Opinion's...Advice...

[LewisU_Pilot]

I plan on entering the aviation industry a year from now. I figure I should have all the ratings I need to become a flight instructor. Right now I am finishing up at LewisU. (Chicago area)I have completed all my classes however I need to get commercial (which I am half way threw) and multi ratings. I can than choose to stay at lewis to get my CFI or go else where. I was thinking if I go else where I might have a better shot becoming a CFI at that FBO as soon as I finish the training. Do you think this is true? I would think they would hire me over someone else because they know me. Or should I stick at lewis and see if they hire me? I know they have a good program and maybe being an alumni might help out. I don't even know what the industry is like right now. Is it really hard to get a CFI job?

 

[wil]

I came from 141 background and my students were provided- I did not have to get them on my own. That might be something for you to consider. CFI jobs are not hard to get but given the state of the industry not easy. Good luck

 

[bobbysamd]

Stay at your college

Assuming that your college has a policy in which it hires its own grads, that's the way you should go. You will already have an advantage over street applicants because a school usually considers its own graduates before it considers street applicants. You will be known to them, although it wouldn't hurt if you gathered LORs from your instructors. Another reason is you know the standardization and the program, and the people who can do things for you and your students.

A major consideration when selecting any training provider is whether you can be hired there after you graduate. By all means you should avail yourself of that opportunity. The FBO should be your second choice.

Good luck with your plans.

 

[jarhead]

True

What Wil and Bobbysamd said is true. My son also went to a 141 school (UND), and was hired by them as a faculty flight instructor there for 2-1/2 years prior to joining Comair. That said, it is still no guarantee that you will get hired, as there is competition for those slots. At UND in 1994, there were 139 applicants for the 33 instructor slots they needed to fill that fall. All 139 graduated applicants had three tests to go through; a written, oral, and flight test. All were graded and weighted in a 'point' system, and only the top 33 were made employment offers.

The message: Study hard---you will have competition for the finite openings.

 

[LewisU_Pilot]

Thanks for the Advice!!