Jacks of all Trades

[PILGRIM PETE]

I'm currently living in NZ and balancing a full time job with a CPL (H).
Obviously most of us who switch careers do so in the hope that we will wake up and want to go to work on Monday morning, or even Saturday morning and enjoy it, so leaving the old career behind is generally the aim. I'm just curious if anyone who made the leap managed to incorporate their old job into a flying career and became more employable as a result?
Mustering is an obvious one, any others?

[pa42]

Yes, lots and lots of folks get their jollies from the cross-stimulation of two separate occupations.

For me, it eventually funded my personal R22 in retirement--having used the two specialties for years to get significant earnings, significant savings. Early on, single-piloting a light twin f/w for small corporation, I self-trained myself, while being paid by the company, to run the corporate accounting computer in between flying them 4 flights a week. After six months I was getting more revenue time from the computer data processing end than from the airplane!! $$$$

Subsequently it turned out (1980's) that every time a company got rid of their airplane, some other company would hear there was a data processing manager/corporate pilot available, and my phone would ring. Never out of work for more than a few days (sufficient for a vacation in Hawaii).

And my helicopter rating was a hiring incentive paid for by one of the companies in order to get me to sign with them. Didn't cost me a cent.

Too much fun! But eventually, flying helis and upgrading to corporate jets, there wasn't enough time to keep up with computer developments. So I'm now obsolete & unemployable in data processing, which makes me just another pilot.

Luck of the draw. Like surfing--sometimes you catch the big one, more often only hear about it from your mates.

[PILGRIM PETE]

Ah Ha,
So all I need is to do is train up in the next new piece of ‘must have’ business technology, pop it on the CV and sell myself as ‘multi skilled’…something to think about at least.
My current line of work is Civil Engineering, not a whole lot of use in the cockpit (surveying experience might come in handy).