Originally Posted by
LivinTheDream28
i appreciate that maddog. I have thought a lot about it, as I am currently 20 years old and don't know how I feel about having the wait 3 years to upgrade because of my age. My flight time at this point is 850/130 and I'm trying to decide, if I get the job, if I should wait until something better comes along when I hit 1000tt or if I should take it now to get out of instructing. The place I'm at now has not so great pay with no benefits what-so-ever. I also don't understand why everyone says the interview there is so hard when its seems to be not such a good job.
I think you hit the nail on the head right there. Since you will have to wait 3 years MINIMUM no matter what the upgrade time is at whatever regional you go to, why don't you go somewhere that will allow you to live on FO pay? I think if I was stuck as an FO in the Beech at Colgan for 3 years going to the same 6 airports, I would want to shoot myself in the face.
Originally Posted by LivinTheDream28
As a recent college grad at 20, frankly I just want out of flight instructing. The question is.......is this worth it?
As a college grad at 20 I sure hope thats not a 2 year degree you are talking about. If it is you might want to stick with instructing a while longer and go get that 4 year degree since you will need it to get on with a major anyway. If it is a 4 year degree, way to go, thats a hell of an accomplishment at 20. Problem is, your time is not really that competitive so you might be tempted to jump at the first thing you get (as evidenced by your desire to work for Colgan). In my experience, the guys who are the most miserable are the ones who took the first thing that came along without really knowing what they are getting into. You say your instructing job doesn't pay much and you get no bennies. Well why not go find another instructing job? At my last instructing job I got paid more than I do as a 1st year FO at XJT and I had health insurance (the benefits at XJT are waaaay above most other regionals). There ARE good instructing jobs out there that can lead to other good jobs. To you 20 year old guys who are itching to get onto a 121 flight deck I always ask: what is your damn hurry? Life is about the journey, not the destination. The destination is the same for all of us: either a pine box or an urn somewhere (unless you're one of those fruitcakes who want to be frozen). So enjoy the ride. To be honest, 121 flying will be some of the dullest, most repetitive flying you will ever do. Yeah, the view is great but its awful tough to see through the USAToday sometimes
