FI job

[Kapitankomar]

Hi, do you know which FTO is looking for FI? I have 900TT and about 150 as FI.

[Dan the weegie]

don't bother spamming your CV by email, it will get ignored or binned or read and forgotten. Phone round or even better turn up (don't fly though :) the owners will tell you anything if you're planning on spending money.

It will probably take a while but eventually you'll be in the right place when someone needs an FI.

[RTN11]

I took a road trip and visited 5 FTOs. I now have my dream job, it was well worth £200 in petrol. Get up and get out there, they're not going to knock on your door.

[fa2fi]

I'm hoping to have my FI in a few weeks and I will soon be looking for work. I'm prepared to go on a bit of a road trip looking for a job in the North of England/South of Scotland, or Belfast/Bristol too. Im just wondering how do flight school staff take to people who turn up asking for work.

I know in other jobs if I turned up asking for work I'd be told where to go! Is it a matter of turning up and saying "here's my CV, I'm looking for work, please consider me next time you're recruiting" or should you make an appointment?

[Dan the weegie]

Not sure it's any use to you but I know of two schools in Scotland that have been runnning short on FIs. There's not many so I suggest you give them all a quick phone :D

[mrmum]

I'd also recommend getting yourself out and about and visit the flying schools in the areas you'd ideally like to work. If I happen to have a couple of recent emailed CV's when looking for a FI, then I'll probably get in touch. However, I'd be more inclined to consider someone I'd met, assuming I liked them ;). If you're looking to work in a club environment, it's as much (or more) about personalities, as qualifications and experience. The smaller the establishment, the more it matters in my opinion. With one exception (which didn't end well at all:*), we've always had instructors who have learned/flown with us previously or come with a recommendation from someone. Personally, I'd be happy enough to have someone call in unannounced looking for a job, but if you want to make sure the right person is available, then why not pick up the phone first.

Did you do your PPL or any flying in the areas you mention? If so then some organisations will know you already, so try them first. Also I think people tend to have preferred FIC providers, some have much better reputations than others. You may find as well that your FIC instructor will have a network of local contacts and might be able to help with finding you a job.

[RTN11]

You can get a list of every flying school, club and FTO in the country from the CAA website. I started there by phoning ahead to make appointments where there was a chance of a vacancy. Don't just accept the first person to pick up the phone, it may well be the helpful ops girl, or it could be an instructor who will just say there's no jobs. Ask to speak to someone about any vancancies, say you'll be in the area on a certain day and would like to make an appointment to come in for a chat. I got offered 4 jobs doing this, and took the one I was happiest with.