How, and how long, to get that first job?
 

Hi
Could people give me a general idea of how long it took them from end of IR or MCC to get there first reasonably paid work as a pilot wether they were instructing or RHS for airline/corporate or any other piloting they may have been doing??

Thanks;)

Hiya

Approaching four years of weekend instructing so far and still trying to land that first real job.

That said most on my course have now landed jobs.....Lucky sods......

good luck

ps i am a 32 yr old, modular,900 hrs, Would never turn down an offer. Had a few near misses though.. ( i guess 5 CV's per month )

About 7 months after modular route to (virtually) unpaid C172 work aerial work, and about 13 months to full time job on proper aeroplanes (actually I start on monday :) )

With these sort of questions, it's also worth asking people other details. Such as:

How hard did you try to get the job? (cv's/month)
Did you pay for a T/R out of your own pocket?
Did you pay for any line training?
Your age
Have you turned any job down?

Without the above bits of information anyone could form any old conclusion. Trouble is, all of the above Questions prompt up another debate!

got 1 interview a few days ago, in 4 years, maybe I have the job I dreamed of.I pushed my luck by knocking at the door without any appointment.(sending CV is useless)
got several unpaid or very bad aviation jobs in the past.

the problem is to live with a decent flying job, and this job, I did not find it yet, even after 10 years.

it is just a question of luck, but I do advise to anyone to do something else, and get a better life.
If I got the job, good for me, but for how long? and then ?

be a pilot= no money, no wife, no kid, no house, no car,debts, family problems,...

22 years old, Modular...currently approaching 10months of no flying job!
CVs sent = must be approaching 200, generally send about 20 a week to various places.

Looks like it will have to be the instructor rating for me

Finished all training in July last year (2005) with MCC. Modular. First time passes, minimum hrs. No sniff of a job, i.e. no interview. Considering FI rating.

11 Months after doing modular licence. RHS on A320/21. 20 yrs old. 250hrs.

Advice would be stop sending CV's and get out there yourself. Anyone can send a CV, you simply won't stand out on a piece of paper anymore. :ok:

Rgds

4 Months after finishing the MCC, Twin Otter, Just turned 24. Oh congrats to buzzc152 for getting that job on proper aeroplanes. What aircraft is it on?

Modular, 23, finished feb 05. Got paid parachute dropping job on BN Islander within 1 week, well paid air taxi job 8 months later. 12 months on and I'm starting with a turboprop regional airline in 2 weeks!

Put some thought into your applications and target companies you actually want to work for. Don't just mail merge the sme CV/letter! Also try to have a back up plan if you don't get your dream job straight away and make sure you apply to companies at all levels in the industry, from piston singles to big jets!

Al

Hi all

Finished IR Apr 03. Did various ground jobs dispatching etc. Got an FI rating, lots of fun!!! Just started line training on 737. Age 22 and didn't pay upfront for a type rating

all the best

those of you for whom it is/has taken a long time, did u have first time passes for all the atpl exams, cpl and ir?

Integrated with MCC, I found a RHS on a CRJ in 11 months.

Intergrated course. A bunch of CV's and a spot of luck got me 3 interviews within 2 months of finishing. Passed 2 of them and a subsiquent sim check to make it into both airlines hold pools. Then a further 8 months of swimming before getting a start date.

Finished intergrated in 2001, MCC done feb 2001, then usa for hour building got 550 hours plus.still NO JOB. Decided to go to uni hoping for things to be better when I finish my degree. Still have all licences up to date and send out 2 or 3 cv´s a week... had some interviews but no luck...:*

6 months RHS B737 from modular CPL/IR....

Modular, 37 (old git!!), finished IR early Sept '05. Started applying for jobs. MCC completed early October and got parachute dropping job on Islander late November, started training early December and just waiting for reasonable weather to get signed off.
Might not be the shiny jet job many expect but very happy that my first aviation job is on a twin and looking forward to a great summers flying.
Been lucky enough to hold on to my engineering job throughout, don't be too quick to throw away that reasonably paid employment, it really helps, not many people get that break straight away.
All the best for 2006.
Jim.
:D

There aren't too many replies to this thread yet, but a few things stand out to me and they echo my past experiences.

1. Integrated AND modular trained pilots get jobs.
2. Integrated AND modular trained pilots can spend a long time looking for that first break, or have a couple land in their lap within weeks of qualifying.
3. Not many breaks come along, whatever route you have taken to get your licence.
4. Some people nanchalantly brush off 'a couple of breaks' as 'no luck yet'. Let this be a lesson to ALL Wannabes; if you get a call for selection, DO NOT BLOW IT, it could be a very long time before you get another chance (if ever).
5. Paying for a type rating is not necessarily the answer and do so bearing in mind the great risk attached if not part of a scheme such as the CTC ATP where you get placed with an employer.
6. Sending out CVs alone is simply NOT ENOUGH. You MUST be pro-active if you want to get that break, as sure as hell someone else will be and no prizes for guessing which one gets the 'lucky break'...
7. If you don't get a job within a reasonable timescale after qualification (your decision as to how long to wait), YOU MUST do something else to make yourself more employable, be that para-dropping, FI, type rating scheme (note 'scheme' as I think paying on the open market is just too risky; but each to his own), or whatever else to get more hours. The worst position to be in 12 months later is to still have 200hrs, working back in your old non-flying job (to pay the bills) and not spending enough time either 'in' aviation or job seeking.

Age is undoubtedly a factor (although not insurmountable), luck comes into it too, but the overwhelming majority of pilots don't get that lucky to have a couple of offers within a month of qualification. Most have pushed and pushed and pushed potential employers, upped-sticks to wherever to fly ANYTHING to build experience and NEVER let up in their attempts to get on the next rung of the ladder.

I think the biggest thing to bear in mind, which I see again and again is DON'T SCREW UP A SELECTION if you have done the hard work and been called forward.

Oh, and just for the record, I first started flying in 1997, followed what would now be called the 'modular' route, qualified Jan 1999 and set myself a cut-off of 3 months to get a job. Didn't, so did an FI rating. Made a contact and grabbed an opportunity to do air taxi up in Scotland. Eighteen months later, and after 4.5 months of harranging the Boeing Fleet Manager, I was called for selection for jmc (now TCUK) to make up the numbers when CTC could only provide 9 from their hold pool when he wanted 10. Qualified on the 757 as an F/O, then 9/11 and a couple of jobs later ended up in Britannia as an F/O. Last year saw the chance of a command on the 737 fleet and that's where I am now. It does happen, just keep the faith and don't relent on the job search.....

Best of luck.

PP

Even older git (40yrs) modular. Did CPL/FI back to back then instructed part time. Got job offer almost 2 yrs to the date of initial IR. Thought I`d learnt something whilst being an Instructor.....nothing to what I have learnt in the last 3 mths in a Turbo-Prop!!

MCC to hold pool was 4 months. Still in the hold pool and currently an FI.

Remember, an airline job is until 60. An instructors license is for life!

:}