Am I too old to get a job?
Am I too old to get a job?
I know, I know, it's a perennial question. I've signed up to get some advice and have spent an hour or two reading past threads on the subject, but I haven't found anything recent and it strikes me that the world is very different from how it was a few years ago. Also, the threads I've read are from people in a very different situation personally, financially and in terms of flying experience. Of course, what I've read has been pretty negative, but I wanted to find out whether anything has changed, and whether my circumstances make the risk low enough to be worth taking.
I am 43 years old. I am married, but with no kids and a family isn't going to happen. My wife works and earns a decent salary as a school teacher; we could survive on her pay for a few years if we needed to. Our mortgage is not too far from being paid off, although that will be delayed if I were to spend 18 months training followed by searching for a job. But I reckon we'd be okay, even if I ultimately had to abandon the flying idea and do something else.
I have a lapsed PPL with 400+ hours on light singles, of which 300+ P1. So this means I already have 90% of the prerequisite experience for the CPL (just lacking night) - that is 200 hours of flying that I won't have to do. I also have an IMC rating (although I never used it) - so the IR won't be quite as difficult as it would be for someone with no instrument flying. Still very tough, I know.
With my flying experience, I reckon I could get to fATPL for around £30-35k. I am in the fortunate position of having shares that will easily cover that, so no need to increase the mortgage. I won't be putting myself into debt; in fact I'll still have enough savings to put towards a type rating if I need to.
Flying friends have told me that the ATPL theories will be hard work, but I won't struggle. I have a degree in mathematics and a strong scientific background; in fact, I really like the idea of doing some intense studying! Okay, there's some boring stuff to learn as well as the interesting technical stuff, but that's okay.
I gave up my job as a software development team leader just before Christmas, because I was getting too much project management and corporate bull**** and it was making me stressed and unhappy. I was earning very decent money and I'm under no illusions that I'll probably never earn that much again, but I don't really care. A FO job flying Dash-8s for Flybe would be a £35k pay cut, but hey-ho!
If I'm honest, I'd rather not have to move. I live in Woking, which puts Heathrow, Gatwick, Southampton, possibly Bournemouth, and probably City within commuting distance. Luton and Stansted would be a bit of a ball-ache, but I could probably do that for a while. In terms of job style, I'd rather not be away from home for more than a few days at a time, a week max. Within these parameters, I'm willing to consider the less glamorous jobs, including more 'niche' flying - but an airline or regional passenger flying job would be ideal.
At the moment, I'm applying the "Regret Test": imagining myself in 10 years' time, will I look back and regret it more if I try and fail, or if I don't try? I kinda think I'd regret it more if I don't try.
Obviously I've put a positive spin on things. But what do you think? Is there a realistic chance of my finding something?