Career killer?
 

Hello everybody,

I hope I'm in the right category for this kind of question...

I am currently a trained skydiving instructor and also on the brink of finishing my flight training (ATPL theory credit done, timebuilding done, SE-IR and CPL scheduled). The skydiving company I am currently working for would like to have me flying their Cessna Caravan for them (100-150h per year). I would also continue to work for them as a skydiving instructor. Operation is seasonal in summer only and there is no complementary cargo operation or anything comparable. The rating would be mainly self funded and in order to make the effort for getting me into operation (CRM, DG, supervision training) viable, I'd have to stay there for at least two seasons. The job does not pay enough to permanently live off it (it's somehow possible to not starve, but that's already it).

Taking into account that I am completely debt free (even after upcoming flight training - including ME-IR + MCC) - how bad would the damage for my career be if I'd take this job for the upcoming 2 years and delay my entry into 'real' operation? Seen from a completely independent stance, the answer is pretty clear, but if somehow acceptable (and that's where I'm looking for other opinions at the moment), I'd really like to give the skydiving job a try for a limited time - if the damage on my further flying career is within foreseeable limits.

For the sake of completeness - I already have a job offer for the upcoming winter on a bigger aircraft in commercial operation (PC12, company intern possibility to upgrade to bigger aircraft), that I would have to turn down in case of accepting the skydiving job. I am (currently) not planning to get into the airline sector at all.

Thanks for your input!

The skydiving people value you so much that they want you to pay for the training and then won't pay you enough to live on .... says it all really! It would probably be a lot of fun flying with your old friends but 2 years down the line you will be 2 years out of training with 300 hours SET but no IFR or multi time competing with people fresh out of the box who, for some reason I don't fully understand, employers seem to prefer.

Definitely go for the PC12. Nobody knows how long the market will be open for fresh pilots. Grab this opportunity now without delay, especially as your skydivers won't finance your training/rating.

Nice stepping stone to a baby Boeing or the Bus, credible and the experience will be invaluable longer term, really you shouldn't be hesitating on this one!

Indeed. AND he's gotta stay with them for two years, accumulating next to no hours, not being able to live. What's the draw again?

100% forget about the skydive gig.. You´ve invested in your aviation career now please don´t go waste it on a fun and play (please do that in you´re time off). Right now is a good time to enter the industry - and you could potentially regret for the rest of your life that you chose fun before income. Later on, and not necessarily decades, but years, away you can go back if you won´t to and feel like it - nobody know if your commercial aviation career will allow for the same. Best of luck.
Kmax.

Dump the para flying.
You are trying to get started and para flying by its nature is more open to an accident or incident and that will be no help on your
record when you are trying to get started.
The PC 12 job will give you much better experience and discipline.

The biggest "career killer" I know of is being "out of the game" for too long, and it's an exponential thing. "If you're in, you're in. If you're out you're increasingly out"