Skipname,
I don't like to post anything derogatory but you post is quite unsubstantiated. I have known numerous people who have self funded speculative type ratings and for the majority this had kick started their flying careers, a good number of these examples are from the 06-08 era when times were better. However I still know a handful of people who have recently obtained employment with speculative ratings in the last 18 months. Some of these people had also been instructors, who had realised instructional hours alone were not going to progress then anywhere.
Yes a speculative rating is a gamble, some don't get employed but for those that do they are normally far better off than someone who had gone the instructional route or some other GA based hour building activity.
It is true for some people the instructional route does lead to that lucky break, while in previous years this was a given it is now the minority. There are good number of instructors that have been stuck full time instructing recently who are going no where. I know GA flying also encompasses other things outside of instructing but in the UK these jobs are quite rare (para dropping, glider towing) so for the majority GA means instructing.
Also if anyone has the choice of self funding a rating or a common type or accepting a bond and a low salary on a rare type, then if they can afford to fund the rating is still the better option (speaking from experience getting laid off with a low number of hours on a rare type doesn't leave you in a good situation). Don't assume a bond is necessarily a better or worse deal than a sstr.
I would say you have to pick the route that suits your circumstances best, if going full time instructing means you are taking anything more than a 20,000 plus pay cut then you are still better sticking to part time instructing using the income from the full time job to fund either a rating or useful flight time (twin hour building, IFR touring into Europe in a complex single).
For the original poster he (possibly she) will have a very good chance of securing well(ish) paid employment as an engineer, so when it comes to the point that the CPL / IR can be funded he/she will find a type rating will be financially the far more viable option than full time instructing.
Instructional hours or hours from some GA activity do have some value for hour building for insurance requirements or for getting the first 1000 hours towards an ATPL, but it is rare these days that instructional hours / SEP hours alone will progress you. Even someone wishing to progress down the career instructing route will need to spend reasonable amounts adding the additional ratings to the basic FI(A).
The main reason the industry is going down is not because of self funded type ratings (British Midland and BAC express were doing self funded ratings years before Ryanair were on the scene), it is going down hill because there is no minimum educational requirement to enter pilot training to limit the candidate numbers. I don't believe that an academically able person is any better a pilot it is sometimes you just need an artificial barrier to enter a profession to keep terms and conditions high.
Last edited by portsharbourflyer; 11th Jan 2014 at 20:51.