Qf cadetship application tips

[jimbo787]

G'day all,

I know the applications for the 08 qf cadetship hasn't opened but if it goes ahead it should be opening in June which is not too far away. I am really keen to give it a go and would love to get some advice on how to make my application more better. I understand that not all who pass the minimum requirements get invited for a skills and psych test so I'm just wondering what things are considered when they make that decision, does things like why you want to be a pilot? other interests, etc. play a big part in it? Also unfortunately, my physics results aren't too good for the year 12 half yearlies (around 60%), would this affect my application?

Any other advice on the application for the cadetship would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time.

[brown_hornet]

G'day jimbo, i'll assume you tried the search function and didn't find the answers you were looking for (if not, give it a go, there is heaps of info about the cadetship on pprune and not too long ago either).
Mate, i'll try and keep it short and to the point. Marks aren't everything so I wouldn't worry about your mid year results. QF go over your application with a fine tooth comb and take everything into consideration when determining your competitiveness and thus whether to give you a crack at stage 2. QF are looking for people who clearly want to be airline pilots not those going through a one week wonder phase and as such are looking for examples where you have shown that you can work both in teams and as a leader and probably most importantly evidence of your interest in aviation. At the end of the day try to fill out as much of the application form as possible without any wan* factor and the rest is up to Qantas. If you want any other info feel free to PM me.
All the best
BH:)

[pilotdude09]

Would you still be in for a chance without doing physics?

I dont pretty well doing general studies at school with higest achievement (dux of general studies) in year 12 last year.

I even got into uni without doing teritary entrance subjects, should i do that then go be a pilot or try my hardest in GA or try the QF cadetship?

I have no idea which is the best way to go lol :ugh:

[podbreak]

Pilotdude, Physics is a minimum requirement, a pre-requisit if you will. Your best option if you want to do the cadetship is to enrole in a TAFE night course, get the actual complete year 12 certificate. Bridging courses are not acceptable. You may also consider the fact that they accept certain tertiary equivalents.

In terms of going the GA way or not, well, it depends on what you ultimately want. If its airline flying, multicrew stuff, consider looking into this new MPL bizzo. If you want to explore differnt facets of flying, GA is certainly an experience.

As for UNI, if its not what you really want to do, or doesn't help get you there, whats the point? Why waste more time than you have to?

[pilotdude09]

Can i ask what MPL is?

Yeah i dont want to go to uni, but i want to keep my options open just incase. I know one of the Flight Schools in Perth that offers a diploma in aviation offers maths and physics courses so i can alway do that if required. I did complete year 12 with my cert of education.

[podbreak]

The MPL (or MCPL depending on whos talking) is the Multicrew Pilot Licence. Short of arguing the pros and cons on this thread; it proposes a different path towards airline flying, eliminating a bulk of single pilot real flying in exchange for multicrew simulator jet flying. The course is slightly cheaper than the stock CPL+IFR course, but leaves you with fewer options in the way of employment. In the current climate it would be wise to research it further. As far as I'm aware its in the trial stage, with the first batch due to complete the course very shortly.

[Icarus53]

While the pros/cons of MPL have been debated ad nauseum elsewhere, I cannot see any reason why one should consider it as an option for them when starting out in their flight training.

The MPL may or may not be acceptable for an airline applicant in the future, but without a cadetship type program to get you a job once you finish, it's pretty much a waste of time and money. To the best of my knowledge no operator in Australia is hiring MPL holders, leaving you unable to get work until you complete a CPL.

No idea as to whether QF or any of the other airlines that have a cadet program are going to use MPL as their training syllabus, but that's the only way you are going to be able to use the thing - with a job offer at the end of the course. If you're starting out for yourself, CPL is the only way you're going to be able to look for work once you're licensed.

jimbo787 - is that my old mate popping up for another go???:}

[brown_hornet]

jimbo787 - is that my old mate popping up for another go???:}

No I think we're safe, I hear he's been flying his tail off and no time for pprune these days...........probably a good thing:}

[podbreak]

Icarus makes a good point. As I said before, it is worth looking into. Research elsewhere, Pprune is often a highly subjective place. It might also be worthwhile staying away from prune for a while, for those starting out in the industry it paints a pretty ugly picture, often one far removed from reality.

