de727ups

"Ok, now that I have been through counseling here @ APC... I will revert back to the question that was originally proposed!"

Sorry again. But your sarcasm about counseling is rude as hell. Hope your find what your looking for but if you want wide spread, varied, commentary and opinion, this is the wrong way to go about it....

Jusme

Enough with all of the he said this and that.... Can we just focus on the question thats being asked! I'm not searching for Sigmund Freud here at APC, I'm just looking for career advice... Can we focus on the topic plz.

waflyboy

Hello Jusme. I'm a career changer myself. Going back to your first post, here are some things that came to my mind:

Maybe I missed it, but what is your master's degree in? What institution is it from? I'm asking because usually when somebody commits the time and resources to pursue a master's degree, they figure it will come in handy at some point in the future. And that "future" appears to be exactly where you are right now.


There was a time when you didn't need a "certificate" to get a job as a process operator. Years ago, I was offered an operator position and my highest level of education was a high school diploma. That was about 15 years ago, so maybe times have changed and this certificate is the new barrier of entry. But I wanted to share my experience, because over the last decade there seems to have been an increase in the number of schools promising "lucrative and exciting" careers and issuing degrees that are virtually worthless in the real job market.

Is your acquaintance an "enrollment officer" (sales person) for the school? How many times did you read or hear about the "coming pilot shortage" when you were looking for a flight school? I'm sure you don't need to be reminded of that....


If you are truly as vocationally misguided as you seem, you might consider the advice of a career counselor. I doubt you're going to find great happiness in a career as a process operator.

waflyboy

Great advice, by the way.

One more question for Jusme... are you on furlough? Who are/were you working for?

slough

You should read "outliers" by malcolm galdwell.

de727ups

Yeah, sure.

Me. UPS pilots, Fedex pilots, SWA pilots, many legacy pilots, some regional pilots, most corporate pilots, and anyone else who is happy with their career in aviation. Right....

Ski Patrol

c'mon you don't realize how lucky you were to be shot down by the other 2 legacies? And land at option "C".

I wonder what the % is of happy legacy pilots?

de727ups

Yes and no. I'd have 20 years in with CO or World now. Personally, and just speaking for myself, I'd have been happy with either A or B. But there is no question that I'm better off where I ended up.

Your second question is a good one. But I think you have to use the "would you do it over" test if you are going to do an "outliers" poll. I jumpseat a lot and I run into very few that are outwardly unhappy. I'm sure Skyhigh has a theory for that.

Here's a good question. What percentage of aviation professionals are posting at APC? And does an anonymous message board tend to bring out more of those who would rather gripe than praise?

CrimsonEclipse

Ever seen so much crap in all of your life?
So many people cheering, "I got mine, why are YOU so miserable?"

So, aviation treated you wrong, I understand.
You are considering employment in the Petrolium industry. Fair enough.

May I suggest contacting your local unemployment office (you don't need to be unemployed) to get some assistance on a career change.

Many states have several services available including personality test to suggest a alternate set of careers, match those with existing skills, and correlate those into jobs expected to be in need and have good pay.

It IS a process and you should enter it with an open mind. Each step can broaden your horizons and you will realize that there is so much out there beyond aviation and much of it is actually pleasant to be in.

Keep all options open, from rice farmer to corporate lawyer.

If you need any additional information or suggestions feel free to PM me.

I will have my own story on here before long.

Airhoss

That's not it at all, not even close. When a guy publicly states that he "Was so broke that he didn't want to live." It gets my attention and it is cause for concern. You can't say something like that and not get a reaction from anybody who has ever dealt with suicide.

I have in the past as an EMT dealing with the aftermath while on duty and we've had multiple pilots take their lives here at UAL since 9-11 a couple of whom I knew fairly well. Normal, healthy people don't make comments like that ever.