Master's degree and hiring?

[Rxflyer]

"The man who graduated yesterday, and stops learning today, is uneducated tomorrow."

There is no better investment than education.

 

[CA1900]

Getting answers in this place is a lot like wrestling with a pig. You get dirty, and the pig likes it.

This place has truly become useless for information....

As for your question, my opinion is that the Master's wouldn't have any effect at all on your competitiveness for a pilot job. A Bachelor's, yes, but not a Master's. However, my only regret in my education is that I went for an aviation degree. If I had it to do all over, I'd still be flying, but I would have gotten a degree in another field entirely, in case aviation came to a crashing halt (Which it sort of did), or I lost my medical or something like that. So if you have the means to do it, it might be worth an MBA just to give you an "out" if you need it.

Hope that helps.

 

[unreal]

This place has truly become useless for information....

As for your question, my opinion is that the Master's wouldn't have any effect at all on your competitiveness for a pilot job. A Bachelor's, yes, but not a Master's. However, my only regret in my education is that I went for an aviation degree. If I had it to do all over, I'd still be flying, but I would have gotten a degree in another field entirely, in case aviation came to a crashing halt (Which it sort of did), or I lost my medical or something like that. So if you have the means to do it, it might be worth an MBA just to give you an "out" if you need it.

Hope that helps.

Yeah, that would be me. BS Aero Sci from ERAU. Realized about halfway through that it was stupid, but at that point I was pot-committed and just finished. Hence the reason I'm doing a Master's in Management with a non-aviation concentration: It's a good solid backup plan.

 

[pilotyip]

You have to decide on what you want to be a college graduate or a pilot. If is a pilot, you fly airplanes and build resume stuff. It will take approximately 10 years to get to a career position in aviation. You have to commit to the time frame to make it. If you elect after 5 years to get out of flying to pursue your major in college, you will be five years behind that year's college grads. To not fly and get a degree may be fun but it does nothing for your flying career. Now to get a degree on the sides while you are flying, nothing wrong with that. However, the fallback value of a degree is greatly over rated. I have BS and a Master's in Management, but at age 53, I was making $250/wk loading cargo. After Zantop pretended to go out of went out of business in 1997, I had been a temporary High School Chemistry Teacher up until two weeks before the cargo job came along. However, they do not teach school in the summer so I had to take the cargo job. The value of an unused degree is highly over rated. 53 year old unemployed airline pilots are not eagerly greeted in any industry that I know of, even of having a couple degrees. Of course, I did not apply for many of the "College degree preferred jobs" such as apt manager, telephone direct sales, and plumbing floor manager at Home Depot, etc. If you get a college degree you have to use, the knowledge gained in college to develop a career or the degree is useless. After getting a degree, flying an airplane is not a knowledge expanding experience; it is skill development experience. Anyone care to chime in and share their experiences on entering the non-aviation job market after being out of college 20-30 years? However I will admitt my business degree has helped me a great deal in managing my household and investments.

 

[ackattacker]

I agree with pilotyip. I have a Master's degree in engineering and, while I don't regret it, I don't think it's helping me in my flying career. And if I had to "fall back" on engineering I doubt I would be able to get anything other than a very entry level job in my field. Really my fall back option would be to go back to school for the PhD.

But I do believe in the value of education. Being smart and educated might get you the job, because you'll be better prepared to study for the interviews and present yourself as a clear thinking, well rounded, intelligent person. But I don't think the slip of paper itself makes much difference.

 

[unreal]

You have to decide on what you want to be a college graduate or a pilot. If is a pilot, you fly airplanes and build resume stuff.

Actually I intend to do both.

The Master's is completely online, so it'll be done on the side of my flying. The beauty of it is that at the rate that I'm accruing hours at my current job, I'll have a solid amount of hours by the time I'm done with the Master's and will be able to move on from CFI'ing.

 

[Princedietrich]

Sounds like a darn good plan there, unreal. Like I said earlier, the Master's degree may not get you any higher on the hiring list for a pilot job, but it'll never hurt you one bit to go for it.

What online program are you doing? ERAU? Phoenix?

 

[unreal]

What online program are you doing? ERAU? Phoenix?

ERAU. Might as well do it if it's on the company's dime, y'know?

