You graduated from flight school, and now you want to land a pilot job! This article will give you an overview of what to expect!
- Reading Time: Approx 3 Mins.
This is the third article of a series named "The Complete Guide To Becoming A Pilot".
If you haven't read the previous article, then please click here.
If you want to find all the articles in this guide, then please click here.
After graduating flight school, people are usually divided into groups:
- Students who were already on an airline-sponsored program will go and join their airline straight away, obviously!
- For Self-Sponsored Students: Usually, EU Students from reputable schools would grab a job quickly at Raynair or Easyjet mostly or another airline partnered with their flight schools. Non-EU students wouldn't get the same luxury even if they studied in the same school as they don't have the right to live and work in the EU.
- Self-Sponsored – The rest.
It's not always the same as I mentioned – Don't take it as a rule! Because it will depend on the period you graduate on, the global pilots demand, and so on, but that was what I experienced and observed.
Job hunting as a fresh pilot is tough because airlines usually ask for type rated experienced first officers. Still, there are few airlines (The number would increase or decrease depending on pilot shortage), and most of them are low-cost airlines who accept fresh graduates but either ask them to pay for the type rating (Around 30k $) during training or will deduce it from their monthly salaries if they are successful.
My Top 7 Tips To Get A Job As Pilot:
- Update your LinkedIn profile, and network with airline pilots to ask them if they expect their airline to hire soon.
- DON'T SPAM HR on LINKEDIN!! NEVER DO THAT! You can ask gently, but don't copy paste a pre-written letter and send it to every HR you see on LinkedIn.
- Keep looking on websites such as: Flight Deck Friend (Low Hour Pilot Jobs section), Aviationjobs.me, pilotcareercenter.com, latestpilotjobs.com, aviationjobsearch.com.
- If you have an airline in mind, check the career section on their website, or ask their HR on LinkedIn with a quick, brief message. Don't take it personally if they don't reply, as they get a ton of messages every day.
- Go to pilot expo and various exhibitions for networking.
- Don't apply for jobs you don't have the requirements for, especially as a fresh graduate; you will waste your time.
- Try to brush up on your ATPL knowledge a bit every day, so you don't get rusty.
I'm writing this during the COVID period. I'm sure that you are an aviation enthusiast or probably a laid-off pilot like me. We all know how Aviation is badly damaged, so if you are a fresh graduate, you have to be patient for a long time. Hopefully, a brighter future is coming.
How To Prepare For A Pilot Assessment:
Well done! You are now invited for an assessment, and you are now one step closer to grabbing that pilot job you always wanted, so brace yourself and prepare as much as you can. As for the purpose of keeping this guide on point, I skipped a few details (Planning to write a full detailed article about pilot assessment in the future after finishing my research!).
For now, here are a few tips on what to do:
- Brush up on ATPL theory (Mainly POF, Met, AGK, performance, Air law and Operational procedures). You can use your flight school manuals, dedicated websites, or there are good written summarised manuals on Amazon.
- Look for feedback online on forums such as Pprune but be prepared to get a ton of negative feedback about any airline you mention; that's normal. Pilots like to complain all the time about their job.
- Do your research and know what testing platform they use. After that, get a subscription on websites like "latestpilotjobs", "pilotaptitudetest", or another non-scammy looking website. "Skytest" is an excellent go-to software for preparation (if it does include the airline you are applying for).
- You can book a simulator to simulate your assessment if you have time and money.
- Write down answers to the most commonly asked questions in the interview.
- Collect as much info as you can about the airline you are applying for (History, fleet, financial reports ...)