You can bet your life these decisions are made by me!
Pilots are some of the worst career planners on the planet. Nobody trying to fill a good job wants to hire an unemployed person, that's a fact. They want someone who knows what they want and is eager to get it, not some one who needs something, anything. This is often seen with unemployed pilots who send resumes all over the world and wind up with a few mediocre interviews. They blame the economy, their location, nobody has the budget to move them (that's my favorite lol) etc etc...now, they often find something and are happy to plug along but they lost the battle long ago IMO. They are often underqualified and don't do much to change this, even during unemployment. They wait for change to happen. They don't put any thought into how the position would suit their needs, personal and professional. No good place wants to hire this.
My wife has been telling me this for years, as she has run her own consulting/recruiting business since kids came. Hearing stories about corporate aviation she was always amazed at how narrowly focused pilots are...many concentrate on type ratings and currency and think that's the key, but they often miss the big picture. They cruise the internet pilot job sites and consider that looking for work/networking. Ever see the majority of jobs listed online? lowest of the low unless they are poached from corporate sites, where 99% of the time they are already filled.
Maybe its because many pilots are happy just to fly an airplane and that's all they want? and will accept wherever that takes them and try to adapt (or gripe a lot) to what is offered. I think thats somewhat common, and may work just fine for some. So be it. I'm not here to judge, but can't relate.
I'm fortunate that I have never been out of work. I can also say that the very best opportunities that have come my way were by people specifically looking to take you out of a known position and place you in theirs. They were very concerned about your drive, motivation, goals...not your last recurrent at FlightSafety. They were not really interested in unemployed people.
I also know my job could go away tomorrow, and after the initial "DAMN! I liked this job" I would be OK with that really. It's just a job. You can bet I have other plans, both in aviation and out. I could not live any other way. I also am sure to keep this career "maintenance" a small (but routine) part of my life, work is work...it pays the bills and that's important, but its still a small part of my overall life!
ANYHOW...useless NowCorporate career/life advice is over. You get what you pay for..
