So you want to be a Professional Pilot?
So, you're living day-to-day, nothing really exciting happening at your job, your looking for something, but you don't know what.
Then all of a sudden, you hear a noise from above.... you look up and there goes an aerodynamically beautiful business jet, you think wow, I wonder what it's like to fly that? After watching the jet majestically climb into the clouds you think, maybe I could call the airport and find out how to become a Professional Pilot?
You found a pretty good flight school, signed up for flying lessions, and told your family, you're going to be a Professional Pilot.
You did it, you got your Private Pilot license now what?
You sit down, think for awhile and realize, wow, there is so much to learn.
What do I do next?
After checking around you see you're going to have spend tens of thousands of dollars to get career started.
How should I proceed?
* Where do I go?
* What kind of flying job should I go after?
* Should I become an Airline Pilot?
* Should I consider being a Corporate Pilot?
* How much money can I expect to earn?
* What other types of pilot jobs can I do?
Let's start off by answering the "Where do I go?" question. To determine this answer you need to consider the following:
* How much money do I have to invest in my training?
* How much time do I have to devote to training?
* What kind of return on my investment can I expect?
* Does the School have a realistic job placement service?
These are just a few of the big questions, you need to ask yourself, in order to evaluate your first steps, in an Aviation career.
After you've figured out whether to proceed or not, than you should ask yourself, is my family willing to sacrafice for me to pursue my flying career.
Because, they will have to sacrafice!
During your early career as a Professional Pilot you will bearly eeek out a a living. Is your family willing to support you while you live on peanuts.
This is the reality of being a Pilot, even after you get some experience, you may not make a lot of money. If, you are making 45 - 50k per year you're not doing bad.
Working as a Professional Pilot is a lot of fun! Reality is a part of the profession too. You will work long hours, receive marginal pay, and work for some operators that are going to push you to do things you don't want to, or shouldn't do.
To be a Professional Pilot. you need to dedicate yourself to, first, getting GOOD training. There are quick ways to get through training, accelerated courses, and all kinds of BS from Flight Schools that are designed take your money.
Remember, your flying skills are only as good as your Primary training!
Take your time and evaluate you potential career path; Don't rush, be careful where you put your trust, and work hard learning your craft. If, you do all of this, then you can join the game of "Watch the Pilot jump though the hoops." You can be one of us, hoping and praying for that great job with decent pay.
It's a tough career, if you want to do it, you'll need to have unending persistence, in order to succeed.
There is much more I could cover here, but it would be tough to talk about all the possibilities you'll encounter in this article.
So, let me wish you good luck in pursing your career and I'll leave you with these works of advice: "You can never fail if, you never give up."
Desert Falcon Rising offers, Aviation Career Consulting Services.