So im new to this whole thing here, my name is Zak and im 29 years old with 350tt trying to find a flying job for the last year or so. I started CFI training in March and took my CFI initial exam in August and bombed the oral (1st NOD) took it again on September 23rd and no joy (2nd NOD). Heres the thing... Im a very good stick and rudder pilot i can fly the hell out of a 172 or anything im able get my hands on but i suck dick at the technical crap or trying to explain how anything works. I was only really doing the CFI cause i had a job lined up and i was relying heavily on my flying skills to salvage my shotty ground game; but i never even got to the flying part. I did a small stint at county a while ago so any part 135 gig or beyond is not possible at the moment. I have literally no money left and am dying to find anything that pays. Any leads or info on jobs would be great. Willing to relocate anywhere in the US and willing to except any pay amount. Don't really wanna give up on flying but if i do i end up a personal trainer full time but i dont feel like wearing sweats and a tank to work every day yelling at high school/college kids to stop half repping 225 on bench and end up almost killing themselves. I strive for a little bit more than that in life. Any info or help greatly appreciated. Thanks.
CFI vs other flying jobs
- Thread starter Zak90
- Start date
Isn’t jump pilot, banner towing, pipeline patrol a typical type of flying with this sort of background?
Criminal conviction and failed checkride twice.James331 said:
Sorry if I misunderstood the “walking in his same shoes” part. It strikes me that the criminal conviction may be a significant issue in finding a job. I suspect that is what Clip4 was reacting to.RyanB said:
But I’ve never been on that job market, so perhaps it doesn’t matter that much ?
I will also note that I have no idea what the OP’s conviction was for. It may have been for some nonsense victimless crime, in which case I certainly hope it has minimal impact on the job search. I was just speaking objectively of the possible impact.
That is an ad hominem attack, which is not only a logical fallacy, but in public fora, rude.James331 said:
I'll let it pass this once if you want to actually comment on the content and point out why a person should not consider that a criminal conviction might impair someone's ability to get the job they want. I don't know about this market, but in many markets, convictions, even for nonsense crimes, are a problem.
Regarding failing twice, I have no experience. Generally, failing a test twice is not a good thing, but I know the CFI check ride is hard and maybe failing twice is not unusual -- please inform me.
Yes, I was just in some training for a CFI and was told that your ability to teach is what is being tested. It is assumed that you know how to fly to a commercial standard.dmspilot said:
Initial CFI pass rate is about 68% and has been trending down very slightly.
https://www.aopa.org/training-and-s...pril/12/initial-cfi-checkride-myths-dispelled
So if the second time has the same rate, that would correspond to about a 10% rate of two failures. One would hope the pass rate the second time is higher.
https://www.aopa.org/training-and-s...pril/12/initial-cfi-checkride-myths-dispelled
So if the second time has the same rate, that would correspond to about a 10% rate of two failures. One would hope the pass rate the second time is higher.
Normally stereotyping refers to ignoring the particulars pertaining to an individual in favor of making judgements based on generalities.James331 said:
I fail to see how this is an example of that. We don’t really know much about the OP other than he is 29 years old, may have very good stick and rudder skills (per self report), has been sentenced to some jail time, and failed the checkride twice.
You asked what of his background might indicate he would have a problem finding a job as a professional pilot?
I responded that the jail time and failing twice were two such items.
You then said that was a stupid thought.
In this last post it strikes me we agree that the jail time is likely to create some issues with finding a job.
About 10% of people might be expected to fail the checkride twice, so while not terribly rare it is less common and those results suggest the OP is in the bottom decile of CFI teaching ability.
So based on those facts and agreement, I honestly don’t see why such an opinion or evaluation is viewed as being so terribly offensive to other posters on an aviation board. It is unclear why a comment about the OP would be perceived as applying to more than the OP in the first place. Unless the majority or a substantial fraction of pilots here have been sentenced to jail time and failed their CFI checkrides two of more times. But I don’t believe that is the case.
But we really don’t know much about the OP and he could provide more information if he desires more accurate evaluation.
I see now from my initial post here that someone might think I was trying to imply that people doing pipeline patrol, banner towing, or jump piloting had done jail time or failed their checkrides.
But that is technically an inversion of what I said. I said that people who had that background were more likely to be able to be that type of pilot.
I do not know the actual numbers here and would be happy to enlightened. I was under the impression that if you have that type of background you are more likely to be able to get that type of job.
Whether that implies that the population of such pilots is more likely to have a criminal background or have failed checkride repeatedly to an important degree would depend on the size of the respective populations and the distribution of those backgrounds in the population of pilots as a whole.
But that is technically an inversion of what I said. I said that people who had that background were more likely to be able to be that type of pilot.
I do not know the actual numbers here and would be happy to enlightened. I was under the impression that if you have that type of background you are more likely to be able to get that type of job.
Whether that implies that the population of such pilots is more likely to have a criminal background or have failed checkride repeatedly to an important degree would depend on the size of the respective populations and the distribution of those backgrounds in the population of pilots as a whole.
Does anyone in this thread work as a professor in this industry? :emoji846:James331 said:
Good point. In looking back at the OP I see that he did seem to be realistic about prospects being somewhat limited by his convictions.sarangan said:
I imagine the airlines will have other questions about this. But others here are likely more knowledgeable of how that might impact their decision making.Zak90 said:
