Chartered Accountant - could this help me land a job?

[balhambob]

Hi,

Am a qualified Chartered Accountant looking to do my ATPL

do you think this could work favourably for me when I am looking for that first job after graduation?

I guess my thinking is that I could do both Accounting & Pilot work to get my footin the door at certain operators?

Thanks

rob

[Re-Heat]

I too am chartered, however I don't think this will help much as your exposure to the operation will be financially related, and their hiring requirements will be based solely upon your ATPL and flying skills.

At age 30, what sort of role are you looking for? You have presumably been in practice for over 5 years, so starting again in a financial role at any company would involve a considerable step down, coupled with nobody wishing to give you responsibility if they are aware that you could move to a flyign job at any time.

There is little financially in an airline that distinguishes it from any other company, and you are surely limiting options looking for an airline finance role rather than an aerospace finance role in one of the many support companies.

Consider instead exposure within your current role in practice, which surely gives you greater flexibility to fit in modular training?

Try a recruitment consultant, but I doubt there are many openings - you won't get into a finance role directly without going through one of them anyway.

Having said that, nobody will refuse the offer of you doing some more work in accountancy when in a flying career, but accountancy roles require regular hours, whereas you will be off operating the aircraft when they would need you doing the montly P&L or similar.

I would just leverage it to prove you can work under pressure.

[scroggs]

Turn the question round - do you think being a pilot would help you get a job as a Chartered Accountant? If that sounds as ridiculous to you as your original question did to me, you might have some idea how employers might take it...

Your experience in the world of work helps make up your personality and gives you perspective, and is thus a very valuable asset in itself and something you should capitalise on at interview. However, unless you want to start your own airline, don't get your hopes up of employers looking for part-time accountant/pilots.

Scroggs

[potkettleblack]

I am in the same boat as you guys and left fulltime work a few years ago to do my PPL in the US followed by hour building and now have my last couple of ATPL's to go. I found contracting was the best way to go for me. I got an instant pay rise as I was usually on an hourly rate so it was a nice feeling to get paid for all of those overtime hours. I was based in London so there was never a shortage of work, particularly if you had big firm experience on your cv. The best thing about contracting for me was that the work tended to be for fixed periods of say 6 months and you could dig in for that time and save hard and then do a bit more flying.

[balhambob]

Am contracting at the moment and this has enabled me to save up to do the integrated route. Once I finish I will go back to contracting whilst I look for a commercial job -its good to have that flexibility

Scroggs - Sorry but there is no such thing as a ridiculous question when you are considering spending 60k!!!!!!!. I was merely quizzing to see if having a professional qualification in another field could give me an advantage over others when trying to get my foot in the door.

Obviously you think not but I have chatted to others that would disagree with you. Pilotting can be a seasonal job for some which means they could offer other services to airlines during certain points of the year

[MVE]

I think it would give you every chance of getting a job.........as a chartered accountant! It should help you plan your finances for the expensive training........;-)

[balhambob]

ha ha - very true

I wouldnt mind looking at the books of OAT and the like - I'm sure they are generating handsome profits

[Groundloop]

I think you'll find the phrases "flight training" and "handsome profits" are mutually exclusive!

[BigGrecian]

I believe boredaccountant (http://www.pprune.org/forums/member.php?u=83449) used to be a chartered accountant try PMing him.

[captwannabe]

What is it about accountants and IT consultants wanting to become pilots? ;)

[balhambob]

Dunno - maybe its got something do with the fact that they are mind numbingly dull jobs!

I can always go back to ticking and bashing if I dont make it in aviation tho

[Regis Potter]

Is this an attempt to move in easy stages toward a career in lion taming? :}

[Re-Heat]

I wouldnt mind looking at the books of OAT and the like - I'm sure they are generating handsome profits
BalhamBob - Look on Companies House (OAS Ltd - the contracting company), and you will see that their P&L is atrociously low at the moment: for the last accounts filed (31.12.2004), they lost £10k, and in 2003, only earned £752k, on a rising turnover from £20.2m to £24.8m, despite a net change on fixed assets of £100k in their favour after asset disposals were greater than asset purchases.

