Part 2
I new before I started that networking would be the key to success, the phrase “It’s who you know not what you know “really does apply in Aviation. I was lucky enough to know a guy at Ryanair, but had always thought I would try everything else first. But it didn’t take long before I started thinking I am getting nowhere fast and started thinking about the implications of funding the type rating etc….I remember thinking when I was doing my IR and CPL that if things got really bad I could apply to Ryanair or even lower myself to trying the Turbo Prop companies. I am embarrassed to write that but I did think it, very naïve and arrogant of me!! Down to earth with a bump for me that’s for sure, as the reality of getting that first job set in.
Because less than 2 weeks after finishing my MCC I would have given my right arm for a job on a TP, a kite with 2 seats would have done!!
So I asked the guy I new at Ryanair if he could get my CV on the right desk, but I carried on looking as well. He kindly agreed and the wait for news started.
My other break started back in July, whilst visiting my Mother. She had waited until I was close to slitting my wrists before suggesting that I should call one of her friends who I have known since I was about 5, as her sister was married to a pilot!!! Something my Mother forgot to mention during the 20 months I had been training!! So after a why the hell have you not mentioned it before……. I got in touch with this guy.
He was a Captain with Bmi Baby, we spoke, arranged to meet and he agreed to forward my CV to the chief pilot, after assessing that I wasn’t a complete idiot. I also re-applied online as well. To my astonishment I got an email from the Chief pilot saying he had received my CV and that he would maybe look at me in the future. This is where getting a recommendation really helps. Wow, I couldn’t believe it, progress at last. I emailed him back thanking him, and asked whether he was attending the BALPA Conference in September at Heathrow. He was going, so he went onto my hit list that day.
Meanwhile I managed to organise some safety pilot work on a King Air, out of Southend, this for me was a life saver, as I was flying, for free or £50 admittedly, but for short term experience in a proper aircraft it was invaluable. In a pressurised cabin at FL250 this was proper flying!! With trips to France, Lithuania and around the UK it was not only very enjoyable but great for my confidence and experience. I was very fortunate to be flying with a guy who let me fly when we had no one on board, I was hand flying up to 20,000ft etc… so first tip, if you can do some safety pilot work, DO IT its great fun and looks even better on your CV. It shows you have not sat around doing nothing but have got up off your backside. I totally understand though that this cannot be sustained long term financially but anything is better than nothing.
At the end of August I got the first break of an offer of an assessment with Ryanair at the end of September. I felt extremely fortunate as had I not known anyone at Ryanair I would not have got an assessment so quickly.
So the BALPA conference arrived and I went down there suited and booted ready to ambush this Chief pilot. It was a worthwhile day besides that, just meeting others in the same boat helps you to realise it is not just you that is struggling.
Anyway I ended up queuing 2hrs 15mins to see this guy, for a 10min chat. He promised me nothing, but said he had my CV and that he had plenty of experienced guys he had to look at first, ahhhh, not what I was hoping to hear, but I also totally understood what he was saying.
I emailed him later that evening saying it had been good to meet, and that I would stay in touch. In other words, I will continue to badger you until you give me a chance!! I continued to email him every 3-4 weeks trying to get any update.
I did the assessment with Ryanair on the 29th of September and passed. It was a hard assessment and required a lot of preparation, for me anyway. It was in a 737-200 Sim, SID general handling, hold and NDB approach.
I paid to go in a simulator before the assessment but I met guys on the day who had not, who did not know the profile, who had not flown for 3 months!! Madness. Tip, If you get an assessment, don’t worry about spending £400 – 500 on a sim, think how gutted you will be if you fail, £500 will have been well spent. Getting in a jet and flying accurately requires practice, and unless you have experience or are extremely talented you will do badly and fail to reach the standard required. The best £500 I had spent so far.
So I had a job, I felt really pleased, but being honest the edge was taken off by how much it was going to cost us. We had spent so much already. However long term it would work out, I felt fortunate to have it. But I carried on looking. I knew where I really wanted to go.
I had another break from sending an email to the Fleet manager at Flyglobespan back in June when I first finished. The Captain was kind enough to respond which is quite rare, it is soul destroying when you don’t get a response, and although it was “sorry we have no vacancies” I sent one back thanking him and asking for some advice, which again he responded to. I saved his details and the email.
