Why I knocked back Cathay

[Neptunus Rex]

Could it be that Swire is just milking Cathay for all they can before selling it to the Mainland?

[HKiwi]

Anothernewbie,

Why did you even apply? I mean I assume that given your diligence and eagerness to become a cadet with Cathay that you spoke to your friends who worked here before applying, if for no other reason than to get some information on the interview process. If everything they told you about the company and the job was so negative that you came to the conclusion that this was a dead-end career decision then why did you bother applying for the cadet program at all, let alone committing to the entire application and interview process? It does seem a little shortsighted to put in all that time and effort only to burn your bridges at the end of it all.

HKK

[PCLCREW]

This not just how CX is... its the whole airline industry... doesnt matter on what side of the world you are on.
I sounds like the airlines as a whole are "not for you"... I undertstand that CX was your only job to base your decision on and I am glad you found out now rather then later.
That being said you were bashing CX pretty hard... but complaining about a 24hr overnight, and having to be an SO straight out of flight school.
This is thing about the cabin crew???? This is a job not a way to get laid on an over by a flight attendent...
I havnt had a 24 hour overnight in about 2 years, and I was an FE for almost 2 years before I touched any controls.


I would have named this thread "backing away from the airlines"

[Dragonator]

711,

A decent flat in a good apartment costs between HKD$4 million. I don't know where you got the $8 million from.

anothernewbie,

Well, I can't blame you for talking about this. However, soon you'll realize that no matter where you go to or what industry you enter, there will no longer be the good old days. Work is work. Pilots are no exception to the rule. If work is good and enjoyable, then you'll need to pay for it, not vice versa. The fact is that all industries have screwed-up working environments. Some people may even talk behind your back about how crazy you are for taking the job at the new company. Employee turnover rates are sky high in any industry. I'm from engineering, so I know.

Assuming that you've just recently entered the workforce, I advise that you learn to accept the reality of work. I also advise you to choose your career based on your passion, ability, and whether you'll fit in with the people. Ignore the other stuff, such as paychecks, perks, working hours, because they're all screwed up. All industries are equally screwed up in terms of perks. If you work in investment banking, you may make a lot of money, but I'm not sure how long your lifespan will be. If you work in construction, you make have more free time, but do you really want to communicate with rough-talking and sweaty construction workers all the time?

I hope you turned down CX because you're not interested in flying. Otherwise, you'll regret, not in 10 years, but in 10 weeks.

[Ronny1992]

Now I think I'd take the "hard way" after reading this....seems like paying for your own training is nothing to pay off when one considers the "easy way" of becoming a pilot through Cathay's Cadet Program.

[Mouwaa]

Ignore the other stuff, such as paychecks, perks, working hours,

Dragonator, the naivety of you young bucks astounds me.

$4M for an apartment, are you kidding me, maybe if you are single, but try having a family in that. Most of you aren't thinking about the future, you only care about how you are going to pay for your next playstation game.

You need to realise this industry is very much seniority driven for most decent companies. You can't just leave and go to the equivalent position somewhere else at the drop of a hat.

As for your 'passion', I can tell you flying small aircraft is a hell of a lot more fun than airline flying, where you'd be lucky to have your hands on the controls for 5 minutes each sector, the rest of it is SOP, SOP, SOP. Unfortunately GA flying doesn't pay well. So if you are all about passion and don't care about the paycheck, you should be looking for a career in GA my friend.

[quadspeed]

Dragonator;

I hope you turned down CX because you're not interested in flying. Otherwise, you'll regret, not in 10 years, but in 10 weeks.

You need to seriously get your life into reality. Working for Cathay has nothing to do with flying; it has everything to do with lifestyle, money and retirement. You do this job when you're finished "flying"; when you've done your time in the Airforce, when you've spent your 10 years flying miners into desolate places on a King Air; when you've seen a decade of winters on the north atlantic coast in a DC-9; when you've done your summers flying around the Serengeti in a Caravan. When you've done all that; when you've truly flown airplanes enough to kick back and take the office job; that's when you come here.

You will not be respected as an aviator for doing 4 years as an SO after a 180 hour course in Australia, followed by 30 years of ILS auto-lands diverting from the occasional typhoon. You are not signing up for flying; you are signing up for a lifestyle. If you truly have a passion for flying, then you will be very, very dissilusioned when you join. That I can guarantee.

I should know.

[Jumbo744]

quadspeed

great post

[crewsunite]

The CX next Cadets, show your passion.



YouTube - Aircraft Maker to Make A Test Run

[Dragonator]

Mouwaa,

Your naivety astounds me. I don't know your background, but you can buy a pretty decent apartment for HKD$4m IF you know where to look. Apparently you don't, and you don't know much about the property sector, and you get cheated a lot by those agents. That I can guarantee.

quadspeed,

Great post. I really appreciate you pilots giving us so much information. And I really respect you pilots a lot.

To the rest who're saying how bad it is to be a pilot,

The fact is, no matter where you look, there is no "best" job out there. People, whether young or old, keep on trying to find the best job, and when they're too old to do so, they write on this forum, saying how their job sucks. I'm tired of hearing this. Just stick to one job and get on with it. There's more to life than hopping from one industry to another to find the non-existent ideal. Instead, when you're at work, try to enjoy the little things.

I, myself, have worked in engineering, quantity surveying, banking, and even Disneyland. I've worked in 4 different industries. I should know what society is like.

