Pah! You think that's going to put off any wannabees?
I know there are many people working in IT who are in the process of, or intending to, transition to a flying career.
I have helpfully compiled the following list to allow you to compare and contrast the worlds of flying and computing...
1 - You can lose your job at a moment's notice.
2 - Management will tell you everything is OK and then lock up the company the next day, disappearing with your pay, bonuses and stock options.
3 - Blatent bullying and deliberate obfuscation of working hours. "Brussels is trying to tell you what to do... how dare they! The rules aren't there for your protection, you know. They're trying to stop
you from choosing how long you work. Don't let them bully you. Here, sign this mandatory opt-out form...". Working Time Directive? What Working Time Directive?
4 - It is a great job providing you like being indoors all the time. With no natural light. Or females.
5 - Any mistake at any time can end your career.
6 - Any mistake at any time by any other person can end your career.
7 - Seniority means you won't be able to get another job.
8 - Glamour? What glamour?
It is universally thought of as a boring job. Because it is.
9 - Dreamers (aka customers) will demand the impossible and will want it for free, then they'll get all upset when you tell them they can't have it and/or it will cost more than think is reasonable.
10 - You will work whatever hours you're told without any kind of break. See 5 and 6.
11 - You have to deal with ridiculous security on a daily basis.
12 - Colleagues who accept the first "offer" management proposes.
13 - Everything you knew yesterday has changed. And it will change again tomorrow. Your skills are always out of date. You have to provide your own training on a constant basis.
14 - Working with colleagues who either continually whine about how bad their job is, or insist on telling you about their final salary pension scheme (because they've been in the job since the dawn of time - see 7) or how they've paid off the mortgage on the back of some big deal that happened in 1980.
15 - You are comfortable in all-male environments. See 4.
16 - You are never off work. The company "owns" you and can therefore call you at home at any time of the day or night.
17 - You are never off work even when the company isn't encroaching on your free time. Friends, family and casual acquaintances will plague you with all their PC problems, even though you haven't actually "worked" with PCs for over ten years. And they will never ever feel that they owe you any more than a simple "thanks very much" despite the fact that you've spent the best part of a day trying to clear out all the malware and junk that their Little Jonnie has infested the computer with.
18 - You won't ever get any kind of pay rise because "the company is having a bad year".
Need I go on?
This is why we all want to switch to the easy life of airline pilots.