pilotdude09,
its interesting what you say regarding working at mines. i was not so long ago, (ie this week) talking to another member of pprune who is a pilot and works for two mines, in aviation down-time. during our phone conversation he created the impression that there are many unskilled jobs out there that due to the demand for workers, are paying very good money. and as for the cost of houses and living, i am lead to believe that much of the work is fly-in/fly-out ops, plus here in the city, there are plenty of temptations to spend your money on.
i take your point about 100k not being very much money for the mines, im sure there are massive wage earners out there doing their thing. my point is, for someone who is unskilled, they could do for example, cleaning, and get paid much more than if they were to do it in the big smoke. i don't know about you but where i stand, unskilled, 24 years old, (feeling the pressure of time to get qualified and build hours!), having worked one ****ty job after another, it would seem like a good path. personally, i am very happy with my current earning capacity, (it kind of happened by accident!
), and am just about there. i would have begun training already had it not been for the discovery of wolff-parkinson white syndrome by my AME.
as for going to uni, i was (perhaps mis)informed, by an un-named bloke from an un-named school, that trains for a university here in SE QLD, that university degrees are not so important regarding airlines. he suggested perhaps an advanced diploma of management or business management would also look good. the reason he gave was that it is just as important to a prospective-employing airline to be able to efficiently run the aircraft as it is to fly it safely, with regard to both running costs and people management. personally i believe that a degree is really just evidence of your ability to learn/study, and your ability to see commitment through to the end. (like paying for a CPL with necessary ratings, and possibly a type rating isn't proof enough!)
im sure many would agree that to have reached a point at which you can apply to an airline for a job, takes a great deal of dedication! all that said, i have certainly not ruled out doing a degree, even if only for the personal satisfaction, something to fall back on and for my own interest. just, i will get trained first. that way, i can perhaps do the degree part time while building hours. for me, time is of the essence and the sooner i can begin building hours, the better. that is why i too am seriously considering jetflite.
by the way, late last year i discovered a company in SE QLD that flies citations which were also offering a 12 month period of guaranteed employment... on the citation as an fo!!!! cost about the same as jetflite from memory. i have forgotten the name, if anyone is aware of them or knows the company name, could you please, please be so kind as to remind me. at the time, i lost interest after hearing the quoted price as at that time i didn't think i would be able to budget for something like that! fortunately things have changed!
anyway, that's my bla!