Just keep going
The old "too old to get a job" question again!?
I am 36, struggling hard with the ATPL's, after nine weeks of the first distance learning module, with crappy notes that only the
f***er who wrote them can understand. Every day I wonder if I have the brains and the aptitude to make it. I have no house, I live AT HOME, I put off work, ( I'm a freelancer) , so I can do some xtra study, and I have no money to fly at the moment. Will I pass with 90%? Are you for real???? I would love to and I am going to try to get 100% but I'll be happy with the low 80s. I will pass those exams for sure, maybe not first time but I'll get them. Its all about doing questions over and over, best way to consolidate what you have learned. As far as jobs, well it's all about your IR, MCC and twin rating, so I am told, as well as who will vouch for you, put your name forward and say that you are a good guy and pleasant to work with. I am no genius but am starting to believe that all those people on the flight deck are not either( no offence to the geniuses on the flight deck and the non geniuses also sitting with them) The ATPL's are very important, as you can't do anything more without them, but your flying experience and competence matters a lot more. I will never understand fully all 14 subjects, dist learning in 10 months just will not allow for it, but that doesn't mean I can't answer all the questions, sometimes you just have to accept that something works without understanding all the reasons behind it, something very difficult for me to accept, but I will not pass unless I learn to move past something I don't fully understand and finish the rest of the material for that day. So I am still ploughing forward and doing the best that I can at the age of 36 with no prospect of applying for a job until I am 38. It's late I know, however at my school, instructors are leaving quicker than they can be replaced. The industry is on the up, probably for a short while, and I hope the be qualified with albeit bare min. hours when an airline is looking to fill a vacancy.
It's like this; if you haven't got all your training and exams, you will never be in a position to apply. Even if the work is scarce, I want to at least try, big risk and all that, financial etc. but this current pressure and doubt and hope and all the scary emotions is better than the " do I have to do this poxy job for the rest of my life?" feeling. I am no longer listening to negative things. Just keep going, do the best you can and be in a position to see if it can give you an new opportunity later on. Can't remember what my point exactly was put needed to vent a bit. Ah well, back to not understanding yet another chapter about God knows what with radar pulses blablablablabla................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
KiloB