Over-qualified for Pilot Training?!
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Cranfield UK
Age: 70
Posts: 217
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Academic nonsense!
Do not advise starting a post inviting members to get naked with you.
Are you really so highly qualified that you think we are all going to stroke your ego and advise you how brilliant you are avoiding real work.
IMHO you should learn to spell forgret the PhD and if you want to fly then fly!
Sorry, but had to bite eventually, not a formal member of the Spelling Police!
Cheers
Btw my BSc(Hons), MBA were of nearly zero value re my ATPL studies.
I only fly small aircraft but do so happily for little financial reward - Perhaps you need to complete get an assertiveness and decision making course?
For some people academic study is an autotelic activity perhaps you are one of those persons?
Are you really so highly qualified that you think we are all going to stroke your ego and advise you how brilliant you are avoiding real work.
IMHO you should learn to spell forgret the PhD and if you want to fly then fly!
Sorry, but had to bite eventually, not a formal member of the Spelling Police!
Cheers
Btw my BSc(Hons), MBA were of nearly zero value re my ATPL studies.
I only fly small aircraft but do so happily for little financial reward - Perhaps you need to complete get an assertiveness and decision making course?
For some people academic study is an autotelic activity perhaps you are one of those persons?
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Manchester
Age: 40
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Keeley,
I wouldn't under estimate the number of hours per week you will spend completing your Ph. D. I worked longer hours during my Ph. D. than I do now in my current job. I would suggest to you that it would be almost impossible to complete your Ph. D. whilst at the same time gaining your fATPL through the modular route.
If I were you I would aim to complete your PPL and do some hour building. Remember that a Ph. D. offers you the flexibility to write up after one year and gain an M. Phil. If it really isn't for you and you feel like you should have started pilot training full time then the M. Phil. option is always available, no matter which year of your Ph. D. you are in.
You made a comment about earning the same as an engineering graduate. That is true to some degree, however, it is also important to remember that once you are in industry/full time employment you have career progression to think about. In four years time a grad' who started on the same as your Ph. D. wage will be making substantially more than you and may even be your boss by the time you have completed your Ph. D.
SkyCam you obviously don't know the first thing about what it takes to get a Ph. D. You are my hero, I am in awe of all of this "real work" you do.
I'm sorry too SkyCam, I had to bite eventually. You are evidently a non-member of the grammar police judging by your previous post!
I wouldn't under estimate the number of hours per week you will spend completing your Ph. D. I worked longer hours during my Ph. D. than I do now in my current job. I would suggest to you that it would be almost impossible to complete your Ph. D. whilst at the same time gaining your fATPL through the modular route.
If I were you I would aim to complete your PPL and do some hour building. Remember that a Ph. D. offers you the flexibility to write up after one year and gain an M. Phil. If it really isn't for you and you feel like you should have started pilot training full time then the M. Phil. option is always available, no matter which year of your Ph. D. you are in.
You made a comment about earning the same as an engineering graduate. That is true to some degree, however, it is also important to remember that once you are in industry/full time employment you have career progression to think about. In four years time a grad' who started on the same as your Ph. D. wage will be making substantially more than you and may even be your boss by the time you have completed your Ph. D.
Are you really so highly qualified that you think we are all going to stroke your ego and advise you how brilliant you are avoiding real work.
Sorry, but had to bite eventually, not a formal member of the Spelling Police!
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Kemble, Cotswolds, UK
Age: 40
Posts: 126
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I think your question is a valid one. I don't read your concerns that you're overqualified to fly aircraft but that you'll be too far down an unrelated career route to go back to scratch again.
I have had similar issues, being a qualified Physicist having made a half reasonable effort at progressing down a career in industry. Applying for the Fugley scheme it was very hard to convince the assessors I was willing to make the (apparent from their perspective) backwards step to the bottom rung of an industry with significantly worse T&Cs etc. Though I imagine I was probably rejected for subhuman aptitude!
I am not expert (and there are no guarentees) but I would question the assumption that there is no short term financial detrement to studying a PHd (with the possible exception of one of those fancy EngD schemes). I am currently following your alternative, working and training simultaniously.
I would not underestemate the amount of cost it takes to do your training with decent currency in this country. Weather is a big issue but cash flow was the bigger one for me (it takes a long time to save the cash for a PPL and hours building and you'll need a big reserve if you plan to keep it consolidated and thus minimise the airtime).
I am currently doing the ATPLs distance learning and my current financial plan leaves me short of using my own money to pay for the IR!
