I completely agree with WWW and G-SXTY. Now is not the time to start a full time course. If you spread out your training and pay for as much as you can as you go it will lessen your problems. I want to fly commercially just as much as any one else.
I did the ATPL exams and I am about to start the CPL. The difference is that I decided to slow things right down. I was going to go for the full metal jacket: CPL, ME, IR, MCC.
Given the situation I decided against it and now I am training for the CPL-SE and FI. I have saved practically all the cash for the CPL-SE and FI by taking my time and taking it slow. Yes, I still have a little debt but it is a lot smaller than it could have been (2000 euros compared to scary amounts)! The risk is much smaller for me so I feel more willing to test the water (for what it is worth). I am still concerned off course, since I will still be looking for that first instructor job. A few people think I am crazy for doing it this way, I have been urged to just "get all the ratings" and “get your ATPL and get into the market...why waste time on the FI course?". Well working as a teacher is certainly not a waste of time and yes I will have problems getting that first job as well. The difference is that I will not have an enormous loan bearing down on me and I can finish the additional ratings and spread out the rest of my training as the situation permits. If lady luck feels like a dance I might even have a few hundred hours of teaching experience to go with that shiny new IR when I eventually get it. Yea what if it all goes south? Well, I thought that one through and worked very hard on my back up plan too. I am painfully aware of these things.
I urge you to consider the whole situation, listen to the advice of people who really do know the market and assimilate the facts before making decisions that could effect you for a long time to come. Don't listen like a zombie to the FTOs they will tell you what you want to hear! Trust me, from personal experience I have heard one FTO after the other spout an enormous amount of crap about the job market. Do your own research as well! I think now is a good time for being flexible (or holding off on the training all together) rather than blindly working on every rating in one go for the hope of a job.
LG
PS- WWW, G-SXTY and the rest... don't give up.
