After reading the thread – it doesn’t really offer much help to those in poised between doing a degree first or going straight into flight training.
There have been some uninformed opinions made concerning university, so for those contemplating a degree, here’s some points to consider.
I did a degree in mechanical engineering, and this involved 40 hrs a week plus an average of 2 hrs private study each day. I also fitted in triathlon training, working weekends, and a full social life. Work hard, and play hard – give it 100%, otherwise you’re letting yourself down and not selling yourself to your full potential. That applies to everything in life, I guess.
I met a huge amount of ex-Eton types, generally on doss courses getting smashed most afternoons with their parents’ money. It was grating to see so much cash being pissed up the wall, and even more grating to see the majority of them slide into jobs arranged by old-boy networking of their parents, but again, that is life.
Having chatted to many HR departments from varying fields, a degree in a decent field is recognised as the application of oneself to a challenging and academic endeavour. In addition to the flight-relevant maths/physics skills, I learnt valuable skills in balancing a very high workload with no real income and fun – all skills that translate perfectly to flight training. It is not the only way – as Batty states, the military will also give you an extremely challenging environment (join the Uni OTC?) - but Uni is a well supported route with many grants available to fund part of the course. Uni doesn’t have to involve a huge debt if you’re prepared to work weekends and summers to fund yourself rather than expect it to be paid for by parents, as many seem to do. Again, for many young guys and gals, learning to fund yourself is a valuable skill many are not well enough practiced in to take on a £50K debt…
University isn’t the only path, by any means. A degree in Art History, although personally stimulating, may not translate to a valued career in many fields – however if you weren’t going to go into the Art field, it would obviously be an indulgence more than anything else. My point is that there are challenging, well recognised fields and there are somewhat obscure courses with the students spending most of the day in the pub – but generalising all, as has been done here, is not correct.
I do agree that life experience is extremely important – having worked in competitive environments both in merchant banks in London and in design in the Netherlands, I appreciate that any extra qualification you have over other applicants doesn’t hurt, but more importantly the result has to be good. A 3rd class degree in Geography won’t open many doors. A strong 2:1 in a relevant field will.
I fully appreciate that I have to give flying everything I’ve got, otherwise I’m wasting my money, my time and selling myself short. As long as you know this, you’ll have the determination to succeed.
As to whether airlines value degrees – I’m a wannabe, not a HR guy so it’s not my place to say. Phone the airline HR departments and ask them. I did, they answered a lot of my questions regarding topics such as this, and I recommend going straight to the people who know for a definitive answer.
Thanks
Bemused.