of the few positions available most if not all will go to individuals who have gone to private schools, which will have assisted these individuals in attaining the necessary skills and qualifications to obtain highly paid employment allowing them to self-finance
I got good GCSEs but then discovered alcohol and women and completely cocked up my A-Levels, walking away with just two, only one of which was between A and C grade. I could have got into Uni with the grades I had but chose to join the industry instead. Of course, with only one A-Level between A and C I wasn't eligible to even ask for an application form for any sponsorship that was available and I did begin to wonder if I would ever be in a position where I could achieve my long term ambition and fly for a living...
I worked as ground staff for 6 months before moving on to another airline to fly as Cabin Crew. During all of this I had no idea where I was going or if this was going to help me at all, all I knew was that if I was going to be employed anywhere, being in the industry was the best place to be.
To cut a long story short, after 2 years of working in the cabin (with some fantastic crew) I got very lucky - the company wanted to promote from within and began looking for some staff members to train to fly for them (the training still being financed by the successful applicant with the loan secured on the company). They DIDN'T put a stipulation upon qualifications, it was just a requirement for 5 A-C GCSEs. The selection process was tough, but I've been told that so long as candidates had the aptitude for the course, they just wanted to see people that had ambition and personality. It's for others who know me to decide if that's me or not, either way I was fortunate enough to be chosen to come to Jerez for the ATPL course. I was going through selection with some outstanding colleagues who wanted this just as much as me, getting the position made the whole thing one of the most humbling experiences of my life.
I'm not trying to suggest this sort of thing is widespread, it's not. As everybody has said before, the road into aviation is a long and tough one and I've been phenomenally lucky to be in the right place at the right time. My ambitions could have become a disaster as a result of my sheer laziness/stupidity during my A-Levels, but I got away with it.
I've not written this to show off, I'm so so aware that there are so many fantastic people out there who already have licences and can't get a job - I just felt that there is so much said about bad luck and timing that I wanted to give people a boost, to show it can be done against all the odds. However, the sort of opportunity that I've somehow inexplicably walked into isn't a common thing and I wouldn't want to boost your hopes/confidence unfairly. The key is being realistic but the reality is that no matter how tough it is to get in, it DOES happen...
People have said before that you need to do more research, to look more deeply into the career you want to do for the rest of your working life - I couldn't agree more... you need to go into this armed with all the facts available to you, look at the fact that somedays you will have to get up at 3am and still not be home in time for dinner, you will lose your weekends and there will be times when you want to go out for a beer but can't as you're flying the next day. These are extremely trivial points (and by no means constitute the only compromises you will have to make) but they take away a certain amount of the 'luxury' aspect. However in spite of the not so luxurious parts of the job, I still wouldn't want to do anything else.
Finally, Good Luck to anybody who is trying to find that first job or find a way into the industry like mad_mothie, I know how tough it is and how heartbreaking it is when you wonder if it will ever happen for you but just keep dreaming of the day when it does.
I'll take my pep talk cliches elsewhere now! Safe flying all,
FJ2k
* As an afterthought, I'm not advocating going about things the way I did!! Qualifications really do matter and will open doors for you that were closed to me. Study hard and get good grades, it will make things a little easier!! Good Luck
