What chance of work for ex instructor?

[usedtofly]

Hi everyone,

I have not flown for 2 years. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice or thoughts on the matter please

I have ATPL, 2500 hrs, 1500 instructing and multi/IR instructor ticket

I have about 500 hrs on Chieftains although little experience teaching multi.

When I gave up instructing it was because jobs with any decent pay were as rare as hens teeth. Is there any work out there for someone like me?

By the way at 48 am I too old (as the airlines kept telling me!) ?

I know I could search the forum for this kind of info but I am in internet cafe in Spain at the moment and the Euro meter is ticking!

Many thanks

UTF

[boredpilot]

An interesting question - I was about to post a similar question.

My understanding is that there are vacancies for ME/IR instructors around - and as an ME/IR qualified instructor that is something that appeals.

However, after a couple of calls, and few CVs fired off, there doesn't seem to be any slack in the market at all.

Have I missed something?

[FlyingForFun]

First of all, what kind of job are you looking for? You left the industry because there were no jobs paying a reasonable wage - are you still looking to earn a proper living out of instructing? Or would you be willing to go back onto the kind of wage you used to earn?

If you are happy to start at the bottom again, then I doubt you'll find too much trouble. When I left my previous employer, they were having real trouble finding PPL instructors (although I believe they have filled their vacancies now).

On the other hand, if you don't want to go back to that kind of money, then you'll be looking for a multi/CPL/IR job. You are already qualified for this, but your lack of currency might be an issue? Can you afford to do a little bit of multi-engine flying to get your currency back?

As for the job market in this area, I've been lucky enough to land myself one such job, but the big issue is that there are so few employers that jobs come up very rarely. The way I got my job was by going through the CAA's list of approved schools, and sending my CV to every school which offered the kind of training I wanted to do. I was a little selective regarding the schools' reputations, locations, etc, but basicallly sent my CV to every one I would be happy working for. I had a few replies along the lines of "we don't need anyone right now, but there are very few people looking for this kind of job, so please re-send your CV each month in case the situation changes." Two companies interviewed me, neither of them had a job to offer me but both wanted to interview me in case a future job came up. Six months after they first interviewed me, and eight months after I first started looking, I was offered a job by my current employer.

On the other hand, during the time I was looking, there were a couple of companies (Oxford and FTE) which were actively advertising for new instructors. Unfortunately, I wasn't keen on working for either of these companies for one reason or another - but it shows that there are jobs out there if you're not fussy.

As for your age, I don't think that's anywhere near as much of a problem for CPL/IR schools as it is for the airlines, I wouldn't worry about it.

Good luck - hope that's some help,

FFF
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[usedtofly]

FFF

Thank you for your detailed reply. I have considered SE PPL instructing but to be honest the thought of hanging around a flying club all day in the hope of earning enough to pay the petrol to get there is quite depressing !!! Also after flying twins for my last year the idea of flying singles is also less appealing.

As for currency I would be happy to renew all my own tickets. In practice I would prefer to only work on six month contracts but I am not sure if potential employers would go for this.

The bottom line is that I don´t have to work, but it would be nice if possible. In an ideal world I would fly for six months then sail my yacht the other six (which is what I am doing right now).

Having worked my way up through the industry I do not want to become a hobby pilot. I realise that there are pilots out there who need the jobs and I have no wish to take work from them. If work is out there then I will do a fair days work for a fair days pay. I have invested a lot of time and money in my licensing and if the only work available is the old ten pound an hour twice a day stuff then I am not interested. I know this sounds aggresive but I have been there and done that (when I had no choice)

So there we are then, I am probably asking way too much! but you never know............

Cheers

UTF