Hey so I currently have my private pilot and taking my instrument checkride soon. I know I still have a decent amount of hours to build and obviously need to get my commercial rating before I can even begin to truly look but I have been looking for jobs related to CFI, Jump pilot, etc jobs just to see what the requirements are and how many places are hiring with Covid. Honestly I haven’t seen a ton of jobs listed in my area and even if I was to move out of state it still looks like people just are not hiring right now, or they are requiring a minimum of 1000 hours which didn’t seem to be the case at all in 2019. Just wondering if I could get a better outlook at getting a low hour or if maybe I’m just looking the wrong way. I guess I’m just getting a little nervous that when I have my ratings and hours it may be hard to find a job just looking for some input here!
Chandler,
Many of these jobs will pass by word of mouth. As you progress through your career, you sill start to get a better idea of what is out there. Most people build their flight time by flight instructing, check with he school you are training at to get an idea of their hiring situation.
Chris
Chandler,
I apologize if I sound sarcastic but are you kidding? In case you haven’t been paying attention there’s this teeny tiny little GLOBAL PANDEMIC going on (perhaps you heard something about it on the news?). As of last week there were almost 11 MILLION people unemployed in the US which is double what it was this time last year. While there’s still flight training going on it’s most definitely down and therefore less schools needing instructors and less demand for low time pilots (No beaches and sporting events means no banner tows. When people don’t have jobs, are losing their businesses, and are worried about getting sick and even dying they don’t generally think about skydiving, etc, etc). There are still jobs but definitely not many. The industry is down as are most so yes, ANYBODY looking for work doing just about anything besides DoorDash is going to have a tough time.
On a positive you’re not currently looking for work right now and won’t be until you at least earn your CPL and most likely a CFI or 3. We’re starting to see signs of a recovery and hopefully as the vaccine is more thoroughly distributed the number of cases and deaths will decline. People will start to venture out of their caves, start thinking about having fun and spending money on things other than masks and hand sanitizer. The economy will improve, unemployment will go down, we may even be able to see other people’s faces from time to time and yes more people will be doing fun things that will create more aviation jobs. Until that time yes it’s going to be a little harder to find work. The other positive is it will most certainly thin the herd as those who started flying for the money or because they heard it was easy to find work will move on and find easy work. That’ll mean less competition for those with the passion and commitment.
Adam
Thanks Chris!
I couldn’t help but laugh when I read this because you are completely right. I was just seeing if you guys had any additional input on your end, thanks Adam!