I only finished my training last week and the one thing I have going is that I opted to do my FI rating. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
I did it for a few reasons, but mainly I love flying and the challenge of teaching someone to fly would be highly rewarding as well as getting paid to do it.
I do think there are many many jobs out there, but at the moment, being mid-July, it hasn't been as fast getting into a job as it would have been in, say, February. Recruitment can take a dive in the summer months and that is to be expected.
I certainly am not going expecting to walk straight into a job or even sit on my arse while I am trying to get in somewhere. I am going to work as an instructor keep current and work on my experience as I see all of this as an apprenticeship.
I was very taken aback by some people I encountered on my IR, who pretty much thought they were going to walk straight into jet jobs and were very picky about flying turboprops or anything other than a 737.
And then they would then start specifying which bases they would accept and all this type of stuff. Absolutely Walter Mitty stuff!
If I am called for an interview in about 8 months time, I am going to be in good shape going in with instructing experience up under my belt, and having worked from now until that point instructing than those who have been sitting at home moaning on pprune about it.
When I was doing my MCC, one of the instructors who is a senior training Captain said that we were to keep ourselves busy and not to expect a living is owed to us. And I ultimately think that is a problem with a lot of people who are out there. And I am sure that this attitude is sensed by interviewers/recruiters sometimes.