How many hours is too many?
After all of those years that most of us went through where we didn't have enough hours, then not enough turbine, sorry no night experience, no time on type, etc etc etc, I've noticed that it may be just as frustrating at the other end of the spectrum by having too many hours. I am not in this category, but years ago I worked with a bloke who couldn't get a start in a turbine as he had "too many piston hours", about 10000 of them in fact. Recently with the winter fast approaching in Canada there are some high time pilots advertising there availability & I have heard many comments to the effect that - "something is wrong if that person has to advertise. With that much experience he should have enough contacts in the industry to get a job without advertising". Bloody hell, we can't win!!!
I can imagine some operators could be uncomfortable employing someone with vastly more experience than themselves, as there would be a perceived risk that the more experienced employee wouldn't take direction from the less experienced employer.
What I'm looking for here is a flood of replies telling me that the people making these comments are full of it & high time pilots have no trouble getting work with companies with which they have no previous association. If this isn't the case, maybe I should aim to be in my "retirement job" before I reach a certain experience level. What is that level?