Is it hard to find CFI jobs?
 

I'm a former regional F/O who may be getting back into the industry in a few years. With only about 850 hours TT in my logbook, I need to get myself recurrent and instruct for a little while (ironically, to build enough flight time to qualify for a job I used to do).

Once I get my instructor ticket, how hard (or easy) is it, typically, to find a CFI job? Am I going to be able to canvass a few FBOs and find a gig, or is it going to involve sending resumes all over the country? Just curious as to what other have experienced in their instructor days. Thanks in advance!

Is it hard to find CFI jobs?
 

You're probably better off if you're able to move to a big flight school that can load you with many students. Especially since you have almost 700 hours to build, you don't want to be flying 200 hours per year in a smaller city/flight school with a small student base.

The Ohio State University is looking for instructors. They have way more students than they know what to do with and are double-booking students just to keep them flying. You would probably have a full load immediately upon hire.

I agree check big schools, instructors down at our school average 500 plus hours a year.. in the northeast on the coast where the mornings are foggy and the afternoons are stormy.

It just depends where you go and being at the right place at the right time, and being flexible with location. I lucked put and got hired at the place where I did my CFI, even though I hadn't even thought about working there and I was ready to head off to Texas, Arizona, Florida, etc where all the jobs seem to be. We hired just about everyone who did their CFI training with us and seemingly hired half the people who came in the door looking for a job. Fast forward a year later, we can't hire anyone new since we hired as many as we need. What I do know is that if you are flexible in location, you will find a CFI job.

Instructors are wanted everywhere, you will have no problem finding a cfi gig!
good luck!

Thanks for all the replies! I appreciate the good feedback.

Come to Texas. There are CFI jobs aplenty

The Texas Flying Club in College Station, TX always needs instructors. Plus it's right next to a major university so there are lots of students.

In between part 135 jobs I went back to flight instructing at Hillsboro Aviation in Hillsboro, Oregon. They train pilots for JAL, KAL and CAL. I was assigned five Chinese students for instrument training and flew 125 hours a month. Before entering part 135 I built time teaching at the University of North Dakota and Daniel Webster College. Big flight schools like the three where I worked are nice as they are part 141 and provide you with a syllabus and students. I spent a year teaching part 61 and barely flew. I had to get a job at the FBO to support myself. jsfirm.com is a free jobs website with lots of CFI jobs advertised. Good luck.