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Considering a Career Shift

Old 01-03-2012, 12:13 PM
  #21  
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[QUOTE=ZeckJet800;1111153]
Originally Posted by SteveCostello View Post
One principle called my cell on Christmas Eve. Turns out he had been working so much (not unusual, these guys are driven) that he'd forgotten to get a Christmas tree for his home and family. He knew from passing conversations that I lived in a rural area with tree farms. Short of it, I slogged out into a friend's Christmas Tree field in the dark on Christmas Eve, found a nice tree, cut it, trimmed it, and hauled it up to his house in my pickup, and set it up for his wife and kids.

For me this kind of thing was not terribly unusual. Corporate Pilot and ???


Not unusual?....the guy has as little respect for his own family as he has for you. Sad.

I am an employee, not family. Family is in the will. Very big difference.

The idea that I would leave my family last minute on xmas eve to go to work?.....well it better be an emergency....to cut down and decorate a tree for his family? LOL...wow.

Last edited by NowCorporate; 01-03-2012 at 12:24 PM.
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Old 01-03-2012, 12:45 PM
  #22  
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[QUOTE=NowCorporate;1111261]
Originally Posted by ZeckJet800 View Post


Not unusual?....the guy has as little respect for his own family as he has for you. Sad.

I am an employee, not family. Family is in the will. Very big difference.

The idea that I would leave my family last minute on xmas eve to go to work?.....well it better be an emergency....to cut down and decorate a tree for his family? LOL...wow.
Well, I didn't decorate it. That's a good thing... LOL

The respect for his family? I will just say "bingo" and leave it at that.
Other guys were great in that respect. Again the job varies, in my experience, as much as the principles do.

And whenever your cell phone rings and it's the CEO...well...it IS an emergency. If you want to tell him no, I hope your resume is current. No job protection in corporate.

My point for our new guy is that the expectations can depend on the owner, and of course on how willing you are to go the extra mile. It didn't bother me, it was a good gig and he did things for us too, we didn't fly very much, so in that respects it WAS a family environment.
But that said, it is a fine line - one guy owned lumber mills and asked me to come down and pull green chain at the mill when we weren't flying.
That wasn't going to happen.

Larger companies with larger flight departments will no doubt be different. Obviously my current job is different, but have still been known to drive an owner somewhere or help out in other small ways beyond flying. It's one of the things I enjoy about the job, but it may not be for everyone. My goal here was to share some corporate life with the original poster.
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Old 01-05-2012, 10:25 AM
  #23  
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Originally Posted by SteveCostello View Post
In addition, I work for a company that has at least on Gulfstream, but past that, I know nothing about our flight department.
Steve,

Go talk to the pilots in your company's flight department. I know of a few guys that got flying jobs because they were already working in another capacity for the company. When the CP thought they had built up enough hours and a job opened up, they just switched departments. That would probably be the quickest way to a "decent" corporate job.
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Old 01-08-2012, 02:25 PM
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Originally Posted by GATAM06 View Post
Steve,

Go talk to the pilots in your company's flight department. I know of a few guys that got flying jobs because they were already working in another capacity for the company. When the CP thought they had built up enough hours and a job opened up, they just switched departments. That would probably be the quickest way to a "decent" corporate job.
This is probably the best advice for your particular situation. Can you maintain your current job while doing your ratings and flight instructing on weekends?

Could you be happy with buying a small plane and just flying for fun? It is a lot to sacrifice (pay and life) to enter aviation at this stage in your life.
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Old 01-08-2012, 02:25 PM
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ZeckJet, welcome to APC and thanks for sharing. It was a good read.
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Old 01-17-2012, 07:06 AM
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Steve,

As others have suggested I would contact your companies flight department to see what the chances are of getting hired there. This is a "who you know" business, if you dont know anybody, you dont have much of a chance.

At Flight Safety last time,I met a guy who was hired to fly a Citation with 500 hours. He had worked the ramp for this company and they sent him to school as soon as he met insurance mins for the right seat. Now he's in a Challenger 300 with less than 1500 hours. This sort of thing happens but is very rare.

In my opinion the most important thing you have to consider is how this is going to effect your family. (Sorry, dont remember if you have kids or not) This businees can be brutal on your family life. You will miss many weekends, holidays and other important dates. You will almost certinaly have to move at least once. And your family income will be cut nearly in half for several years.

Is your wife a very independant person? Is she going to be willing to pick up alot of your slack because you're out of town? If not, this probably wont end well for your marriage. (Sorry, just being honest) I have known my wife since I was a student (she knew what she was getting into) She is very independant and it is still hard sometimes.

Looking at the financial end of this, consider: It's going to take you at least 5-7 years (maybe more, maybe never) to get to your present income level. That will make you close to 50 by the time this happens. Figure another 5+ years to make up the lost income of the first 5-7 years, your now in you're early to mid 50's. Your ratings are going to cost you 10's of thousands of dollars, tack on a few more years to pay for that. Now you're in your mid to late 50's (at best) before you break even financially. You will have maybe 10 years of higer income as a pilot. Thats assuming you dont lose your medical before you want to retire.


The corporate side of this business is far superior to the airline side (I've done both) but it is harder to break into. Also, the difference between a good job and a bad job is much larger in corporate. Also, there is very little job security. If the company decides to sell the planes, they dont have much use for the pilots. This never goes away no matter how much seniority you have. If it does happen, you will likely have to move again.

To get your foot in the door with your companies flight department I would suggest the following: Call up the Chief Pilot and offer to buy him lunch in exchange for his advise. Tell him your whole story and what your goals are. Ask him how he got to where he is. Be willing to help out around the hangar (for little or no compensation) this will show him you are serious and if you do a good job, will make him want to help you. Hanger floors always need to be cleaned. This may sound a bit off-putting, but remember you are trying to take a HUGE career short cut here and your are going to need this guys help. The other thing to consider is, if he cant help you, he may know someone in the area who can.

If you can get your foot in the door with the flight department at your current company I would go that route. If that turns out to be a dead end, I would recomend you dont do this. The potential reward is not worth the risk to your income and family life.

Sorry to be a downer but, I have given your situation a lot of thought and this is what I really think. I have a very good job, but It took me +10 years of CFI'ing, delivering planes, Freight Dogging, crappy airlines, commuting, flying charter, etc to get here (and some luck and help form many friends) Still, for every pilot I know with a good job I know 2 that are unemployed or underemployed.

You have a decent job with a well above average income and a good family life. Dont risk that. 5 years from now I hope you are the manager of your current department, not living in a 1 bedroom appartment in West Virginia, flying cargo, making allamony/child support payments. (i'm thinking of a friend of mine)

Best of luck, no matter what you decide to do.
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