Originally Posted by
FlywithStyle
So I am just getting into to world of avaition. Still in a 141 school. So I have a while to go but with that said. What will it be like if I ever want to work outside of the United States. I would love to work in Central or South America. I don't really speak that much spanish to speak of so I hope that won't hurt my chances. Do I need a different license, would I apply for jobs somewhere here in the states or would I have to go to the country I want to work in first? In general, how do you get a job in another country.
First of all, forget Central or South America unless you are fluent in Spanish or unless things drastically change in those countries. I just flew with a guy from Tampa Air Cargo in Columbia. He was a 767 Captain and only made $3000/month
Varig in Brazil is a shell of it's former self and BWIA has just canned all their pilots. Guys are bailing left and right from that part of the world. Much better opportunities elsewhere. If you want to work outside of the USA then Asia, the Indian Sub-Continent, and the Middle East are the primary locations.
You might start out by going to China to work as a flight instructor for Beijing Pan-Am Academy. Contact PW Murphy over on jetcareers, he'll tell you all about that.
Otherwise most expat pilots are hired as Captains, which means you need to have a good amount of experience. There are very few places that hire Americans as First Officers and then upgrade them to Captain. The pre-eminent airline that does is Cathay Pacific, in their case you hire on as a Second Officer.
The thing about going expat is that it is something that most guys only do if they are forced to by circumstance. You'll have a far better career at places like UPS, Fedex, SWA, etc than you would at a foreign company.
Typhoonpilot