I don't quite know where this thread has gone. I thought the idea was "Can I please have some constructive advice now that I have finished my license but the jobs have dried up?". Now despite the first post on the site regarding what is/ and is not allowed in this forum, we have a slanging match moving between whether or not students are customers or poor sods to be given a hard time by professional FI's with approximately 150 more hours than the student, and the merits of plumbing for a career.
I have been a professional pilot for 20 years, my post of last week referred to combing the countryside and indeed the continents in search of the few jobs that there are, did not seem to make a dent in this discussion. I still believe that now is the time whilst things are down to keep gaining hours and experience. Some of the more positive posts prove my point and it does appear that there is work out there, if you move many stones and search everywhere.
The comments re the OATS fellas who turned down a GA job whilst waiting for the call from the airlines is possibly an underlying attitude in the recently graduated pilot community. Guys it just doesn't always work that way.
Doing an instructors course in a climate where there are minimal FI jobs available still achieves more hours in the logbook,which makes you more attractive to the few positions that are available. That extra time makes you more appealing to the 'work for free' areas such as towing gliders or dropping parachutists. It similarly is a feather in the cap for future employment opportunities that may come up later on.
The FI skill also gives you another credit when looking for O/S opportunities. There seem to be many opportunities in the US if you check out some of the US forums, particularly for QFI's with some reasonable incentive schemes.
So guys hang off the slanging, be professional and see if you can suggest ways in which to keep moving whilst the area we chose to work is running slowly.
And so to invite criticism I find it incredible to believe the way students in general are treated by the Uk training system. Flying is supposed to be fun. Parting with thousands of pounds never is. Hence when the flying is not fun and the cash is going down, where is the future of the training industry? Instructors are not marketers, but there seems to be a CRM issue here which may be being missed also. Wearing the clothes doesn't necessarily make you a good pole man or a future aviation professional. It takes a bit more. If the fun is not there in Aviation training why bother? The industry is painful enough when you are in it.