I see a lot being talked about 'Luck' and 'Contacts' in the posts. It literally kills me when I see that anyone getting anything positive is either deemed as 'Luck' or 'Contacts'.
I've not seen much, But I've certainly seen enough to tell you with surety, that in Aviation, like in any other field, You make your own ‘Luck’. Some of us do it by educating ourselves and gaining all the above mentioned experiences while others try and make opportunity for themselves to achieve something on a long term.
I have been witness to opportunities crop up for Pilots, not necessarily for Flying, but for ATC, Operations, Flight Planning, Dispatch and various other skills that we have been trained for.
I can tell with first-hand experience that by working and being in close vicinity to the field, I managed to keep my skills sharp and also grab the first opportunity that arose. I am today flying for my company where I started as a dispatcher and so is a good friend of mine who chose to do the same (in another company). I have tried in vain to put more people in similar positions, but poor pay and hectic working conditions have made them not consider.
My advice (if I may) would be to not worry about pay or the work schedule, but look at a long term prospect of this. And in the mean time if an airline job creeps up, At-least you have something productive to talk about when someone asks "What have you been doing?"
