This is not my post. Although now showing under my name, it was posted by Steve76 It didn't transfer with the others so I moved it.
At the very worst of it (and we can trade horror employment stories if you want), it still rates miles above the 5yrs I did on the workshop floor.
Spare a thought for the poor individuals who pump your gas or work the counter at Tims, Canadian Tire and the host of other mass employers. Some really never had a choice as to their future.
I think any person who attempts a "career" as a pilot can never be considered an "underachiever". The only underachiever is the person who gives up after the first couple of years of job searching, unemployment or constant rejection.
It seems also that plenty of helicopter drivers think the slabwing guys are raking it in. WRONG!
I have been a part of aviation since the 70's and can confirm that the only ones on the six figure incomes are the heavy drivers. It takes a lifetime to get into those jobs.
Eg: I was chatting with a lear driver in Windsor the other day. He drives a 10,000,000 aircraft has 3000hrs + 1000hrs on the lear = $35000 Canadian a year.
Most guys I know can easily double that in a summer. Its only taken them 3-5yrs to reach that level.
As for manipulating your career, it only takes some strategic planning and a little awareness that all the advice you will receive is not all good.
For instance; there are those who think co-pilot time is worthless. WRONG. Cojoe time is gold. It is the link from the bush to the city. Get it where and whenever you can.
I once went from the S76C to a B47 and back again after 3yrs on the 76. I felt I needed the change and a new challenge. 2yrs later hopping back to the 76 was just a matter of looking and waiting.
Ask how many robbie/JR/hughes drivers are sick of their jobs. Now see how long they have been stuck in the rut. Ask them what their ambitions were at the start. Was all their thinking about chasing deer, mustering, heliskiing and flying robbies or maybe a AS350?
They have not continued their education and development of new skills. Most have multi thousand of hours out bush. Have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars and never bothered to investigate an IFR ticket! No forethought. They are all great drivers but all the complaining at age 40 about how they would like to be home etc.... its no one elses fault but theirs.
SO! is it easy. NO is the definate answer. Wages and conditions are abysmal for a long time. Its hard on the kids and wife. But at the end of the day I look foward to going to work. I get a great office, stimulation, job satisfaction and I feel I am living and not just existing through the weekly grind.
How to get a Job?
Get a licence and go to Africa, Nothern Canada, South America, a tuna boat or anywhere else that the softer guys don't want to live. That is where you will find your first opportunity. Waiting for Bristows to let you fly the North Sea for them is a pipe dream. Spend only what you need. Leave the IFR for later, maybe just get a turbine endorsement. Don't spend all your bucks on the JR. Think about where to spend your money. The UK pound buys a lot of Aussie/NZ/SA and canuk dollars and the flying hours are accepted everywhere.
Get off your arse and do a little pushing and a few years of bush and the future will be bright.
Rant over
