to be perfectly honest, from what i've looked into it, you're probably as likely landing a "good" engineering job as you are getting the job you want as a pilot.
they're both similar in the way that experience is key.
it's got to the point now where i can't imagine doing engineering anymore and i've got my heart set on being a pilot, as foolish as it may be.
it IS a bigger risk than engineering, especially financially. to be honest i really would have thought there would be a lot more airlines train their own pilots, or at least subsidise the cost, but just do what most do and tie thme down with a long contract. it doesn't seem to happen!
i'm determined not to do what you're thinking, i really don't want to give up. i hate giving up, i'm terrible at exams and at revising and making myself study, but i'm confident i can do it for this as i know a fair few basics and from what i've looked at it seems interesting and MOSTLY relevant ( i know not all is, not at first anyway) on the theory side.
the thing is it's all what if's, but what if you can't find an egineering job? my sisters best friend is just out of leeds uni with a 2:1 in english and is on less than my sister in a secretary job, where my sister works in a wetherspoons as a bar supervisor.
there's no guarantees whichever way you go there's certainly a larger risk down the pilot route, but if you pull it off, it'll certainly pay off big time, well i imagine it will.
it's all about taking risks these days. it just seems to be whether we're willing to take such a big risk, and whether we actually can!
ps a little reading up on the FTE site showed they're agreement with HSBC regarding a loan was secured on the parents' house, and no repayments are needed until 6months after training, or it may have been 18months after the loan date. either way...it's a time period to secure a job to pay the loan off lol.
my summary of what i've read so far is: OAT seem to be a bit snooty and sell it to you, training is good and they seem to have good industry links, but it's so expensive. Others like cabair and FTE offer good training at a cheaper cost but dont have as much of a "reputation" or "links" or they don't seem to "help" you get employed. OAT seem very bothered about their reputation so try to help you get employed from what i've read.