Low Time Pilot Looking for a Job

[wmn_av8r]

Hello,

I am currently a Commercial Multi-engine, Instrument Rated Pilot with about 350 flight time hours, +50 hrs in Frasca 142 & 242. I also just finished up a jet orientation course in a 737-400 sim whereby I gained about 52 hours in experience. I am looking for a flying job and willing to relocate anywhere. I have looked into the CFI thing, but before I spend the $$$ I need to make sure that I can find a CFI job and it seems that everyone is a bit slow and not hiring CFIs at this point as they don't have anyone leaving. Does anyone have any ideas on companies that may be willing to hire me at my low time? I have a degree in accounting as well and was successful before I gave up that career to fly. I am also willing to perform dispatch duties, etc. in addition to flying.

 

[scubabri]

From one low timer to another, you are gonna have a tough go at it.

If you are really insistant about finding a job, your best bet would be to go to dropzones and see if they need anyone to fly skydivers, right now would be a good time as things pick up in the north.

The other option, is to start hanging out at your local FBO's and start introducing yourself to basically everyone. Get yourself some business cards with your name, phone number and email, and start handing them out.

Also, get yourself a copy of Act! and start keeping a record of who you talk to, when you talked to them and their contact information. Also, record if the refer you to anyone.

Right now, your options are very limited, your best bet, probably, would be to get your CFI and drum up some students on your own. I figure we are in this for another couple years before it turns around.

There are lots of resources on the web, but the problem with them is that you are going to be in a stack of resumes 2" thick, and you are gonna be the lowest timer. The only way you are gonna find the abnormal job that doesn't match your time, is to go out and talk to people and find it.

Also, if you can afford to fly, go do it, also, hook up with the local flight schools to be a safety pilot for instrument students. Anything to build time.

Let me know if I can help out at all.

b.

 

[marqmarq]

CFI jobs

I came across a job listing last week for an instructor for a flight school at CGF. It was at flipdog or pilotcrewjobs or one of the others. Said average instructor was getting 80-100 hours/month. If you know an Options guy ask him or go to the Fracs board, you might find the name of the company... good luck

btw, CGF is the (old?) home for Flight Options...

 

[Cardinal]

I would probably bite the bullet and get the CFI. Believe me, I hated to do it, but my career and I have been better for it. I've seen countless careers run aground permanently when the young pilot refused to instruct for awhile. There are a few gigs out there that can use a low timer, but often on a very part time basis. Like 15 hours/month.

Now this is a good way to get flamed, but I'm going to say it only because I truly care, so please don't take it the wrong way. I'm not discounting any aspect of your personality, just going to offer strategies that I would use were I in your position. From your handle and avatar, I'm assuming you're female. Based on this I might suggest that door-to-door style job hunting may work better for you than some others. Aviation is still so male-dominated that simply seeing a female with resume in hand will leave an impression, if only because the last 397 people through the door have been white males, age 20-24. And getting remembered can get you hired. If you can take such an opportunity and couple it with good peope skills, a King Air right seat (even though you can't log much of the time) would be attainable. Hopefully you'll take my comments as they were meant. Best wishes.

 

[MMO 0.705]

Why beat around the bush and just tell her to walk in with a short skirt/low cut top?

I had to say it.

 

[banned username 2]

Obviously she didn't like the answers she got in the other thread she started that asked the exact same thing and had the exact same answers...

I think this might be Archer, in drag!

(For those of you who don't know Archer, another low timer who repeatedly asked the same questions over and over always hoping for the answer that he wanted, but of course never getting it...)

 

[SennaP1]

Nice Grill...Do you own one?, saw one at Sears that looked like that. Charcoal? or Gas? I take it by that big Titanic Smoke stack its a charcoal one eh.

 

[banned username 2]

Nice Grill...Do you own one?, saw one at Sears that looked like that. Charcoal? or Gas? I take it by that big Titanic Smoke stack its a charcoal one eh.

Charcoal/wood burning... I have one very similar...

 

[slickmagneto]

Archer in Drag!!!

I'll have nightmares.

 

[Peter Gibbons]

Hey...maybe we could get a group of pilots together and start a grill company...then we could grow into a large conglomorate (can't spell) and get a flight department and then hire just chicks with short skirts and nice perfume to fly our planes. Anyone interested?

