Originally Posted by flynavyj

i'm agreeing with what everyone else said on here.

One of the greatest things is to enjoy ones work, and if you enjoy teaching and you enjoy flying, the CFI is a terrific job. One of the things i enjoyed most about being a CFI was that my students would inherit my own flying traits, both the good, and the bad...honestly, i enjoyed seeing both in them, but would routinely try to correct the things they picked up from me, that i'd rather them not have.

Another point was made by my sim instructor during my initial training. An airline didn't hire a First Officer....they hired a Captain (atleast that is their hope for you) in training. With experience, they're expecting you to be able to perform the duties of the PIC. The reason an ATP can use his captain experience in renewing his CFI certificates is because the FAA actually expects you to be instructing/mentoring first officers into captains. If you've never instructed a person before, this little "phase" of the job might be a little bit difficult for you to accomplish.

Another big issue is the decision making...it doesn't matter if you're a CFI or a MIL pilot, or a freight dog, etc....this will aid significantly with your ability to make a sound and rational decision as to the best solution to the current situation considering a multitude of variables. Some of this will be learned simply by flying the line at XYZ airlines. But for a person who comes to the table already having a solid foundation in this decision making process, they'll be just that much further ahead of the competition.