Hi all,
As a current company cadet, I thought I'd clarify some points.
You are in fact required to stay with the company for SEVEN years - two years will be your training, followed by five years bonded employment from the issue of your licence.
Yes, you will be on call 24/7, although its not as bad as it sounds. You may occasionally be called out at stupid o'clock to drive a pilot to an airport somehere in the country, but it doesnt happen often.
The company accomodation is a bonus - your rent is paid, you dont need to worry about bills (except phone), and you're extremely close to the airport (one of the cadet houses is just off of the runway threshold and we have 737's passing by the house at about 100ft! Also, you get to live with other cadets, rather than some complete stanger you have nothing to do with. Imagine the hassle of having to find your own place and pay rent, bills, etc, especially when we take on cadets as young as 18.
Admittedly, the cadetship is not ideal for those with partners. Wives/husbands could be a big problem, girlfriends/boyfriends not as much so. Several of the current cadets have partners, and seem to manage ok. If whoever you're with loves you that much, they'll understand that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and they'll make do. Additionally, I, as a cadet, would not put up with someone else's loved ones living at the house fulltime, and I wouldnt expect anyone else to. To clarify, partners can stay at the house overnight from time to time, but may not live there permanently.
The above isnt meant to scare you - its just better you know now before coming all the way to Coventry to find there wasn't any point in doing so.
The scheme in itself is one of the best around, and speaking from my own experience, although its been v. difficult at times, I'm v. happy I'm on it. If you're prepared to give 100% commitment to the company, they'll look after you.
A couple of you have asked about the assessment process. The first one which you have been invited to will consist of a maths paper (possibly with some PPL questions in there), an English paper, and some personality profiling questionnaires.
Atlantic-44
Last edited by Atlantic-44; 31st Aug 2005 at 13:27.