 

[Princedietrich]

ERAU. Might as well do it if it's on the company's dime, y'know?

I agree completely, a degree is so much more fulfilling when someone else pays for it. Good luck to you. :beer:




Now if I could just find someone to pay for me to get a doctorate.......

 

[timeoff]

Here is a good example

Delta Pilot Basic Qualifications

To qualify for employment as a pilot at Delta you must have all of the following.


General Requirements

• At least 21 years of age
• Graduate of a four-year degree program from a college or university accredited by a recognized accrediting organization. Postgraduate education will be given favorable consideration
• Current passport or other travel documents enabling the bearer to freely exit and re-enter the U.S. (multiple reentry status) and be legally eligible to work in the U.S. (possess proper working documents)

FAA Requirements

• FAA commercial fixed-wing pilot license with an instrument rating
• Current FAA First Class Medical Certificate
• Passing score on FAA ATP written exam at time of interview

Flight Time Requirements

• Minimum of 1,200 hours of total documented flight time
• Minimum of 1,000 hours of fixed wing turboprop or turbofan time

When evaluating the flight time of applicants meeting the basic qualifications, consideration will be given to, among other things, quality, quantity, recency, and verifiability of training; complexity of aircraft flown; types of flight operations; hours flown as PIC; and recency and extent of flying experience. Applicants invited to interview must provide appropriate documentation of all flight hours.

http://www.delta.com/about_delta/career_opportunities/pilot_qualifications/index.jsp

 

[avbug]

Don't forget embossed letters of recommendation from at least five former military buddies, printed in gold leaf, and a stick up one's backside at least 3/4" in diameter. They'll check up there during the physical.

They can tell if your degree is accredited or not if you can tell them what kind of wood it is, without looking.

 

[retired guy]

Hi everybody,

I'm looking for some information about just how useful a Master's degree would be in getting a flying job down the line. Currently I'm a CFI and have some nice tuition benefits that are going to basically pay for a Master's. I have a Bachelor's at the moment, but people with Bachelor's degrees are a dime a dozen these days. Will a post-graduate degree give me a bit of an edge, or will I just be checking the same "I have a degree" box everyone else has?

For the record, the degree is a Master of Science in Management, with a concentration that has absolutely nothing to do with aviation (thank god).

Thanks!

You asked a question and got two pages of B.S. for answers. Of course education doesn`t make you a better pilot. That masters degree makes you look better than the next guy that doesn`t have one. All things being equal, you have a "leg up" on the next guy.Go for it....

 

[Junkflyer]

Pedagogical ? I can't believe I've made it into a 747 without ever hearing that word much less knowing what it means. Don't tell my wife, she's an architect professional type with one of those degree thingies. I tell her I only drink Miller Lite to stay in touch with the common man. Go ahead and get the Master's, but don't expect it to work miracles in getting a job.

 

[learflyer]

You know, with the long length of some of these posts, and the hours it probably took to post, they are about as long as some papers that you could have written for credit at some colleges.

 

[Rally]

If it effects your senority for a airline (if thats what you want to do) I would'nt do a regular masters, but why not online little by little. Back up plans are extremely nice. Loss of medical, loss of the love of flying, loss of a 2 home income etc . Good idea. My mom was a stay at home from day one finished her 4 year got her masters in a totally unrelated field scored a job with a company and right now she is making 55k a year, ZERO job experince. Has LOTS of paid time off, good bennies, good 403b plan. Not a bad backup. Online vs traditional is a difference in the atmosphere not the paper.

Good luck

 

[unreal]

If it effects your senority for a airline (if thats what you want to do) I would'nt do a regular masters, but why not online little by little. Back up plans are extremely nice. Loss of medical, loss of the love of flying, loss of a 2 home income etc . Good idea. My mom was a stay at home from day one finished her 4 year got her masters in a totally unrelated field scored a job with a company and right now she is making 55k a year, ZERO job experince. Has LOTS of paid time off, good bennies, good 403b plan. Not a bad backup. Online vs traditional is a difference in the atmosphere not the paper.

Good luck

I think that in reality I'm going to just be finishing about half of it before I move on. I'd like to stay and finish, but it'll take me a minimum of 2 years to get done, and I'll have more than enough hours to "GTFO" by then. We'll see how things pan out, though.