and do an integrated course tomorrow, but I won’t do it because it means jacking my current job in and taking on another £50,000 worth of debt.
Instead, I’m keeping the day job for as long as I can and paying for my training bit by bit. Of course it’s taking much longer than I’d like, but I’ve got 90 hours, I’m half way through the ATPLs, and the biggest credit card statement I’ve seen was around £6,000. The CPL/IR will obviously add to the bill, but I fully expect to complete my training with no more than £15-20k extra on the mortgage – and still in full time employment. Now that’s still a lot of money to risk, but it’s way, way different to being £50k in debt with no job. I’d call that rather exposed.
And that’s the point – employment wise, this is a very risky industry to get into. Get it wrong (or just be unlucky) and you could be financially crippled. I would strongly suggest that anyone embarking on commercial training should try and minimise their risk and exposure, every step of the way. To get a loan for £50k and bet everything on getting a job at the end of it might imply big cahones, but it strikes me as foolhardy.
(And yes, if I won the lottery, sure I’d sign up for an integrated course – but then I could afford to lose £70k).