Not exactly the picture of a company ripping off the students!

What is it about accountants and IT consultants wanting to become pilots?
Many of us have a passion for aviation, but have entered other professions as it is too expensive to fund the training.

Dunno - maybe its got something do with the fact that they are mind numbingly dull jobs!
Obviously someone who has yet to find the exciting areas of chartered accountancy - I'll have to keep those a secret or you'll all want to do them...!


Lions - you know - those brown furry things with the long snouts

[Captain Mainwaring]

Balhambob.
I was in your shoes 10 years ago. I even lived nearby 'between the commons'. I did a full time course over 14 months. It took two years to get my first airline job on turboprops then eventually a jet. It has utterly skinted me and i am struggling along ten years on. However, not a day goes by where i don't think of my ex-colleagues doing bank recs or auditing as i fly overhead in my 737. My humble opinion is that, if anything, accountancy maybe a handicap as you are unlikely to be viewed as the ideal profile of 'Stable extrovert'.
You may get there or not, who knows, but don't start it without being prepared that you may take the long road to get there.

[balhambob]

Capt DadsArmy,

Would be interested to hear more about your story. What age were you when decided to go for training? (I presume if it took 14 months you went the Integrated route?)

Am 30 myself and although I realise time is ticking away am still taking my time to reach a decision about where to train - its a hard decision.

Am meeting up with 2 working pilots to discuss over the next month.

As for the 'Stable Extrovert' tag I'm not sure you can generalise so much.

Certainly I think you have to be stable to be a Pilot but Extrovert? I'm not so sure - I could think of more professions where being an Extrovert is way more importtant

[Captain Mainwaring]

Balhambob
I was 36 and did a CAP509 course as it was called before JAR Integrated came in. I felt that i could not afford to take any longer than necessary to get qualified. Expensive but quick.

You are young enough to be looking for work at age less than 35 which is a cutoff for many mainline operators.

Stable / Unstable

--X-----------------

Extrovert / Introvert

You must ideally fall into stable and extrovert personality, X marks the spot! Not Unstable introvert, stable introvert or unstable extrovert......get it? It's not my opinion but just what type the airlines are supposedly looking for. Here endeth the first lesson on Human Perfomance and Limitations, one of the exams to be sat!

My advice to you is watch out that you don't take too long to get qualified and possibly getting post-training hours because you are Temping/Contracting. Quite a number of full time course guys have to become Flight Instructors if they don't land a job soon after graduating. I had to do this and it is the dilema for many - hours or money.
Your chat with the pilots will no doubt cover this.

Any Q's just let me know.

[smith]

In answer to your original question, it depends on who's interviewing you. Amazingly that it is, there can be discrimination if you are overqualified. I have noticed in various walks of life.

If the person interviewing you is a graduate and holds a professional qualification, he may welcome you. If however the person interviewing you is not the above, they can sometimes see you as a threat or a touch of the green eyed monster may appear.

If however the person interviewing you's ex girlfriend was a CA you might be in with a shout.

[Re-Heat]

My humble opinion is that, if anything, accountancy maybe a handicap as you are unlikely to be viewed as the ideal profile of 'Stable extrovert'.
Pity - the reality is that it is full of stable extroverts. At least with it being viewed as such, it avoids the aviation problem of everyone wanting to do your job, therefore bidding down the salary!

[oby]

i think the whole CA to pilot route is a result of over recruiting 5 years ago and lots of CA's wanting to find alternative careers. Most of my CA friends have joined the GA community as we are very well paid, so we blow our spare cash flying for fun.

I am a CA and was Director of Corporate finance. Pre 2000 I know of over 30 people being hired for an intake that previously took 5.....now most of them are out of the profession or about to be out of it.

Personally, if you are still ticking and bashing then there hasn’t been much of a promotion.....after all, that’s what the Audit boys (and girls) do for 3 years before you're qualified and move away from the "senior" title to supervisor. So if you haven’t been promoted, then do you have the management skills to get the illustrious seat?

Having said all that, I'm now a CFO at 31 and like everyone else I dream of flying for a living.....who knows....maybe we'll all meet up in Florida next summer!