The story of my 4 month long trip to Africa trying to get a flying job.
Back in 2009 I traveled to Southern Africa with the intention of getting a job as a pilot. I spent 2 months in Botswana (mostly Maun) and then another 2 months in Malawi (mostly Llongwe). I eventually had to return to the USA without getting employment, but coming quite close. I have never written up my journey until now. I want others to learn from my experiences.
Before coming to Africa, I had been employed as a pilot in the USA, first as a flight instructor, then as a cargo pilot, flying SIC in a Metroliner. I had about 1400TT when I arrived in Africa. I was laid off my cargo job in late 2008 as the economic collapse was starting to occur. During that time, the aviation industry in the USA was completely decimated. There were pilots with double my hours who couldn't find a job. I found this site and discovered a place called Maun that is always hiring pilots, even when the economy is bad elsewhere in the world.
I decided instead of working as a dishwasher or something like that in the US, I would try my luck at getting a pilot job in Africa. I sold my car, and bought a plane ticket with pretty much all the money I had.
The Maun part of my trip is pretty easy to tell. When I first got there, there were about 10 or so pilots looking to get a job. Of the 10 people, I had the most hours, but that didn't help me one bit. The whole time I was there, not a single pilot got hired. Some got hired a day or so before I arrived, and maybe some got hired after I left, but while I was there, no one got hired. The financial crisis had effected aviation companies in Africa too. All of the companies I spoke to gave me the same story: None of their pilots were moving on to other jobs, so there was very little need to hire new pilots.
My luck changed in late Februrary when I heard that there was a company in Malawi that was looking to hire pilots. The company was called "Nyassa Air Taxi". I emailed them my resume and then hoped for the best. All the other wanna be pilots in Botswana (15 or so by now) also sent their resume to Nyassa Air Taxi. Miraculously, they responded to my email, and we set up an interview.
I did the interview by phone. I remember sitting next to the pool at Audi Camp waiting nervously for the call. When teh call came, the guy on the other end had a very thick accent and was mumbling very badly. It was all I could do to understand what the guy was even saying. I was nervous because it was my only third or so interview as a pilot, but the guy interviewing me was probably just as nervous.
One of the questions they asked me was "what are some of your strengths and what are some of your weaknesses". This is the most terrible questions to ask during an interview, but my answer was "my pilot skills are my strengths and my communication skills are my weaknesses". (more on this later)
The next day I get an email telling me that they have decided to hire me. I was elated. I told them that I would leave Botswana and arrive in Malawi sometime in the next two weeks. I did not have much money at the time, so taking a flight was out of the question. I had to take a bus, which is much cheaper, but also more exhausting.
When I arrived in Llilongwe the troubles began. The company owned a house in Llilongwe where all the pilots lived, and where the company had their "headquarters". The garage was the office, and the rest of the house was where everybody lived. The guy who interviewed me (his name was Michael) picked me up at the bus station and brought me to the house. When I arrived, I met the owner, he introduced me to his wife, and then they showed me my room. I was also introduced to the other pilots. In my mind everything was going well, but the owners of the company must have thought otherwise.
The next 2 days or so I spend with the other pilots, which I got along with very nicely. The problems started when the owner (whose name was Bruno) came to me to ask to have a meeting with me. He pretty much told me that things weren't working out and that he thinks I might not be the right person for the job. I was in shock when I heard this. He told me that I don't seem very enthusiastic, and that this is a major problem. This perplexed me to no end. Why is being enthusiastic so important? He also told me that I wasn't showing any "initiative". Apparently he expected me to wake up every morning and come to the office (the garage) and start working. Basically they expected me to take it upon myself to train myself to be an employee, and sine I wasn't doing that after my 2 days of being there, they took that to mean that I wasn't the right person for the job. I explained to them that every single pilot job I've had in the past, it is the company's responsibility to train me, not my responsibility to train myself. I also explained to them that I spent literally all of my money to come to Africa, and that if I have to go back to America, I'll have nothing. If I wasn't showing enthusiasm, I certainly didn't mean for it.
Nothing I could say to them would change their attitude towards me. They even told me that when we met the day I arrived, that he thought to himself "this guy isn't the right one for us". All based on my handshake and the way I said "hello". I can understand them not thinking I'm the right guy for the job when they are trying to explain to me how to do a weight and balance, and I'm not able to follow. Or if they are teaching me the operating procedure for starting the engine and I keep asking questions like "what is a throttle", but their decision that I'm not the right pilot for the job was coming completely from stuff not aviation related.
Anyways, I told them that this is a misunderstanding and that I would try to show more "initiative" moving forwards. The next day I woke up in the morining, took a shower, got dresses, and went to the garage to show my "initiative". Michael (the guy who interviewed me and who was the "lead pilot") was sitting in the garage "working" (actually browsing facebook). I told him that I am here ready to show initiave and do some work. He tells me that there isn't any work for me to do. I didn't know what to do. I'm supposed to be doing something, but no one will tell me what to do.
Eventually they fire me after about a week or so at their house. I meet with Bruno (the owner) and convince him to give me another shot. I get the feeling that Bruno wanted a buddy more than a pilot. I just wanted a pilot job. We chit chatted a bit, and he hired me back, but pretty much told me that he wasn't going to lift a finger to help me get my USA license converted to a Malawi license. He said he would pay for the expenses, but as far as knowing what to actually *do*, that was completely up to me. It was 100% my responsibility to figure out what to do. If I had straight up asked them what the process is, they would have responses "thats your responsibility to figure out".
Thank god for the other pilots who were working there. They pretty much told me all that I had to do to get converted. I have never in my life, and have never since been in such a situation. I get my Malawi private license, but couldn't get my Commercial. One of the requirements of getting a Commercial license in Malawi is that you have to have 10 hours of PIC logged in the last 6 months. Since my last flying job was SIC in a plane that required a type rating, I didn't have that requirement met. No body told me this. I had already given my logbook to the guy who heads the aviation department at the Malawi government. That means I have to sit right seat for 10 hours before I can get my Malawi License proper. This was the final nail in my coffin. Bruno fires me for the second time, citing me not having logged 10 hours in the past 6 months.
I went back to the US with about a few hundred dollars to my name. I spent the next 1.5 years living with my parents. I tried sending my resume to aviation companies in the USA, but no one would even give me an interview. During this time I started programming a lot, and eventually became a professional software developer, which is what I do now. Maybe someday I'll return to my flying career, but in the meantime I guess I'm not enthusiastic enough.