It depends on what your aspirations are. Some jobs definitely
require an IR.
An example to illustrate the point:
I once flew a passenger to an important meeting (AGM for a large company) on the other side of the Pennines. It was a fairly straightforward IFR/IMC transit over the hills with a letdown to good VMC on the other side at destination.
After picking up the passenger the following day, I asked him how his meeting had gone. He said they hadn't been able to complete the meeting because another key person was late, then rang to say he was unable to attend. His helicopter pilot had apparently turned back when they reached the Pennines and the cloud met the hills (as per the met. forecast).
He then asked me why this should have been the case, bearing in mind the fact that we crossed the hills no trouble at all. I suggested that the other pilot possibly wasn't an IR holder and/or the other aircraft wasn't IFR equipped (found out later it was a Jet Ranger). Questions were later asked of the other operator...
Point is, the businessmen (plural) had no idea of, nor cared about the pilot's qualifications; all they wanted to do was get to the meeting. From the feedback I heard, the Jet Ranger operator wouldn't be used again by the company.
I have sympathy for the other pilot, who had obviously come under pressure to operate to the limits of his capabilities, been unable to complete the task and so taken the safe and legal option. Yet he probably still got an ear-bending afterwards.