[neville_nobody]

It might also be worthwhile staying away from prune for a while, for those starting out in the industry it paints a pretty ugly picture, often one far removed from reality.

Some things are total rubbish however if you've done the whole GA scene you would appreciate that alot of it is 100% spot on.

Read the thread on Chartair's C210 ops, I can assure you all of that really happened!!

As for the Cadetship, given the whole shifting sands of QF at the moment you'd really want to be sure of where you'd end up. Once upon a time QF cadets were sent to QF. These days you could spend all your coin, (some $100 000 worth) for 1 year on a metro then be sent to Jetstar as a 2nd officer on $55 000 after spending a $30 000 - $40000 endorsement additional to your 100G outlay.

Not real good numbers in anyones language.

[pilotdude09]

Thanks guys, the MPL thing sounds very interesing, would european carriers accept this sort of thing? I know they have extremely young guys with pretty low hours flying shiny jets :)

The good thing for me is that i can go and get a job as a security guard on $69.00 an hour, thanks to knowing the boss to be. Which is pretty bloody good for an 18 year old. But then it will be finding the time to get hours. Will wait and see what happens in the next couple of months. Id prob do 2 jobs to save up as much as i can so late on if i need it i can have some money for an endorsement etc. Looks like thats the way all the airlines are headed which is a great shame.

[podbreak]

The MPL is an ICAO invention, so it is more than likely that it'll be in more mature stages in countries suffering a pilot shortage. I'm not sure about Europe, but there are a handful of asian countries who have the system approved. I'm also told that QF have been looking very closely at what Alteon will offer in the course development. As it has been said before, consider the fact it would be quite limiting.

In terms of the QF cadetship, again take what you get told on prune with a grain of salt. The GA stuff as neville said is often spot on, but I've seen people commentate the cadetship who have little or nothing to do with it. Your best bet is to contact someone who is a cadet. Numbers and ideas seem to be thrown around here willy nilly (Not one single cadet has been sent to J* as a cruise FO, infact none have been sent to J* after their industry placement). When considering your future it'd be prudent to look elsewhere for facts and figures.

All in all, you're entering the industry at a positively dynamic time, it looks as though it will soon be a 'pilot's market'.:ok:

[rmcdonal]

If you want to head over to EU then you will need a EU Passport. There are a whole heap of un-employed pilots over there (mind you they tend to get their first Jet gig with around 300hrs), and the license conversion is a bit of a hassle.
Don't be fooled into believing that you are going to walk straight into a job after completing your training. The GA side of things is a heap better then it was, but it's still no picnic.

[blow.n.gasket]

Make sure you have a bank overdraft of at least $150k 'cos you are going to need every cent of it before you finally get into Qantas only to realise that you will probably be on an AWA by the time you get in and will be paid jack and you will take a very,very ,very long time to pay off your debt! :uhoh:

[Bazzamundi]

There are cadets in Singapore as Jetstar Asia F/O's. So far not many of the industry placement cadets have started in QF, most are doing more time than they originally thought and planned with other operators.

As to where they go when offered employment, there is no guarantee now as the times are a changing big time in Qantas.

There is also lots of talk about a different pay scale for new S/O's who join later this year. Whether it turns out to be fact or fiction will be known in the next few months. Suffice to say management are keen to have people pay for their endorsements now, just like the other operators in Australia. I hope this is not the case, but time will tell.

[aircabbie]

A question for those of you in the know , whats the approx average of an intake which gets pre course employment?

Curious .

[metro752]

How far will a U.S. high school diploma and junior college associates degree take someone in Australia?

[blow.n.gasket]

MacDonalds :}

[npasque]

i have a friend who went through the first 2 rounds and was booted. he is quite smart too.

make sure your application sounds good, smart for that matter.
for the aptitude testing, etc, undertake a few courses to prepare yourself for those. word is they are extremely intense. i am not sure what is beyond this, however i do know one guy on the interview panel. he is a CASA ATO and is a pretty serious guy. make sure you know what you are talking about. (you might be able to guess, i scored him for CPL and IR flight tests!!!) :ugh:

good luck