Hurry
Hi pilots,
I'm 25 now. I don't really know how much of a hurry I should be in to get an airline job. Also, I doubt if, in case I would go and apply for a job in Europe with 300 hours or less, airline operators would consider my skills equal, considering that 200 of those low hours would have been built in Northern America. Some people could be prejudiced, although that training in Canada is of the same quality as in the EU. Isn't it so that airlines often require experience or at least training on JAR aircraft?
Some swear by building hours by instructing and others say that all single engine is considered the same... Also, people tell me that, while instructing, I would be able to do some networking and make some contacts, but I doubt if contacts that I make in Canada would help me very much when in the end I want to fly for an airline in Europe.
Ideally, I'd like to find a job in an airline immediately after having done the conversion to JAA. The thing I'm afraid of is simply not finding a job. Trying to find a job with 250 hours seems very risky. I don't know if I, after having spent that kind of money, want to go sit around doing nothing for a couple of months and put all my hopes on finding a break. I'm leaning towards instructing and doing the JAA conversion in the meanwhile...
Also, paying for a type rating immediately after school without being guaranteed a job makes it even more risky.
Cragenmore, how long did you instruct for before you decided to move on to a type rating? Were you guaranteed a job while you were doing the type rating or did you pay for it and found a job afterwards? Is it fairly easy to find a job as an instructor in Europe? That would be another option for me, as a job instructing in Europe could give me a better opportunity for networking than in Canada. On the other hand, if I'd instruct, I'd like to do it for two years at least so that I could put my energy in my students rather than in my logbook and in social climbing.
Does anyone here know how converted licenses are looked upon in the EU? Will it be more difficult for me to find a job considering that I did training in Canada and then converted?
Thanks a lot for all the answers everyone. It helps.
Bart