pilotyip
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2001
- Posts
- 13,629
Bingo on that one, The fall back value of a degree in greatly over rated. I have a BS in Education 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 plumping 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?By the way, Yip, if people REALLY want a fall-back option, they would be smarter to go to a trade school and learn plumbing or carpentry, and keep those skills sharp doing side work while they fly. That is a far better course of action than thinking your 15-year dormant degree in business admin, communications, or English is going to get you anything other than a green apron stained with espresso.
As a civilian trained pilot That flys a 74 into Afghanistan I say more power to the military guys getting the first call. I know that with the numbers that are going to be hired we will all get the call degree or not that is there for YIP. I do not feel just because I have big airplane experience that I should get the first call. I will get it when it is my time. I have never flown an RJ and cant speak intelligently on how there life is but I gather It sucks. Well so did flying 135 night freight. I guess what I am trying to say is don't judge someones experience until you have lived in there world. We all do the same thing when it comes down to it. I say good luck to all of us.. It is exciting times!!
Thanks you also, you seem to understand the big picture.
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