Laurie, i was in the same dilema about 18 months ago and chose the instructor rating.I got a job instructing which lasted all last summer up till just after (9/11} then it dried up.Jan this year i went off to Bristol and did my IR, and ive recently gone back to instructing p/t.IMHO at this stage i think u need both.When the self improver route was done away with the introduction of the Jar licence, and you could get a cpl/ir with 200hrs thats all well and good.But the bottom line is how many people are getting jobs with these low hours?. They are far and few between, especially in the current job climate.Most airlines seem to be saying 1000hrs+mcc at the mo, somebody correct me please if im ill informed,that seems to be the fig when they are recruting.At the moment recruting appears to be stagnent with little movement.Getting some more hrs under your belt is certainly not going to hinder your prospects of getting a job,but have the opposite effect.It doesnt go a great way to helping when it comes to doing your ir in my experience,but my log book is a little thicker now and im sure that keeping reasonably current helps the situation.Ask yourself what are my options here?
1. Put the ir on the licence and stay with low hrs in the hope that things improve enough for airlines to employ low houred pilots.
2. Put the instructor on and get some more hrs,then the ir later whilst waiting for things to improve.
Well 1 u are going to need to get an airline job.2.more hrs is defo a good thing in this climate whilst waiting for it to pick up, and u will have some fun flying whilst doing this.
Like i said earlier, you need both,which way u choose to go is up to you.It rather depends on your personal curcumstances, whether you can afford to live on an instructors salary or not.I cant thats why im only instructing part-time. I could go on for ages about what i think u should do, but who am i to offer advice, this is all about your personal position my friend and what u think will help it in the long run.Ive got both now and the hours are ticking up slowly but surely.I dont think in the very short term things will improve enough for airlines to be employing low houred pilots, i think all the more experienced ones will be swallowed up first and the low houred ones at the back of the que.These statements are merely opinions and again i think its about your present position of what u can and cant afford to do,which way u go about it i think really doesnt matter at this moment in time, cos i really dont think that the job market is going to turn overnight . Its ironic that with the introduction of the Jar licence and the end of the self improver route, that so many people are considering and doing instructor ratings to get more hours,when the licence was supposed to do away with this path.We are all trying to make ourselves more marketable in this climate, more than the next bloke, and ithink more hrs will help.I dont think there will be any instructor shortage because lots of people are doing the rating to try and get more experience because of the state of the job market currently.There may be a little movement in the airline job scene,but thats all it appears to be,LITTLE.My guess is that if you do your ir first as soon as you have done it you will be thinking, what can i do to improve my chances of getting a job.Yes some more experience-instructing.If u do the instructor first, ive got to do my ir now.Curcumstances will dictate which way to go if u choose to do an instructors that is.Good luck to you.