Anyone here instruct part-time and keep the day job?

[Crusty Old Dude]

I have a flight school just 15 minutes from where I work, and my job has a very flexible shift. I spoke with the school on a few occasions and they've been hiring their students on a regular basis. Three of the folks that I've talked with on different times said that they could make good use of someone wanting to instruct on a part-time basis. So how realistic is that? I've been doing the math, and it looks like it would take a while to build that time up vs. just jumping in and instructing full time.

 

Anyone else have any experience with this? I'm looking at making the major career change, but I also have some bills to pay in the meantime...

[Autorotator]

This is just my opinion. I would personally jump in full time (if it's a busy school), rack those hours up, and move on. It WILL take you a long time building hours just flying/teaching part time. Just think, if you spend just around a year just flying, then you can move off to the Gulf and start at $50,000 + a year. So you may have to live a little tight for a while, you get to fly everyday.

 

I tought at a school that was not busy at all so basically was like teaching part time. I struggled to pay bills and build hours. Though the job wasn't what I expected and worth moving halfway across the nation, I met alot of great people and ended up making some really great contacts which linked me up with my corporate gig now.

 

All in all, if you jump into it full time, the sooner you'll be where you want to be in your career.

 

Good luck.

[Crusty Old Dude]

This is just my opinion. I would personally jump in full time (if it's a busy school), rack those hours up, and move on. It WILL take you a long time building hours just flying/teaching part time. Just think, if you spend just around a year just flying, then you can move off to the Gulf and start at $50,000 + a year. So you may have to live a little tight for a while, you get to fly everyday.

 

I tought at a school that was not busy at all so basically was like teaching part time. I struggled to pay bills and build hours. Though the job wasn't what I expected and worth moving halfway across the nation, I met alot of great people and ended up making some really great contacts which linked me up with my corporate gig now.

 

All in all, if you jump into it full time, the sooner you'll be where you want to be in your career.

 

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I've come to that conclusion myself. After talking with someone at the school, it seems that many people start off trying to do the part-time thing because of the pay, but quickly conclude that it's well worth just getting in there and getting it done. Plus as you stated, it gets you closer to the industry faster...gaining contacts, networking, etc. etc.

 

I could not imagine trying to make this tough career-change decision without the Internet!

 

Thanks again.

[Crusty Old Dude]

OK: now let's put a new twist on all of this. Assuming that this flight school that's 15 minutes from work was located in the same airport as, say, a flight school that just layed off all of their instructors...and those instructors will more than likely be filling the next year to year and a half worth of instructor slots...now what say ye?

 

I'm interested in opinions in how the new 'glut' of instructor pilots will affect schools located next to said defunct flight school. Does anyone have experience with this....operators?

[K-38]

I am by no means an operator just a C.F.I. but from what I have seen recently the C.F.I. job market has become saturated over night. It was very competitive before the close of SSH, and now it is very tough.

[Crusty Old Dude]

I am by no means an operator just a C.F.I. but from what I have seen recently the C.F.I. job market has become saturated over night. It was very competitive before the close of SSH, and now it is very tough.

This is what I was wondering, as you can imagine what a local closure would mean to students just getting ready to graduate with CFI and CFII at some other school in the area. I'm near Ogden, UT where SSH was at alongside High Desert Helo's which uses 300's.

[Rob Lyman]

I instruct part time and get about 120 hours a year. My other job is 7:00-4:00 so I can get flights in after work during most of the year. I couldn't instruct full time because my living expenses are too high. so, my "job" pays the bills while the instructing adds time (slowly) and satisfies my flying bug.

 

BTW, I am not trying to build time, as I already have 10 years of flying in the Navy and enough flight time for any flying job I might want. Too bad I can't find a flying job that pays what my real job does.

[Tenacious T]

I am by no means an operator just a C.F.I. but from what I have seen recently the C.F.I. job market has become saturated over night. It was very competitive before the close of SSH, and now it is very tough.

 

I have a theory that low time CFIs will be more attractive to schools because those closer to 1000 hours will be out the door after a few months. Does this sound logical or false?

[tattooed]

After talking to alot of people after the SSH "fiasco", it seems that most schools will continue to hire mostly from their own pool of students. This is going to be hard on the X-SSH CFI's, but makes sense.

 

Most successful business/corporations prefer to hire from within. Well-run companies generally have a training philisophy and a "mentality" that is hard to teach a brand new employee that has not been "hand fed" this from the start. "Hand fed" individuals also tend to be fiercely loyal to their company. I hope this makes sense. I have been a Licensed Veterinary Technician for close to 15 years, and I do 90% of my hiring from within. I'd rather take a receptionist with potential and train her to be a Tech Assist. rather than take an experienced tech assit and try and teach her OUR wa of doing things. Hard to explain, but over the years, my best employees come from within. There is also a "family feeling" you just don't get when you ahire an outsider.

 

Sorry if I can't verbalize my intent well. Hopefully this will make those CPL students who are hoping to get hired on at their schools feel more secure. I want very badly to get hired on at my school. I love the place and the people. I feel confortable there. So I am conducting myself as the best student I can, I am busting my a$$ to get the best scores on all my tests, and hopefully blow their minds! LOL

I'm doing my best to guarentee a CFI spot for me when one is available. Mine is a rather large school, so I feel pretty good.

Edited February 13, 2008 by tattooed

[Crusty Old Dude]

After talking to alot of people after the SSH "fiasco", it seems that most schools will continue to hire mostly from their own pool of students. This is going to be hard on the X-SSH CFI's, but makes sense.

 

Most successful business/corporations prefer to hire from within. Well-run companies generally have a training philisophy and a "mentality" that is hard to teach a brand new employee that has not been "hand fed" this from the start. "Hand fed" individuals also tend to be fiercely loyal to their company. I hope this makes sense. I have been a Licensed Veterinary Technician for close to 15 years, and I do 90% of my hiring from within. I'd rather take a receptionist with potential and train her to be a Tech Assist. rather than take an experienced tech assit and try and teach her OUR wa of doing things. Hard to explain, but over the years, my best employees come from within. There is also a "family feeling" you just don't get when you ahire an outsider.

 

Sorry if I can't verbalize my intent well. Hopefully this will make those CPL students who are hoping to get hired on at their schools feel more secure. I want very badly to get hired on at my school. I love the place and the people. I feel confortable there. So I am conducting myself as the best student I can, I am busting my a$$ to get the best scores on all my tests, and hopefully blow their minds! LOL

I'm doing my best to guarentee a CFI spot for me when one is available. Mine is a rather large school, so I feel pretty good.

tat :

 

thanks for the insight and that makes a lot of sense. Another thought I had was that the R-22 time does not translate to 300 time so there will be some curve. They may be tempted simply to hook up with schools in SLC and south that use Robbie. Maybe.