Jetheat
14th Feb 2001, 19:58
This is the single most important word to a budding pilot -
Hired!
I heard this word yesterday and I still haven't got the smile of my face. It's great, its made my year!
I guess its time for me to give my account of what I went through as I'm sure some wannabees wanna know.
For those of you who are interested, read on:
Before I start, let me just say that I didn't get hired because of my hours or my other qualifications. This should bring a smile to many low-timers.
Although I have 1554 hours, MCC, Perf A, a UK and US ATPL, non of these things counted when it came to interview selection.
So, those of you who dont have any of these, dont worry. In my case, the following was true:- It's all about speaking to the right person at the right time.
Some time ago, after speaking to a working pilot, I decided that flying was the way for me too. So I worked for 2 whole years including 12 hour shifts and saved up £14k. I was very motivated to start flying and so I saved £1000 every month.
After saving all that money (£14k = $24000), I went to Daytona Beach, Florida, and started flying (Sept 5th 95). I didn't have an hour to my name before that.
Since I wasn't doing anything else at the same time, I dedicated all my attention to flying. I became an instructor in 8 months and from there on, I started teaching.
Since I spoon fed all my students, I actually became very popular and eventually became one of the highest paid instructors in Daytona. This led to more students and I finished my FAA ATPL (1500 hours) by Aug 98. So from 0 time to 1500 hours, it took me a little under 3 years.
I believe this can only be accomplished in a place like the US since the flying WX is excellent. I also chose the US since it's virtually half the price of a UK licence.
Right from the beginning, I had the intention of returning to England with an FAA ATPL and then to convert it to a UK ATPL.
I know many UK pilots believe that a US licence is something of a Corn Flakes packet.
Obviously, US training is not as stringent as UK training but it does have its advantages (as well as its disadvantages). It's much cheaper and you can still go through UK training after you come back. I passed all my exams in the US first time round.
So, £14k lasted me up till I got my Instructors. This included all my living expenses. During the Instructor years, I earned enough to survive. Once I obtained the FAA ATPL licence, I returned to England to see how I would start financing my conversion to a UK ATPL.
Luckily, as soon as I returned, I found a non-flying job paying a **** load of money (£100-£200 a day), I was lucky in that respect, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to finance any of my conversion. It even allowed me to work part time so that I could continue with my ATPL ground studies.
So I started my ground studies at the London Guildhall university whilst maintaining myself thru this job.
After the Ground Studies, I had to pass a GFT, an IR and a C of T. I completed all that (Ground and Flying) within a space of 1 year and I ended up spending £12k on my total conversion.
Stand back and take a look: £14k in US and £12k in UK = £26 for a US ATPL, UK ATPL, MCC & Perf A. Not bad considering.
So I had all the qualification by Aug 98.
Here comes the hard part. THE WAITING!
I started applying left, right and centre.
I never changed my CV even though I didn't get a good response. (See it at www.jetheat.co.uk (http://www.jetheat.co.uk) ). I spent a lot of money on sending out CV's in special paper and envelopes. After a while, I realised that UK airlines don't really give a sh!t about any of that, so I started sending regular mail plus faxes and emails. Now I know, regular mail is the only way to do it.
I have been waiting for 20 months since passing obtaining my licence. Yesterday was THE day for me.
During the 20 months, I attended 3 interviews.
1) Aer Lingus
2) City Flyer
3) KLM uk
I was third time lucky.
I just happened to speak to the right person at the right time in all three cases to get that interview.
I am very grateful to KLM uk for giving me the job although I still don't have a start date. This is an opportunity of a lifetime and I wont let go.
Conclusion:
All those still waiting and waiting and still half way through their ground studies, dont worry. It may take some time but dont give up. I nearly did, but then I renewed my confidence and started applying again. I'm so happy I did.
Hired!
I heard this word yesterday and I still haven't got the smile of my face. It's great, its made my year!
I guess its time for me to give my account of what I went through as I'm sure some wannabees wanna know.
For those of you who are interested, read on:
Before I start, let me just say that I didn't get hired because of my hours or my other qualifications. This should bring a smile to many low-timers.
Although I have 1554 hours, MCC, Perf A, a UK and US ATPL, non of these things counted when it came to interview selection.
So, those of you who dont have any of these, dont worry. In my case, the following was true:- It's all about speaking to the right person at the right time.
Some time ago, after speaking to a working pilot, I decided that flying was the way for me too. So I worked for 2 whole years including 12 hour shifts and saved up £14k. I was very motivated to start flying and so I saved £1000 every month.
After saving all that money (£14k = $24000), I went to Daytona Beach, Florida, and started flying (Sept 5th 95). I didn't have an hour to my name before that.
Since I wasn't doing anything else at the same time, I dedicated all my attention to flying. I became an instructor in 8 months and from there on, I started teaching.
Since I spoon fed all my students, I actually became very popular and eventually became one of the highest paid instructors in Daytona. This led to more students and I finished my FAA ATPL (1500 hours) by Aug 98. So from 0 time to 1500 hours, it took me a little under 3 years.
I believe this can only be accomplished in a place like the US since the flying WX is excellent. I also chose the US since it's virtually half the price of a UK licence.
Right from the beginning, I had the intention of returning to England with an FAA ATPL and then to convert it to a UK ATPL.
I know many UK pilots believe that a US licence is something of a Corn Flakes packet.
Obviously, US training is not as stringent as UK training but it does have its advantages (as well as its disadvantages). It's much cheaper and you can still go through UK training after you come back. I passed all my exams in the US first time round.
So, £14k lasted me up till I got my Instructors. This included all my living expenses. During the Instructor years, I earned enough to survive. Once I obtained the FAA ATPL licence, I returned to England to see how I would start financing my conversion to a UK ATPL.
Luckily, as soon as I returned, I found a non-flying job paying a **** load of money (£100-£200 a day), I was lucky in that respect, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to finance any of my conversion. It even allowed me to work part time so that I could continue with my ATPL ground studies.
So I started my ground studies at the London Guildhall university whilst maintaining myself thru this job.
After the Ground Studies, I had to pass a GFT, an IR and a C of T. I completed all that (Ground and Flying) within a space of 1 year and I ended up spending £12k on my total conversion.
Stand back and take a look: £14k in US and £12k in UK = £26 for a US ATPL, UK ATPL, MCC & Perf A. Not bad considering.
So I had all the qualification by Aug 98.
Here comes the hard part. THE WAITING!
I started applying left, right and centre.
I never changed my CV even though I didn't get a good response. (See it at www.jetheat.co.uk (http://www.jetheat.co.uk) ). I spent a lot of money on sending out CV's in special paper and envelopes. After a while, I realised that UK airlines don't really give a sh!t about any of that, so I started sending regular mail plus faxes and emails. Now I know, regular mail is the only way to do it.
I have been waiting for 20 months since passing obtaining my licence. Yesterday was THE day for me.
During the 20 months, I attended 3 interviews.
1) Aer Lingus
2) City Flyer
3) KLM uk
I was third time lucky.
I just happened to speak to the right person at the right time in all three cases to get that interview.
I am very grateful to KLM uk for giving me the job although I still don't have a start date. This is an opportunity of a lifetime and I wont let go.
Conclusion:
All those still waiting and waiting and still half way through their ground studies, dont worry. It may take some time but dont give up. I nearly did, but then I renewed my confidence and started applying again. I'm so happy I did.