Is a pilot worth anything without a degree?

[apu]

Have to say, this "fall back" argument is a little silly. Think about it, who is going to hire a guy with even an MBA that hasn't been used in 14 years? An old degree is as useless as no degree. Don't count on that "fall" to be short.

 

[pilotyip]

well said APU

 

[CaptainMark]

Why Does a College Degree Matter?
I get a lot of email from interested individuals asking about if they can get hired by a major airline without a degree but with quality flight experience. Well, the short answer is that if XYZ Airlines wanted to hire 500 pilots and didn't specify anything other than requiring the applicant to have a commercial pilot certificate or ATP rating, they would probably recieve at least 25,000 applications from interested pilots.
By requiring pilots to have college degrees, they're ensuring that the applicant at least has some ability to suceed in classroom learning, practice the same discipline used in acquiring the degree in the ground school and helps weed out to find the "cream of the crop". I'm not saying that pilots with degrees are any better or worse than pilots without, but obtaining a college degree can be a whole lot easier than making it to the cockpit.
A college degree also should matter to you on a personal level. In 2001, the industry saw a lot of pilot furloughs where they were temporarily laid off and had to pursue other employment. Now if you have no skills or education apart from what you learned while attaining your certificates and ratings and you're not able to find a flying job, you'll be hard pressed to maintain your quality of life and continue to feed your family. If you want to keep all of your options open in the airline industry, get a degree

 

[Draginass]

Can you succeed in aviation without a degree? YES

Is it more difficult to get the better jobs? YES

Does a 4 yr degreee make you more competitive to get an interview at the better airlines? YES

Will most of your contemporary competitors for jobs have just as good of skills as you, and will have 4 yr degrees also. YES

If you were a recruiter and had two individuals with roughly equal skills and experience, yet one had a 4 yr degree and the other didn't, which one would you choose? The individual with the 4 yr degree.

 

[Gulfstream 200]

Have to say, this "fall back" argument is a little silly. Think about it, who is going to hire a guy with even an MBA that hasn't been used in 14 years? An old degree is as useless as no degree. Don't count on that "fall" to be short.

100% wrong.

An old degree is A DEGREE nontheless.

NO DEGREE makes you look like a GED or high school graduate. Better bank on flying car $hit for YIP until the automakers slow down and you take your seasonal layoff. Then his brother can hire you to work in his muffler shop. What a joy.

Its 2006 folks. A 4 yr degree is what a high school diploma used to be. Its the baseline.

Cant believe this argument still takes place!

and yeah, I know Bill gates didnt finish college. Wake up, you aren't Bill Gates, you're just a dumba$$ pilot.


:erm:

 

[Gulfstream 200]

Why Does a College Degree Matter?
I get a lot of email from interested individuals asking about if they can get hired by a major airline without a degree but with quality flight experience. Well, the short answer is that if XYZ Airlines wanted to hire 500 pilots and didn't specify anything other than requiring the applicant to have a commercial pilot certificate or ATP rating, they would probably recieve at least 25,000 applications from interested pilots.
By requiring pilots to have college degrees, they're ensuring that the applicant at least has some ability to suceed in classroom learning, practice the same discipline used in acquiring the degree in the ground school and helps weed out to find the "cream of the crop". I'm not saying that pilots with degrees are any better or worse than pilots without, but obtaining a college degree can be a whole lot easier than making it to the cockpit.
A college degree also should matter to you on a personal level. In 2001, the industry saw a lot of pilot furloughs where they were temporarily laid off and had to pursue other employment. Now if you have no skills or education apart from what you learned while attaining your certificates and ratings and you're not able to find a flying job, you'll be hard pressed to maintain your quality of life and continue to feed your family. If you want to keep all of your options open in the airline industry, get a degree

read this again, very well said.

You can shoot for the best jobs or you can settle for the $hit.

The choice is yours

 

[pilotyip]

Ged?

Dragin, they won't be equal. At 25 the college grad has 1000 TT, 35 MEL and a 4 yr degee. The 25 yr old non-degreed guy has 5000 TT, 3500 MEL, 2000 TJ, a jet type and 1000 TJ PIC. At age 25 which guy gets hired? Only shallow people who are really not sure of themselves judge other people by the degrees they hold. BTW G200 So someone with a 2-yr dgree from a community college, an avionics repair license and 4 years working as an AT-2 an EA-6B's is the same as GED, is that what you are telling us? Only 4-yr degree people have any worth as a huuman being?

 

[Gulfstream 200]

. BTW G200 So someone with a 2-yr dgree from a community college, an avionics repair license and 4 years working as an AT-2 an EA-6B's is the same as GED, is that what you are telling us? Only 4-yr degree people have any worth as a huuman being?

Yup. thats EXACTLY what I am telling you.

A GED and some aviation experience is completly useless if you have to find employment outside the cockpit. On paper you are the same as the average Mcdonalds counter help -- a high school grad. Face reality, how do you know at 25 that you will want/be able to fly airplanes for the next 40 years? I hope I dont. That would be very boring. (just an opinion)

At least with a degree (even an old one) you can spruce up a resume to look elsewhere. Put all that stupid repair license AT2 EA6B, 5000TT turbine PIC blah blah bull$hit you want on a resume and the employer will be left looking for one thing ---

your degree.

then comes the excuses....

whats next? most likely -- "dont call us we will call you".

that is honestly how I see todays marketplace. Only a fool enters unprepared and a 4 yr degree is baseline today. Just reality IMHO.

You are truly showing your era and age by thinking this "Turbine PIC" thing is the golden road. Its just not so anymore. Thats just another requirement to be checked off on the application laundry list, AFTER the degree.

YMMV.

 

[Jpilot23]

Thanks for the advice. I'm sure that there are some people in aviation who have gotten by without a degree. and i'm sure they're some who have fallen on their face. I basically see college as big hoops to jump through, and employers probably see them that way as well. They want to see if they (employers) say jump you ask how high. I see the value of a degree, but i just don't think a man/woman should be defined by a piece of paper. I know tons of people how got drunk almost every night, and went to class and barely past all of their classes. But hey they still have a degree. They may have showed up late, cheated, blah blah whatever, but they still passed and still have a degree.

and i think in most cases those bad habits will carry over in the workforce. maybe not at first when you have that new shiny job you go to, but when it turns into WORK. Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that getting a degree is foolish or anything like that. what i'm saying is that it saddens me that people in this world are defined by a piece of paper. Anyway, i am going back to get my degree. I'm actually excited about it b/c i'm sure i'll be able to focus and still get a great deal of flying in b/c of my instructor certificates.

Another thing i will say before people say i've set my goals to low, or this and that. I got into, and i'm still in aviation b/c i want to wake up and go to a job i ENJOY. Money is an issue for me but its not the #1. As long as i'm happy in a job and i'm not starving, i will probably be happy. But to each his/her own.

Again thank you so much for posting your advice.

 

[Metro752]

How about the morons with 4 year degrees that are intimidated by washing machines?