[Mouwaa]

Dragonator,

Ok buddy, YOU tell me what size apartment and where you are talking about where you can buy a 'decent' apartment. A decent apartment also implies a decent area. Anyone can get the best apartment in a crap area. I own my own my apartment in HK and have done quite well out it. I really appreciate your guarantee...

You advertise your age as 24, yet you portray so much experience and wisdom. So which is it? Bear in mind there are a lot of pilots on CX who have had other careers before flying, myself included. So before you continue to talk yourself up; you'd be best not jumping to conclusions. There are DESOs and above who have been lawyers, engineers, bankers, doctors and even zoologists to name a few. Yet all went out, got their licences and EARNED flying experience before coming to CX. The average experience when I joined was 3-4000 hours for an SO, all flying turboprops or jets.

You're telling others to stop hopping from one industry to another, yet you do that yourself.

[Dragonator]

Mouwaa,

I wasn't aware that 24 was displayed on my age. I must've clicked the wrong year or something. Well, whether that is true or not isn't the main point. As for the apartment location, we may have different viewpoints. I personally wouldn't mind Tsing Yi, for example.

For the job hopping, yes, I have done a lot of that. That is the reason why I don't want others to do the same thing. It's just not worth it. Job hopping from one industry to another until your resume is all scribbled is just not worth it. Luckily I managed to get back into my original field.

One thing I mentioned in my previous post was that you should only look at 3 things in the job. Whether you CAN do the job, WANT to do the job, and whether you're SUITED for the environment. You don't need to have all 3 in order to like the job. Having 2 out of 3 is already a pass. So you don't have to love the job in order to feel happy at work, as long as you can do it and feel like you belong in that environment (and colleagues).

As for the salary, working hours, working conditions, recognition, career path, etc. All those things, when combined to a single value, are pretty much the same across all industries regardless of the position. That's because the companies in the workplace, through HR and young people job hopping, are constantly competing and balancing with each other.

For example, when a fresh graduate starts working in an engineering firm, he'll typically think that he's full of potential because he graduated from a prestigious university, that the company should give him all the tough projects, so that the company (through his reputation) can accept even bigger projects. (Isn't that similar to what the SO's are thinking?) But that's not the reality. It's dangerous to give a new person so much responsibility. Companies in the past may have done that before and learned a tough lesson. Now, when this person gets chartership and becomes a registered professional engineer, his salary, recognition, and working condition will all increase. Unfortunately, his working hours will also increase, often taking work to do at home, so his home becomes a 2nd office. Therefore, you gain some and you lose some.

As for being a pilot, I haven't been one, but my imagination is quite good, so here's my take of how you guys feel. Correct me if I'm wrong. You guys have higher recognition, salary, better working hours, and a job that you can do until the day you retire. However, according to this thread, you follow a lot of SOPs which is so routine and mundane. And, there's also something that you haven't mentioned. You've been traveling all over the world non-stop. While the travel may have been fun in the beginning, now, you start to wonder where your life is heading, flying all over the place. I'm not sure.

However, the fact that your career exists means that there's a use for it. If a job was really THAT bad, then it'll be eliminated. So, being a pilot isn't the worst job, nor is it the best, it's around the same as the other ones. But the best thing is when a person willingly does his best job despite knowing all its flaws. That, in my opinion, is a high level of achievement.

[fly123456]

While I agree you don't go to CX for the passion of flying, my advise would be for inexperienced pilots to go to CX for the free training!

And as soon as you find something better, go for it!

That's what free market is, after all.
And after your free training, you're better off than many pilots who paid their training themself. (CPL + P2X type-rating - 80.000USD debt)

[NZGYPO]

Low income :(

I understand that the pay for a cadet is extremely low in Cathay but from a lot of the posts it seems that the SO's seem to have a lot of free time, which is expected when someone is mainly involved in the long Haul flights. My question is why don't they get another part time job in order to supplement their income? At least until they are on a more descent income.

[quadspeed]

....why don't they get another part time job in order to supplement their income?

Because they will sign a contract. Which includes this little gem:

An Officer will not, without the written consent of the Company, ... be employed for any period by any person other than the Company.

[RedsunsDriver]

Eventually Hong Kong will no longer be a special administrative region (the 50 year commitment will end) and it’ll be part of Mainland China governed by the communist party.
Businesses such as Swire and other British businesses will move out of there meaning Cathay will either
1) Be bought out by Air China
2) Move its entire business to the UK and rename to Cathay Atlantic.

So think 2x before you commit to Cathay. It maybe sweet now but it’ll definitely be sour as China slowing takes back Hong Kong.

[NZGYPO]

So it is possible, you just need consent. How hard is it to get consent, in my interview they said it is very possible for me to have another job if I wanted to.

[quadspeed]

If you're capable of setting up your own company, or better yet "..suppliment an income via financial spread trading or CFDs", then you're overqualified for this job and should go get a real one. Nobody with the brains to "really clean up" should be flying airplanes for a living.

History shows that pilots + finance = disaster.

[Mouwaa]

are you forgetting a minor detail...

WHY SHOULD YOU HAVE TO GET A SECOND JOB JUST IN ORDER TO SURVIVE WHEN YOU ARE WORKING FULL TIME FOR A MAJOR AIRLINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[404 Titan]

As an expat working for CX you are on a sponsored work permit for at least seven years (until you qualify for permanent residency) which only allows you to work for CX.