Having said that I am not 100% convinced that the route I am currently taking offers a reasonable chance of getting a job with a scheduled airline, from an employers point of view it is a package with quite a bit of risk. In which case a SE CPL may be perfectly reasonable place to start and the IR may come 2-3 years later before the ATPL ground exams expire if at all.
I have had similar issues, being a qualified Physicist having made a half reasonable effort at progressing down a career in industry. Applying for the Fugley scheme it was very hard to convince the assessors I was willing to make the (apparent from their perspective) backwards step to the bottom rung of an industry with significantly worse T&Cs etc. Though I imagine I was probably rejected for subhuman aptitude!
I am not expert (and there are no guarentees) but I would question the assumption that there is no short term financial detrement to studying a PHd (with the possible exception of one of those fancy EngD schemes). I am currently following your alternative, working and training simultaniously.
I would not underestemate the amount of cost it takes to do your training with decent currency in this country. Weather is a big issue but cash flow was the bigger one for me (it takes a long time to save the cash for a PPL and hours building and you'll need a big reserve if you plan to keep it consolidated and thus minimise the airtime).
I am currently doing the ATPLs distance learning and my current financial plan leaves me short of using my own money to pay for the IR!
Having said that I am not 100% convinced that the route I am currently taking offers a reasonable chance of getting a job with a scheduled airline, from an employers point of view it is a package with quite a bit of risk. In which case a SE CPL may be perfectly reasonable place to start and the IR may come 2-3 years later before the ATPL ground exams expire if at all.
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: bored
Posts: 532
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
If I were in your position, I would join the military and become a military pilot. There are many more opportunities to use your qualifications in military flying than in civilian flying.
I got a double-first from Cambridge in Aero-engineering, and a Masters from MIT, and now find myself (mostly) flying business jets, where my academic studies are completely wasted. I regret not having gone military flying when I had the chance.
I got a double-first from Cambridge in Aero-engineering, and a Masters from MIT, and now find myself (mostly) flying business jets, where my academic studies are completely wasted. I regret not having gone military flying when I had the chance.
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Vietnam
Age: 54
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
PhD
I'm doing my PPL now and I just came onto this airline forum out of general interest - I've got no interest in becoming a professional pilot. However I am an engineer and I do have a (research) masters degree.
I'd say, in general, PhDs are not a good idea. There are some specific circumstances where they are useful, like if you go into adademia or go into a research field in a large well funded corporation, but in general:
- They are a lot of work
- You do not get paid more at the end: infact you often get paid less
- You are seen as overqualifed or too bookish for most jobs
- You lose 3-4 years where you would otherwise be getting paid and getting more experienced in the general workforce
I'm 30-something and have a good career in engineering, still doing technical work. It pays well and it has taken me around the world. I can do a PPL without even thinking about the cost or having to save for it. I could even buy a not too used Mooney or something without breaking the bank. I don't have to work too hard (this is not in the UK obv, as engineering doesn't pay that well there). Most of my colleagues are in the same position as me, I'm not special or overly talented or anything.
I am 100% sure I would be getting paid less, have less freedom and be in a lower position now, if I had done a PhD instead of a masters.
If you do a PhD, think very carefully about what you are planning on doing for a career afterwards, esp as the flying may or may not work out. Consider if you really want to do a PhD or you would rather spend that time working in industry - neither option should make a difference to your flying one way or the other.
I'd say, in general, PhDs are not a good idea. There are some specific circumstances where they are useful, like if you go into adademia or go into a research field in a large well funded corporation, but in general:
- They are a lot of work
- You do not get paid more at the end: infact you often get paid less
- You are seen as overqualifed or too bookish for most jobs
- You lose 3-4 years where you would otherwise be getting paid and getting more experienced in the general workforce
I'm 30-something and have a good career in engineering, still doing technical work. It pays well and it has taken me around the world. I can do a PPL without even thinking about the cost or having to save for it. I could even buy a not too used Mooney or something without breaking the bank. I don't have to work too hard (this is not in the UK obv, as engineering doesn't pay that well there). Most of my colleagues are in the same position as me, I'm not special or overly talented or anything.
I am 100% sure I would be getting paid less, have less freedom and be in a lower position now, if I had done a PhD instead of a masters.
If you do a PhD, think very carefully about what you are planning on doing for a career afterwards, esp as the flying may or may not work out. Consider if you really want to do a PhD or you would rather spend that time working in industry - neither option should make a difference to your flying one way or the other.