 

[KINGAIR PIC]

Wmn_av8r,

Seriously, get your Commercial SE, then your CFI. Instruct until you can't stand it anymore. Your time will build faster than you can put the entries in your logbook. Don't wait around for any Corporate gigs, just get your time up at least past 1200 TT, then start thinking about a transition to something better.

Just speaking from experience.

 

[embdrvr]

I also just finished up a jet orientation course in a 737-400 sim whereby I gained about 52 hours in experience.........
confused

I'm confused why anyone would spend 52 hours in a 737 sim when what they should have spent their money on is a rating that they could make some money with.
CFI jobs are always out there even in tough times.
Who sold you on the idea of a "jet orientation course?" They're doing you and your fellow newbies a disservice.

 

[Airpiraterob]

here you go....

your goal, to have enough time to fly for a living.
method? obtain those hours.

best way?

-dropzones, drop pilot
-a/c ferry
-pipeline patrol
-flight instruct.

try to fly the ILS to minimums no gyro after having flown pipeline or dropzone flying for 2 years. 10 to 1 the instructor will out do you.

what im saying is this. teaching others is the best way to make sure you retain everything youve ever learned in youre whole learning-to-fly career so far. get the CFI. get the instructing job. at my most recent interview i saw all kinds of high and low time people. the low timers were CFI-CFII-MEI instructors. not a single one of them came from pipeline or dropzone or cropdusting. they all were hardcore isntructors. the other types of backgrounds werent interviewed as they are not reliable in their flying methods. one place i interviewed at did a actual flight to see how people stacked up and they had to take the plane away from this one guy. i hate saying it but the best way to do it is to teach. you retain everythign there is to know and you can go from that to something really good in just 2 years later (2 years was 1165 hours dual given for me. put me at 1500 total. marketable in some respect and 135 minimums for sure. to freight i went.)

i cant stress enough the importance of retention of knowledge for your future jobs. teaching makes that happen and the prospective employer likes it if youre actually able to fly the sim halfway decent.

anyway, good luck. i hope you do find what you want to do.

 

[FlyingStarr]

huh?

You don't really have 50+ hours of 737 sim time do you? I think that has to be a typo. If you're a looker though maybe you can sit in the right seat with me........that is if you wear the short skirt...etc, etc.

Good luck

 

[B190Captain]

Geezus, you guys are brutal. LOL!! Give the girl a break although most of that advice should be taken under consideration. BTW all that FRASCA time, no worth diddly so don't even put that in a resume. As for the 52 hrs in a 737, I assume that was all simulated? Did you attain a type rating? what kind of course was it?

Anyway, it's definetly a rough situation out there right now. All I can say to you is good luck!!

 

[skootertrash]

You have two options.

1. Pay your dues (like everyone else) Instruct, then find some multi time whatever. But honestly no one will be impressed that you have 737 sim time. The real world flying is much diferent that the Sim. Also the Frasca time, that just means that you had a lot of time on your hands and didn't have to pay for the frasca. When I got hired at an airline I must have had about 200 hours of frasca time but I didn't embarrass myself and put it on a resume.

2. Buy some knee pads and don't drag your teeth.

Bottom line. Pay your dues. Pilots who get jobs with low time do not have experience. You need experience to stay alive!

 

[WMUSIGPI]

Re: Re: Low Time Pilot Looking for a Job

I'm confused why anyone would spend 52 hours in a 737 sim when what they should have spent their money on is a rating that they could make some money with.
CFI jobs are always out there even in tough times.
Who sold you on the idea of a "jet orientation course?" They're doing you and your fellow newbies a disservice.

The biggest disservice is all that 737 sim time is useless unless you are using it for JAA purposes. The FAA wouldn't approve the sim because WMU cut corners in building it and didn't use some approved parts to save costs. None of that sim time is loggable, the Frasca 142 you did your instrument lessons in is more usefull as far as the FAA is concerned. Granted it seems like good training but I'd rather spend 10k on an actual type rating. (it was originally meant to only be for the European training contracts that have all dried up since 9/11 instead of being smart and getting a King Air 90 for everyone to fly)