RAF careers: Just how competitive really is it?
Hi,
I'm currently looking into becoming an RAF pilot, piloting is a career path that has amazed me since I was a young boy and I guess that dream could possibly become a reality one day (provided I keep working my ass of to get there). I recently heard that all RAF recruitment has been on a bit of a stand still for a while now but that the RAF may possibly be recruiting again in the next couple of years. This does not worry me as I still need to get my degree (i'm in college at the moment) so I've got a few years anyway.
I'm friends with a few Ex-Squadren leaders who flew during the Gulf War and they said they couldn't recommend the career path highly enough for me, I'm currently training to get a PPL you see and I just love it, any career which will pay me to be in the air sounds too good to be true.
Is it really as competitive as they say? I hear it's a lot easier for Cadets to get into the RAF, unfortunately my parents always assumed the Aviation dream was just a phase for me so I was never allowed to join the Air Cadets. I'm currently sitting my AS-Levels in Chemistry, Biology, Computing and German. I got off to a rocky start in those AS Levels but that was due to some issues I was having with my family, that's all sorted now and I'm back on track and looking to get possibly an A and 2 B's (definitely not going to pass German) I'll then carry on these AS-Levels to A2 and aim to get even better results. Would you say that'd be enough to get through the paper sift?
It's 2 C's or above but given how competitive it sounds I guess i'll need much higher than 2 C's.
Both of these Ex-Squadren leaders said a 4 year degree is ideal, this is something i'm planning on doing anyway as it'd be a great experience for me, I'm looking at a software development course but I'm open to suggestions, which courses would you say are the best for someone looking to get recruited into the RAF?
Also, should things in my A-Levels not pan out as i'd hope i'll be going back and sitting a Level 3 btec in Software development which is apparently equivalent to 2 A-Levels, this is just a backup plan but would that be enough?
As for health and fitness i'm completely healthy and fit, I was born with an issue on my bones called hereditary multiple extoses which basically are just bone tumours, they've stopped growing and are just lumps on a few of my ribs, that in no way inhibit any bodily functions. I don't see this as being an issue and neither does my family, any thoughts?
Also would having a PPL and a lot of flying experience be beneficial to my application or does it not have any effect?