Should I continue to pursue a Career as an Airline Pilot? I don’t know what i’m doing

[owenc]

Become an Airline Pilot is a lifelong aspiration. Aside from my father having a private plane, I don’t have anyone in the industry nor do I know anyone in the industry.

I have just graduated from University with a degree in Meteorology.

I have applied for an Airline Cadet Programme and been rejected recently. I did not get as far as the Assessment Centre. The application process involved Aptitude Tests, a Video Interview and a Personality Test. This is the first time that I applied for a Pilot Position or a Cadet Programme. I did not know what I was doing. (I scored reasonably in the test bar one.)

Now, whilst this is my dream career I don’t know if it is suited to me. I don’t have a Bubbly Personality, I am an ISTJ on MBTI so i’m fairly introverted. I can’t be that bubbly, loud person at the Assessment Centre. (I was recently rejected from another Assessment Centre because I was not loud/talking enough).

I don’t come from a wealthy or Middle Class family. I am Lower Middle Class, my parents cannot fund the £100,000 for the training.

Looking at previous years Cadets I have read that some are the children of Pilots that work for the company, so that puts me at a disadvantage immediately. I have seen some Pilot YouTubers also state that they have Parents in their respective company’s or know someone in the airline. So these sorts of people will have a kickstart ahead of the rest of us.

So, I am really in the dark with this. I want to pursue a career in the field but I don’t know what i’m doing, where to go or who to talk to about this.

I’m not sure how to proceed on from this rejection as there aren’t many Cadet Programmes left. What am I supposed to do now.

I know that some of the Cadet Programmes request no Private Lessons so i’m not sure whether to pursue a PPL at this stage?

Note: please move this to the appropriate location if this is not the correct area of the site to post to.

[GusHoneybun]

I can't offer you any advice about how to get accepted on cadet programs, but I would strongly recommend obtaining your Class 1 medical. Without this, all your angst is inconsequential.

Good luck and everyone who makes it, never gives up.

[Chris the Robot]

Sounds like you're in a not hugely dissimilar situation myself with the personality type and the funding. I'm currently working towards my PPL whilst enjoying a career outside of aviation, so I might be able to offer a few thoughts.

Given you're in NI, I don't know what the situation is with student debt and the like, though my advice would be to get a career in something outside of flying which you'll enjoy, succeed in and which will enable you to save up for flying. The railway, merchant navy and possibly ATC I'd say are all good shouts, given you're from a meteorology background, the Met Office might be an ideal place too. Shift work will give you useful life experience for any application, safety-critical experience will show you can be trusted, overtime opportunities (if you choose to use them) will enable you to save more money. Also think about the cost difference of living at home and living away from home. Living at home, if you don't pay full-rent, is effectively a £1000/month tax-free benefit you're getting.

Personally, I'd say railway signalling is a good one to go for, you'll be working on your own but you'll need to communicate effectively, you'll be working safety-critical shifts and there is opportunities for overtime. They pay you about 85% of your full wage whilst you are training, so you'll make money quickly should you want to go flying. The only things I'd be mindful of is the notice period, some careers, especially in transportation will want you to give at least three months and the fact that there are aptitude tests. If you want to go train driving, you cannot fail these more than once, if you do you're pretty much permanently barred from applying for a driving role again.

You can apply for the cadet opportunity again if it comes up, there's also the Bristow one. Cadet opportunities can come up when you least expect them, who would have guessed in 2010 that BA would open up the FPP the following year? Depending how Brexit goes, it may offer an opportunity or two since there's a lot of EU applicants for British cadet programmes and less so in the opposite direction it seems and some airlines have had to reduce entry qualifications/create lots of publicity to try and get more people to apply. If that supply runs out, they could be a bit short of quality people IMHO.

I was knocked back for a cadet scheme but offered a career on the railway which has allowed me to save a lot. I'm currently doing my PPL which serves a variety of purposes. On one hand, it's a hobby, on another it's an aptitude test of sorts to see if I could see myself going through further training. Whether I go down the modular route or hold out for more cadet schemes will depend on the market, the trend regarding cadet programmes and of course the workload. I mention the workload since the only thing I'd swap my current career for is flying, there's not many part-time opportunities available and I'd be utterly bonkers to give it up without something else to go to (lack of recency would become a problem for any gap of over a year).

I can't speak about airline-specific nepotism, however I have noticed a pattern of offspring following their parents into aviation. I've also heard parents so they'd try and talk their children out of a career as a pilot.

Lastly, as the above poster has said, get yourself a Class 1 at some point.

[richardthethird]

Don't worry about the youtubers... They are full of ****e. Only interested in self promotion and generally hopeless at their job. Unbearable company, too. But then Daddy has to get a return for his money, so I guess little Billy's instagram feed is something for him to show to his colleagues... Yawn.

It can be done without spending massive money, but I'd suggest getting a job, making some money, and then taking your time to learn to fly. There is no reason to rush. A friend of mine just made the jump to his first flying job in his mid thirties, and has no debt. He saved and paid as he went... You will soon realise that it is a pointless job anyway, the learning dries up, the challenges become less challenging, and then you look forward to retirement. Enjoy the learning, stress less, and take your time. You will be sick of flying by the time you retire...

[rudestuff]

How old are you? Cadet schemes are only one way into the industry, and the odds of being accepted are so slim that you should plan a modular path. Apply obviously, but don't hang your hopes on them.

Going modular will cost you £40k. If it were me I'd check my credit score and find out what I can realistically borrow. Then I'd live at home, work two or three jobs and never go out until I'd saved the rest. You could quite realistically be qualified in 3 years.

[parkfell]

Full time work. Save. modular route. Avoid bank loans etc

[Banana Joe]

These psychometric tests are just a bunch of stupid battery tests created by HR people that know nothing about flying.
I was the only one to fail it out of 16 guys at my flight school for a job at a partner airline. I ended up getting a better job with much better T's and C's and bigger aircraft than my friends.

And modular is the way to go

And that personality ting... Last time I checked I was INFJ or some crap like that. That's what this stuff is, pure crap. Assessors that are also airline pilots know what to look for. And they can spot if you're a ****head to work with in the cockpit.

Don't let these psychometric stop you.

[owenc]

Are you sure it was a Psychometric test that failed me and not the exam questions?

[Banana Joe]

When I say psychometric tests, I also mean aptitute tests. You can prepare for those. It's just an obstacle, a consequence stemming from HR presence in airline selections.

[B2N2]

I’m one of the many examples of how things can turn out despite initial setbacks and hardship.
I have no university degree and failed assessments for both a major airline academy and the military.
Financial situation didn’t allow for any of the other then
available big name training providers.
Yet 25 years and a long arduous journey later I sit right seat on one of the largest aircraft Boeing ever built flying the world.
Alledgedly an ENTP-T..........:}

So here’s my recommendation:
- get a First Class medical to make sure you have no hidden disqualifying issues.
- find a job that allows you to save 10-15,000 Pounds or US$ or Euro’s a year.
- look into training in Canada and the USA
- do one training segment a year: PPL/Instrument rating/Commercial/EASA conversions
- You will be debt free looking for a flying job 4-5 years from now.
- be prepared to accept a job anywhere in the world and accept the fact you may never have a career in Europe
- Never ever....NEVER loose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel.

Learn to embrace the suck

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OJn_p9bJYXA