Originally Posted by
155mm
The ATP and A&P could be a ticket to instruct (sim and ground) at the Major Airlines, Regionals, 135 operators and/or professional flight academies like Flight Safety. A college degree is a plus! You can obtain the CGI with three written exams: Fundamentals of Instructing (FOI), Advanced Ground (AGI) and Instrument Ground (IGI) writtens. There is no Oral or Practical. You'll obviously make more money, better benefits (non rev travel) and you can always flight instruct GA on the side.
There's no requirement to have a Ground Instructor certificate to teach in a 142 school or airline. They tend to be more concerned about having the type you will be instructing on. The GI certificates just allow you to sign off ground instruction. The OP would have to pass the same FOI written to get a CFI. With a CFI the OP could sign off ground instruction too. Granted a GI can sign off stuff that isn't on their pilot certificate but how many times have you been asked to sign someone off for their airship commercial written? Save the money.