Yea it's all about just getting the hours and how you come across in the interview. I can only image the day I walk in and a guy looks at my resume then looks at me and says, "You wouldn't happened to also be known as ToiletDuck would you". I'll never get a job.

Speaking of which, are you going to work in Dallas? Keep us posted!

Would it be an option for me to start out with an independent instructor and then receive 141 instr and commercial certs? Can you jump into 141 instruction like this or do you need to be in it from the beginning?

Sure. The average time for getting your private pilot cert. seems to be about 70 hours regardless of how you do your training. I think there are a lot of benefits to part 141 courses though, especially in ground school. Group learning, networking, etc.

I did all of my training under part 141 programs until my CFI, which I am doing part 61.

I would say that reflects poorly on the instructor if that's an average. I'd ask any prospective instructor or school for proof of their success record, and flight hours of students finishing the curricula would be important to me. The FAA requires 40 hours for the private, if the average is almost double that, I'd want to know why.

I think a lot of it has to do with the time that someone can commit each week. Naturally, those who can commit more time each week to the quest will finish sooner. From AOPA's website:

"How long does it take to learn to fly and get a Private Pilot certificate? (top)
The same variables that affect the cost of learning to fly (frequency of flight lessons, weather conditions, the kind of aircraft in which you are training and its availability for scheduling, and individual aptitude) affect the time it takes to earn your certificate. The FAA has a minimum number of flight hours needed to obtain a certificate. Under Part 61, the minimum is 30 hours for a recreational certificate and 40 hours for a private pilot certificate. Some schools operate under an alternate regulation, Part 141. These schools have more FAA oversight, more rigid schedules, and more paperwork. For the added requirements, they are allowed to reduce the minimum hours of private pilot training to 35 hours. Many schools estimate that a true average flight training time for a private pilot is between 50 hours and 60 hours for both Part 61 and 141 schools. Others believe that 68 to 70 hours is the more likely average. These flight hours can be spread over a time span of several months or a year or more."

I think another contributer to this additional time beyond the minimum required is likely advanced cockpits we see in "primary" trainers today. It's rare to find a newer 172 without GPS, and many of the SPs will likely have an MFD and auto pilot in addition. In some cases learning the buttons in the aircraft is almost as difficult as learning the flying part itself.

The stuff from AOPA was taken from this link: http://flighttraining.aopa.org/learntofly/faqs/#5 you can probably find answers to other questions you may have there as well.

Not that this matters at all, but when I was signing folks off regularly for checkrides, the last 5 I signed off had a combined average flight time of 42.8 hours, and all 5 passed. There are just too many variables though. Many people can only fly like once a week. Sometimes they don't study. Another variable is the instructor. New instructors are still learning what it takes to make a private pilot out of someone, which makes things take longer. I was able to choose my students, and I didn't keep someone if they weren't going to fly frequently and study hard. My first 3 private pilot signoffs took an average of 65 hours.

Well I talked on the phone with the guy and he liked what I had to say. He asked me to drive up there Tuesday morning to see him. Then I'm going strait to houston to get my CFII. I have friends there ect. so I have a place to stay and the MVPavaiton guys seem like they have a good operation. I've also turned in an application with them as well. While Dallas would be awesome too I'm hoping for Houston. Reason being I have a few friends and we could room together. In Dallas I would be all alone and by working on salary with them I might be unable to support myself there.
Duck