I am currently looking at the prospects of becoming a helicopter pilot.
I understand there are two main routes after acquiring a CPL, which in itself costs a bit but does not qualify a pilot for a job due to lack of experience.
The less expensive route I have heard of is that you acquire a CFI and hope to get a job as an instructor, however I have heard of people applying to every flight school in the UK and not getting one of these jobs due to lack of experience and the vast amount of available CFIs out there.
Then there is the opportunity of doing instrument ratings which qualify