Then 4 months later in October I sent him another email, stating we had emailed before, that I had passed the Ryanair assessment etc….. And that I continued to look at other companies, how did the waters lie now at Globespan? Whether it was luck, the fact we had emailed before, or it just landed in his inbox at the right time, he emailed me back with an offer of an interview in mid November. I don’t know anyone in the company, so it felt good to have got it totally off my own back.
In the end however strange as this will sound I cancelled the interview. I now had a firm start with Ryanair in December which FGS were unable to match, their system being that even if you were successful at interview you get placed into a hold pool with no firm start date. It was also a Self Sponsored TR like Ryanair, so I wasn’t going to be saving me a great deal of money, and with no start date I would have been foolish to accept it over Ryanair.
I rang and spoke to the captain at FGS and explained my situation who agreed I should go to Ryanair, but to call him in 9 months time, when I have some experience, another contact one day, who knows. If you get an email from someone, even if it is NO, hang onto the contact details, you never know when you might need them. If I had not had Ryanair, Globespan would have been my lifeline!!
Sorry I am turning this into an essay here.
So the situation now was I was due to start with Ryanair in 4 weeks. I had to know whether to start to financially commit, and start booking accommodation, flights to Holland etc…..
Time for a last ditch attempt with the guy at Bmi Baby. By now I had sent around 4-5 emails, and rung him twice! At times this was really awkward, am I going to p*ss him off, catch him at a bad time…. But I thought I have nothing to lose, if I don’t fight to see him, it is not going to happen. So with less than 4 weeks till my start with Ryanair I sent one last email, saying if we are going to meet, it had to be in the next 2 weeks. Come on give me a chance!! That was on a Saturday, by Wednesday I had received nothing. So I then sent a text message can you believe, which I regretted the minute I sent it. I can’t believe you have just sent that I thought.
To my amazement my inbox had a response in it that night, saying he could maybe see me that Friday if I could make it, it was a hard decision that took me about 0.01 seconds to decide to go!! This was what I had been trying to achieve since July. And after a brief meeting at Balpa, emails, telephone calls and one text message, I had finally ground him down. One word of warning, I think I did push my luck at times, and I had nothing to lose because I had Ryanair, I would maybe not have been so forward had this not been the case. I don’t want to advocate sending text messages to Chief Pilots will get you a job!!
I had the interview on the Friday, this was the big one. Every company is different and they all have their own process, and as interviews go this was pretty relaxed, it really was a case of are you a good bloke and would I want to sit next to you on a multi sector day, without wanting to kill you!!
I eventually got the call the following week from him to say that I had been successful. I was practically shaking when I got off the phone, suddenly all the heartache and frustration was worth it. The best feeling in the world. I was pleased when I passed Ryanair, but this was different, for us financially it meant we would have some money left to get back onto the housing market! However I would have done Ryanair, and it is worth pointing out although it was going to cost a lot, it would have given me great experience and their training is well recognized. They have also been very prompt regarding information and admin, so don’t believe everything you read regarding Ryanair.
In a strange way Ryanair is partly responsible for me pushing the guy at Bmi baby to see me before I started. I feel very fortunate indeed that it has worked out. You risk so much to pursue this career.
So that is my story, so far. I start early next year, when the next round of hard work begins and the next hill to climb shows its ugly face. I am at the very start of my aviation career and in no way do I pretend to be an expert with recruitment or the industry. I am sure others have done all of the above and have not had their lucky break yet, but hopefully it will happen. It is not an easy journey that is for sure, but if it was everyone would do it.
I think it is important to share the good news as well as the bad (and there is plenty of the latter on this site at times).
Never give up, and don’t be afraid to chase people or ring people, they’re after all only human. If you can get recommended by someone fantastic, but don’t think that will be enough on its own, follow it up, make yourself standout. Show you’re hungry for it and want it more than the next person. You certainly won’t be the only person who will have been recommended. Be under no illusion there is no shortage of low houred pilots with 200hrs looking for a job, so you have to make yourself standout. If you really want it, you can make it happen. I apologise for the length of this, I got slightly carried away!! I hope those that read this get something useful from it. All the very best and
be lucky.
Dan98
