newbie help needed [Archive]

banjoman

20th Mar 2006, 21:17

Right folks here's the deal - since graduating from uni with a 2.1 in history 6 years ago I've worked in different office jobs (insurance, civil service, some temping) and I've had enough.

I'm looking to get a job in aviation and would like to know what sort of jobs I can expect? I'm not excluding office jobs but would prefer something that lets me get about once in a while. Off the top of my head I've thought about freight forwarding, ATC and the non-ticket desk jobs for airlines.

Also (sorry to ramble) what are good sources of jobs?

Many thanks guys. :ok:

NWBizJet

21st Mar 2006, 12:20

banjoman,
Not many job out there at the moment. If there is they are usually low pay but require work experience in the specific area. If you can sustain the low wages you might be able to find a job with a handling agent at the airport. Freight forwarding, in the current climate as there are lots of merger going on, think carefully.
There are lots of site that you can visit.
www.aviationjobsearch.com
www.forwardingjobs.com
or events pick up a Skyport at the airport.
Good luck!:ok:

PAJ

23rd Mar 2006, 23:20

banjoman
I'm thinking along the same lines as you....Slightly different situation, I'm just about to complete my final year at uni in Business MGT and Economics, 2:1 predicted. I really want to get into the industry, as a pilot would be fantastic but I have for a while now realised that I cannot afford it and also that its an extremely tough world out there at the moment and I feel there might be some signiicant changes (MPL, new crew packages as some of them are just getting silly, perhaps some help with training in the future) at some point which miht make that an option later....we'll see. As to your question, there are a number of routes. ATC is one of them and from the sounds of it, your degree would help but you need profeciency in maths and/or physics (A-level is preferable but not essential). Fairly good earning potential based on my research, but very stressful and generally not a long-term career path.
I particularly am interested in becoming a flight dispatcher as it involves working with loads of different people in an incredible environment where you are unlikey to spend loads of time behind a desk somewhere. You need to get some operational experience before this however as essentially, the dispatcher is the one who permits an aircraft to go...high profile, I think would be very interesting but very hard to get into. Maybe worth looking into.
I mention operational experience....this could be a number of aviation-related things that give you an understading of the industry like ramp work, passenger service, flight ops (rostering/ crewing, flight planning etc) and the like.
Jobs going at the moment for all of the above...check out aviationjobsearch.com and look under operations in the UK. The salary would not be great...a basic introductory operations officer for eXcel are being offered something like £15,000 (might be less in fact) but with quick promotion fromthe sounds of it. As already mentioned, can you go down to a lower salary? Some ramp work at Heathroq pays up to £8.50 p/h but that is quite ambitious so its not gonna be amazing initially...unless anyone has any other ideas (if so PLEASE INFORM ME ASAP!!!!!). Getting to know someone already in the industry would be a good start, they might be able to push towards a more senior role from the outset. There are a number of ways to get your foot in the door, look at airlines, airport authorities, handling agents, freight/ cargo companies...anything to give you that 'operational experience.'
Hope that helps a bit.