Recruitment sure is hot right now.....but how long is it going to last?

I want to get in ASAP to get some hours up before any downturn!

Hi there.

Well you have to get out of your chairs in order to land yourself a job.

I did a Type rating on the B737 which turned out to be a bad idea, as there were no jobs for inexperienced 737 pilots, however this is most likely to change in the near future, i think.

When I couldn’t find myself a pilots job, I started working on the ground as a Ramp Agent with DHL, which was great fun, and a very educational experience. In addition to that I found myself a job as a phone salesman for a Ariel photography company during the winter months.

I also made an arrangement with my former flight school ,who is also operating light twins to a few small islands in Denmark, to fly along as a PNF.

And after I had flown a few times, I was offered a job in the administration and as pilot on demand. With the prospect of becoming a pilot on their island hobs.

However this never happened as I just have been offered a position on the B757.
And in addition to that, the Ariel company called me the other day offering me a job as pilot on a C172…

So it is possible, if you do something about it. Sending out tons of CV is not the right way to do it. I have been down that road as well…

Let me tell you about a few of my friends...
One guy flew as fire patrol in Norway, when he wasn't at work at SAS' check-in desks in Oslo. After he had gained approx 60-70 hours on the C172, he managed to get contact with a small Swedish company, and after he had called them several times talking about nothing in particular, he was invited for an interview. Now he is flying Navajo's and Chieftain, and will most likely be flying Metro as well…

Another friend of mine managed to get contact to a small airline company in the Far East; he is now flying as F/O on an A319. Everything was paid by the company.. He started out as Dispatcher in CPH and managed to find some very useful contacts.

And another friend of mine, started out cleaning etc a BE200 King Air, now he is flying it as a F/O... All the above examples has happened recently..

However it has been difficult to move from piston or even turbo-prob job, to a jet job during the past few years, but let’s hope that this will change too.

Good luck ;o) It is not impossible...

A320 Rider

I gotta job, on your namesake, cheers.

No bond, no TR costs, no nothin, moneys mine. Oh and the ATPL cost me under 6 grand.

See you down trip (actually hopefully not)

GO RONCHONNER!!!!!

GREAT TO SEE YOU BACK IN BUSINESS MY FRIEND. YOU MAKE AN OTHERWISE DRY FORUM MUCH MORE INTERESTING...

LOST

Completed my f-atpl last October and not a sniff of an interview so far. I'm trying to go down the work at the airport and meet contacts route, so we shall see what happens. It is frustrating, as many of the people from the same flight school as me have secured jobs etc I simply do not know what I have done wrong :ugh: However, got to keep going and stick at it, it will be worth it in the end :)

Good luck to all :ok:

JAS

:confused:

I not sure A320 deserves this much abuse for his post....

Not a sniff of a job either.....
Just got told once or twice my CV "looked interesting", but there were no vacancies at that time..... I suppose that at least, I got a reply....(which seems not to be the case usually)!
Very difficult to keep the faith!
FNav ;)

goal
 

if you don't acheive your goal , you don't want it bad enough

yes the aviation industry is not a walk in the park- its rewarding not easy

luckily the recruiters don't take people like A320 rider

That feeling won't last long with that lot: enjoy it!

Started to fly light twins first ( duchess then chieftain ), built up my hours to 1500+ hours ( 800 in the multi ) then went back to instructing then turbine job while finishing my ATPL.
My office now is the right seat of the 734. Going to NG in the next few months. However, I might stay with the 734 if I make captain soon.

Cheers

D6

- frozen ATPL 240 hours
- finished modular in 12/2004
- 800 applications around the world...
- Type rating B 737 in february 2006
Got a job a month ago, in europe thank to my TRTO (the FSB) which more or less placed me.

It is so hard to get this first job... really so hard, even with a Masters degree and fluency in 3 european languages... Good luck to all of you.

350 hours, f-atpl, mcc..got hired as f/o on the L-410 turbolet.
Never had to pay for type rating, uniform or absinth for the chief pilot.
:ok:

Hi I've never posted before, but felt the need on this one.

I went the instructing route, and it worked !
So the way i see it.......
The more hours and/or experience uget the better. As when people first qualify, no matter where you trained, we all get handed the same piece of paper!

The only difference after that initial issue is what else else you can bring to the party. I've known peolple work in ops, as dispatchers, baggage handling, you name it. But they all have one thing in common, they stayed close to the industry they invested in, made friends(Some enemies!!lol) and contacts. All the time building experience of the industry, be it flying/instructing or just knowing how it all slots together.

I agree this is not viable for everyone, but it does work.

For some it will take longer than for others, but i do really believe that there is something out there for everyone.

I wish you all well, and believe it or not it gets easier, i didn't even have to apply for my last job.

Jester

well, where do i begin? just joined, so reading through some of the replies in these rooms and it seems i'm entering into a career path that doesnt sound that promising. ive been flying since i was 14 so hope i started early enough but am desperate to fly for BA, am i aiming to high lol?!?:confused:

BA
 

My ATPL course finished about a month ago with about 20 guys on it. So far 4 people have passed BA sim checks and are waiting to start a JOC course with them, One guy is just about to go down for a BA sim check and one guy has just passed an interview with Loganair and has been offered a job. So that's 5 (potentially 6) guys out of 20 who have jobs within a month of finishing a course.

I'm not saying it's easy, or everyone gets a job straight away. But if you work hard, you should be able to achieve what you want. From my (limited) experience so far, it seems that the people that do well in this industry tend to be easy to get on with, take their job seriously and most of all, don’t spend all their time complaining about what they feel are the hundreds of injustices that have prevented them from reaching their goal.

Too high? Desperate to fly for BA? Have you done any research...?

DA DEP Selection - the lowdown

BA Shorthaul Lifestyle

BA Pilots 'Prepared to Strike'

Pilot Shortage At BA?

There's lots more...

Scroggs

some of you have found a job.good for you.recruitment will not last forever...2 months, 6 months?

but how many are still looking? thousand!
this market train thousand pilots every year (5000-10000 pilot for europe) for ONLY 500 open positions in europe.

so 5 on 100 pilots will find a job when 95 pilots will struggle.


keep dreaming, when banks will take your house, you will wake up!:{

What really worries me is the general tone of this post

Ok it was started by someone who enjoys storring things up. But the replies all kinda seem to have taken the same tone.

You all need to remember that with a commercial licence you are entitled to be paid for your flying.

Last time i looked, Glider towing, Aerial photography, Para dropping and Instructing are all commercial jobs.
Just because some people might be getting jobs now, dont count on the fact that it will be this way for any length of time.

....Fly commercially - the hours all add up and its what your licence allows you to do. Dont try and jump the queue by paying for a type rating :E

Securing that first job
 

Hi can anyone tell me please whether its true that some qualified pilots have never secured their first airline job ever because if that is true this is deeply worrying after all the hard work and money invested into training and your life long ambition has not been met, and what is the average time that you secure your first job with an airline, thanks.

Yes, it is true. The proportion of wannabes failing to find a professional flying job is smaller than it was, but is still significant. Probably in the order of 10 - 20% of those that complete an fATPL will never fly an aeroplane as a professional pilot.

That's considerably better than it used to be...

Scroggs