Do I take the job offer?

[kierandee]

Hi guys

I've just finished my A levels and I'm set a career as a pilot, which I thought would begin as soon as possible.

Up until last week I had planned to begin training for an integrated ATPL course by the end of 2007/early 2008. Then a job opportunity came along working for an aviation recruitment consultancy called Aeroprofessional which would require me to delay training for around a year.

Obviously the training is what I want to do, but do you think that the experience gained within the industry would benefit me more over the next year than getting straight into the training at the age of 19? I don't want to lose a year of flying if it won't be of much benefit.

I in fact already have a skills assessment booked at OAT for next month and I was planning on taking it from there depending on how I fared, but this could change all my plans.

Thanks for any advice you can give,

Kieran

[jd8]

Do your training. Have you looked at sponsorship schemes?
I wouldn't think it will help but others may have different ideas??

Good luck:ok:

[Flying Touareg]

which is more important: becoming a pilot or recruiting pilots?

i hope above helps:ok:

[Hookerbot 5000]

If you pass the skills assessment and the answer to the previous posters question is 'becoming a pilot' then go for it.

BTW have you looked @ FTE (http://www.flighttrainingeurope.com/)

;)

[coodem]

You are still young, and have loads of time, If I were you, I would take the job, you can still do ATPL's on the side. Just think of all the contacts you will get, the experience you will get

[Hufty]

Tough one - the job might give you some useful contacts, although just meeting people isn't really good enough you have to get to know then and be likeable enough for them to do you favours. It will give you some valuable "real life" experience with people in a professional context though and maybe make you better at managing your relationships with colleagues when you get your airline job. At 19, I needed that kind of experience.

On the other hand, the job market is still strong and if you delay by a year things might be very different when you finish training.

In summary, if you're a particulary mature 19 year old and you have no problems dealing with people then I wouldn't bother taking the job as it won't really teach you much, but if you think you need to develop stronger interpersonal skills (always a hard one to judge yourself!) then I would take it as it might get you off to a stronger start in the airlines..

Good luck though - I wish I was 19 again!

[potkettleblack]

Its a tough one alright. The job market has been strong as pointed out by a previous poster but I don't think it will remain so. In fact if you ignore the likes of RYR who are constantly recruiting then most other airlines have already recruited for the current year. In particular Aer Lingus and BMI have taken quite a few newbies but as far as I am aware have closed off recruitment. Then there is the odd merger impacting on some of the charters which puts their recruitment plans up in the air.

By the time you finish your training it will be 18 months or more away. Most of the major European carriers are noting a softening of loads when people should be jetting away on their holidays and interest rates continue to rise. The politicians are trying to take everyones eye off the ball by making an issue out of greenhouse gases and your carbon footprint whereas we should all be asking questions about the state of the economy and inflation levels. This all leads me to think that we are in for a wee correction which nearly always impacts on the aviation industry.

With the above in mind you might be better placed not being in the training mix as anecdotal evidence would suggest that most of the guys that are recruited out of the integrated schools tend to be in the right place at the right time when the recruiters come along not to mention having jumped through various hoops to get put forward in the first place.

So what to do? Well if there are few jobs going when you graduate then I guess being integrated has to help. Having said that you will need to be top of the pile and in the right place/school etc. Then again if you took the other job you would be earning money, be meeting the right sorts of people and of course would have an insight into where the jobs are. Not to mention the benefits that a career would give you in terms of maturity and being able to answer all those tough interview questions that really only can be given credence with a bit of the rich tapestry of lifes experiences.

Go for the tests at least because afterall that might make your decision easier. Also what about taking the GAPAN tests as well and getting an independent opinion on your skills and ability? Good luck on your decision.

[kierandee]

Thanks a lot guys, it seems that what ever I do will have pros and cons and I'll just have to make sure that whatever I choose, I do it with conviction.

I basically wanted to treat it like uni, i.e. when all the people around me leave for a degree, I move on to the training - thats why I booked the skills assessment for a month after my exams.

It's almost a case of if I pass the assessment or at least demonstrate elsewhere that I'm likely to make it as a pilot then the job doesn't matter. But then if I don't succeed, the job may bring the maturity and experience required to succeed at a later date.

Unfortunately I'd need to take the job before I know if I've got in or not...and what kind of an employee would that make me if I left after a month or two, when I knew that was a possibility all along.

The job market is what concerns me most - when I started speaking to FTOs 2 years ago they all said that jobs were on the up and would be for around 5 years...it seems that they're levelling out now and either way an ATPL becomes an even more expensive license when you don't have any job prospects. The problem is you could argue that it would be best to train as soon as possible and hit the market whilst it's still strong, or you could say that a job would give me an income, a fall back plan and perhaps make me a bit more world-wise.

Ultimately I want to train and I've been looking forward to it ever since i realised it was a possibility. I'm confident I would succeed academically, but obviously I don't know about aptitude and the Oxford assessment will be my first indicator. I'm just concerned that FTOs consider 19 to be too young for some people, yet just right for others - all depends on how you can demonstrate maturity. So do I miss out on a year of flying to develop a maturity that I feel is already there? Tough questions...

Anyway, sorry for being so long but thanks for all your help - it's all well and good asking teachers and parents but few of them have a clue what I'm talking about when I mention training to be a pilot.

Thanks!