Boeingbus2002 :
Difficult aint it ? First off, I'm not experienced, though I did get my type rating paid for me and I'm now struggling with becoming experienced !
I'm against SSTR (the fact its got its own abbreviation makes me go cold) because it feels like the Industry taking the mick out of its future pilots. You can have a serious amount of debt by the end of your fATPL without the added burden and stress of another £10-25k spent on a type rating.
My views are :
- get into the industry if you can. See if you can land an Ops job or something similar. If you do, make yourself useful and show that you're a worthwhile bod to have in the company. Smaller outfits are most likely to give you a break on the flying side.
- an FI rating was probably the best thing I did. It improved my flying no end and meant I could get paid (though not much) for keeping my hours ticking over. Again, it is a fair chunk of money. See what the likelihood is of a school taking you on as an instructor when you've completed the course. I'm not sure what the current prospects are but the Instructors forum on here should help.
- if you're going to fund your own Type Rating try very hard to find someone who will take you on with it before you start. Easier said than done I know. Its just that its a lot to add to your bank balance if you're not sure you're going to start paying it back pretty soon afterwards.
Good luck, whatever you decide !