About to start final year of uni, next step?

[EZY_FR]

Hi all,
Sorry in advance forthe long post. As the title states, I am due to start my final year of my aeronautical engineering degree in September. I know this degree counts for nothing towards being a pilot from what I have read on these forums but there are a few things about the degree which can be related to being a pilot albeit minor. I haven't really enjoyed this degree as much as I had expected but I can see it being very useful for a lot of areas of work outside engineering.

I am hoping to apply for one of the Airlines Integrated Schemes i.e. BA FPP, Flybe MPL etc in the not too distant future. Luckily I have finances on my side however I know finances alone isn't enough to become a pilot.


I have partaken in a few extracurricular activities during my time at School and University e.g. Student representative for aero class in third year and was part of a few committees during my time at school. I dont feel this is enough so I am planning to do more extracurricular activities during my final year to increase my chances and give me more to talk about during my interview, if I get that far.

In terms of work experience I haven't had much in the way of work experience apart from the week long school placement at Glasgow Airport operations. I quite enjoyed this so I may consider getting some work experience there once I finish Uni.

Am i on the right tracks? What do you think should be my next step? Any advice would be well appreciated.

[Poose]

The cross over between Aerospace Engineering and some of the ATPL subjects is immense. If you have that degree a lot of the subjects in the ATPLs will be identical to some of your degree modules. A lot of my friends did Aerospace, I was Mechanical.

Apply for BA Future Pilot.

If you don't get that, get a good aerospace engineering job and fund your training via modular. :ok:

[EZY_FR]

Thanks for the advice Poose, anymore advice from anyone else on this forum?

[FliegerTiger]

I concur. Only go for a mentored / part-sponsored scheme where at the end there is a FULL-TIME job on offer.

The whole CTC and Oxford "Flexi-Crew" debacle is ruining my airline.

Sad but true.

[EZY_FR]

Thanks for all the advice guys. It is absolute madness in this current day and age to even think about going along the integrated route and these posts just back this up. I will apply for the mentored courses and if I dont get in first time, I will do more in the way of extracirricular activities, volunteering etc to make myself stand out more.

On the subject of activities, which ones would you say help stand out?

[FliegerTiger]

Any team sports, in fact anything that shows you can be a part of a team, a leader, and deal with people.

[a320renewal]

flight schools need your money, the best way for you is to join the line of desperate unemployed pilot.

for this ask money from parents, or banks, get your license(modular or integrated OK!), buy type rating and 500h on jet, then apply for unemployment compensation in your town.

Like this, passengers can still fly for 60 euro instead of 300-400 euro.

[giggitygiggity]

From City Flyer...
Don't waste your cash on an integrated course that is NOT mentored or a pre-selected airline course.I think this is probably a little harsh. You have been lucky enough to have made it on to the BA FPP. This was not available when I began my training although I still feel that I will be in a good position after completion of an non-tagged integrated course. Of course, had the scheme been around before I started training, I would have applied, and of course (perhaps exclusively) the BA FPP should be the first port of call when looking at training to be a pilot because arguably it is a good scheme.

You say My advice is all is to only ever do a tagged / mentored course in this uncertain economy. But is this really that good advice? MPLs rely on the stability of an airline, if you choose to do an integrated MPL scheme and your sponsor airline goes bust, you are out in the dog house. Nobody else will take you on and thus, your options are very limited. In this case, may an integrated CPL/ME/IR from one of the 3 really be a more sensible option? Even with the (British) economy not looking as ambitious as is it did 3 months ago, things seem to be picking up for those who have gone down the modular route, we can all hope the current lull is only a short term one.

[redsnail]

On the subject of activities, which ones would you say help stand out?
Do what interests you. If you're interested in it and enjoy it, then when asked about it at an interview, you'll be able to speak clearly about it.

Don't just prepare for the interview, prepare for the rest of your life. Flying isn't the be all and end all, you do need to have other interests other wise you'll be a bit one dimensional and really boring to talk to in the cruise.

On long sectors, the first half of the tour is spent chatting about holidays or what you did on your days off, the second half of the tour is spent talking about your plans for your days off. :E

[EZY_FR]

I have no interest in going down that route anyway (FR route) I just to make myself stand out as much as possible whenever the next Mentored scheme comes out. I am planning to do some volunteering for a year(maybe more) and get more involved in Uni extra cirricular activities. I'm also planning to get into the airport operations once I graduate anyway as I enjoyed my "work experience" placement (it was more of a school placement) there.Am I going in the right direction?

[cd7007]

Great idea to focus on the airline / airport operations side of things if you ask me.

The sponsored (mentored) schemes will like it if you can talk about experiences in the industry (e.g. work experience at an airport, or even in an airline - even if its back office) - much more interesting that say, being a hockey captain, it'll give you a lot more to talk about in an interview.
For the 0 hour cadet schemes, some people could be walking in knowing nothing about the industry - the more experience you have, and the more you have to talk about the better.

Having said all that, while you're at Uni, obviously I'd get involved as much as possible with what you can, it all helps!