Hey Transition, ya big sk*nk! How are the Oombi girls going? Make sure you share with chinese chicken now!
BGT,
Things I have learned over the years:
An IR would be a waste of time, unless you want to fork out the cash for a renewal and probably a fair bit of refreshing in 12 months time, cos ya won't be using it! It does give you an extra sticky label in the log book for down the track though I guess...
Anway, to get a job
1)Build contacts before you go
Always take the time to chat to and get to know people in the industry. If you have a keen interest in aviation this will come automatically. Don't do it just for "the contacts", but to make friends and learn. It's not a large industry, and employers will always hire someone who has been recommended to them, over Joe Bloggs (no offense Joe
)
And don't p*ss anyone off. Remember, the a*se you kick today might be the one you have to kiss tomorrow.
2)Get some qual's or skills that not everyone else can offer
I'm not talking about flying necessarily, I'm talking about things like a Language (German, Japanese, French maybe), a computer course, some basic mechanical course (offered at TAFE). As I'm writing this I am remembering some debate on pprune a while ago about this, but anyway I believe it puts you a cut above the rest.
3)Then Haul A*se to where the jobs are
I'm not familiar with the whole of oz, but I think the starter jobs are in the Kimberley. Figure out the hiring times (around March for YPKU I think from memory). Get there a while before that, go out and see the operators every week, and I reckon you can't go wrong. Be prepared to go to places that others aren't. If you get a sniff of a job, and you can humanly manage it, drop everything and get there. (I recently landed a great twin job by making that effort)
4)Wait, and then wait some more
And from my experience (ouch this is gonna hurt, I can feel the hits coming already) instructors can be a little hard to work with in a GA charter outfit, simply because they may have the same HOURS, but almost always no EXPERIENCE when it comes to operating an aircraft in a charter environment (ie full loads, drum refuelling (egad!) difficult passengers, etc). I would rather work with a fresh CPL who listens and wants to learn, than a 500hr instructor who wants to teach me (don't get me wrong, I'm always open to new ideas) how to fly a fully laden Cessna because thats what the North American written POH says....
Wow, did I just think that, or did I write that...