If all or most ATP students seek employment as a CFI to log hours it would seem the school would become saturated with CFIs. Does this happen? Are students turned down for a CFI job due to lack of need?
Andrew,
Yes, typically the route after completing the program is working as a CFI. However, due to the challenge and rigor of flight training in general, not everyone makes it all the way through. The FAA publishes this data in an excel spreadsheet displaying the statistics, if you are interested in looking it up. The fact is that more people than ever want to be a pilot, but not everyone can make it all the way through training. So it’s actually the opposite to what you described right now. I’d argue that most flight schools need more CFI’s to keep up with the student pilot load. This was the case when I was an instructor with ATP, as most locations were understaffed on CFI’s. They may have caught up by now.
Upon completion of the program, providing you have minimal checkride failures and you were a good student, you will more than likely be offered an instructor position. The only times I saw students denied, who made it all the way through, were students who had lots of checkride failures or students with a poor attitude throughout training. If they are overstaffed at a location, they may offer you a position at a different location until you can transfer over. Additionally, there will be a portion of people who complete the program that will choose to instruct elsewhere or move on to another flying job.
Roscoe
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Andrew,
A couple of things. First not all (or even most) despite instructor position. Many have jobs lined up at their local flight school or have some other Part 91 (banner tow, traffic watch, light cargo, etc) job waiting.
Provided you do well and act professionally you will be offered a position. Thing is it might not be at the location you want. If you’re flexible and able to make a move you shouldn’t have an issue. It not you’ll have to explore other options.
Adam
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Thank you Roscoe and Adam for your response, this is very helpful. I suppose my concern should be more focused on getting through the program. I have been concerned about opportunities to log 1500 hours. Congrats on your success
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Andrew,
Once you successfully complete your training, there will be many opportunities to build time.
Adam
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Andrew,
CFI is the most common route of building time; however, not everyone feels that route is for them. There are other routes that you can do to build time such as aerial photography, firefighting, banner towing, etc. CFI is the most common; however, there are obviously other avenues, but this is a short list found under 14 CFR 119.1(e) :
As per finding employment, Google, Facebook, and Climbto350 are just a few ways of coming in contact with recruiters. I would also mentioned networking at your local FBO and making friends, acquiring business cards are also a few ways to meet employers.
Brady
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