I need a academic degree ?!

[Benb52]

hey guys...... im new here, and like most of you i have this crazy dream to become a pilot... i want to go all the way to become an airline pilot and im on this point when you work your S out to earn all the money you need for flight school.... and meantime search for a good place to study!.... so first i will be happy if any one can recommand me a good flight school in melbourne... and what the significance of an academic degree in order to become a atpl at the big airlines

thank you for your help

[Wizofoz]

Ben,

I've been out of the Aussie scene for a little while, so others can probably be of more help. I'm pretty sure you'll get similar advice to what has been standard for a long time- a degree is really of very little use in pursuing a flying career in Australia.

HOWEVER- let me give you some honestly well meant advice- What WILL be an advantage is to develop the ability to communicate in clear, correct written English- something that is sadly lacking in your generation.

Capitalization, paragraphs, and syntax ("and what the significance of an academic degree in order to become a atpl at the big airlines" is a nonsensical statement in English. Even your thread title should read "AN Academic Degree"!)

I may sound like an old fogey to you, but it is members of my generation who will be processing your applications and conducting your interviews, and communication skills are vital if you wish to succeed.

[boocs]

Now now Wiz.....

Having a degree as opposed to no degree means that you could be better positioned when competing for similar positions in an airline. A degree of any type is almost a must in the USA, however as Wiz rightly pointed out Australia is unique.

At the end of the day it comes down to supply and demand. For me, I have no degree, however nearly all of the cadets I fly with have degrees ranging from Mechanical Engineering to Computer Science. For them, they were able to gain their current positions and no doubt had an advantage compared to other candidates who did not have such an education level or qualification.

These days some of my colleagues are even pursuing a 'Bachelor of Aviation'...and good luck to them!!

So supply and demand is the key, perhaps contact the airlines you want to work for and see what they say.

Good luck!!
b.

[mattyj]

A degree won't help ones ability to read, write, or spell..peace out!

[Lodown]

There aren't many fallback positions in aviation if the career plan doesn't work out for whatever reason. A degree provides you with a Plan B.

[pull-up-terrain]

A degree provides you with a Plan B

Just from my parents experience, they both went into aviation career paths that has nothing to do with the degree they did back at uni, and if they lose their job at Qantas they woldnt be able to gain employment in the field that their degree's relate to because there degrees are seen as out of date.

[Fred Gassit]

Agree about the expiry date on the academic qualification, 15 years since I did mine and it would be an absolute fraud for me to go practising it.

I can't provide the source but I have read numerous times that trades out earn professions anyway.

The majority of pilots I fly with (airline, not GA) don't have a degree.

Many do have a trade though and still use them part time.

[remoak]

but it is members of my generation who will be processing your applications and conducting your interviews

Doubt it, more likely some 24-year-old HR person who can barely read or write themselves... :eek:

[mattyj]

Remoak you're a genius ..how can we get the HR cancer out of aviation?!

[DeltaT]

You would have to go in as a qualified very expensive consultant and convince management that the female notion of putting candidates into a pigeon hole and what they feel, is fundamentally different from the notion of can the candidate do the ruddy job or not.

[Captain Dart]

I've got 17,000 hours and all I've ever needed is fifth form physics and the three times table.

[remoak]

Mattyj, I don't know but all I can tell you is that the airlines that I have been Chief Pilot in (admittedly small ones) have had only one interviewer - me. The main requirement was a satisfactory answer to two questions - 1) can the person fly, and 2) would I want to sit next to this person for 8 hours a day.

These are two questions that no HR person would ever think to ask.

I was never very interested in what a candidate could make out of a box of Lego, or how they would cross a river with three poles and some rope, or whether they could recite Handling The Big Jets. There's too much bullsh*t in aviation already. I have yet to see a pilot who could fly better because he had a degree.

Call me old-school... lol

[Wally Mk2]

'Darty' loved that one but so true:ok:
I never even made form 5 was the dumbest kid at school & I managed to bluff my way into a cockpit:-) It's all about bluff:ok:Flyin' the plane is the easy part any monkey can do that:-)
But having said all that I guess you need a degree these days just to please the now know-all boffins!


Wmk2

[peterc005]

A degree is a good long term investment.

It will show you have the ability to start a finish a major endeavorment, good literacy skills and good analytic skills.

Trick is to find a degree that interests and engages you. Studying at uni will probably be the most fun years of your life.