ICS COURSE INSTEAD OF COLLEGE

[timart]

HI I WAS JUST WONDERING IF THE ICS COURSE WAS GOOD OR BAD AND IF SOME OF THE EMPLOYERS LIKE AIR CANADA WOULD NOT ACCEPT YOUR RESUME IF YOU DONT HAVE YOUR COLLEGE DIPLOMA. IF ANYONE HAS ANY INFO PLEASE LET ME KNOW

THANKS

[jsmetalbashers]

Don't waste your money on ICS. If you want to be an AME go to a tech. school.

[what the f?]

it would be hard without college(it's hard enough with college) and you could forget about a big place like A.C. but if you are willing to work in general aviation for a start you can do it with ICS.
a lot of bush operators have a lifetime apprentice or two on the floor who never went to college or did ICS but have been doing maintenance for years with no basic training and do great work but need someone else to sign for it.
if you worked like that and did ICS you could write transport's exams and get a licence.

i think it would be very hard to do it with M2 aircraft, but ICS would work for small pistons if you don't mind working in buttf**k nowhere for your start.

another thing to consider is that you would save a few grand doing ICS instead of college and you could be working two years sooner.

and so what if someone rips on your ICS education, the old guys are always bitching about how anyone who went to college doesn't know a thing about the 'real world'. either way someone will tell you you know nothing, so consider saving some $$ since you'll be abused the same.
or even if you did go to college some other arsehole will tell you you think you know everything and they will bitch about that. and if you go to confederation college someone from centennial college will say your school is shite and you know nothing, and vise versa.
actually, considering what an apprentice has to go through, maybe think about becoming a plumber or an electrician instead of getting into aviation. the guy at the unemployment office told me crane operators are in huge demand these days and get paid great. maybe be a crane operator. not sure if there is a crane operators ICS course or not.

[Blakey]

Is there some particular reason you can't do both? You can do the ICS course as extra study material while you go to college or you can do it while you work the hangar floor and, once you get your license, if you find your knowledge lacking in some ways, go to college! I don't see any way that you can lose by taking the ICS course.

[fmrc3ame]

What you lose from the ICS course is the interactivity of what you are learning and seeing it work on the floor. In college you can see the system work on a working aircraft. Not to slag the ICS course but you will be fighting an uphill battle all the way. I have worked with Engineers who took the ICS course and they are excellent Engineers but employers would prefer to hire someone with an accredited education. That statement alone could open a can of worms but what it boils down to is "who would an employer look at first"? You need all the help you can get to land a job and the college education doesn't guarantee that but it does give a significant advantage, "Time". The employer could have you licensed 2years or more earlier than an ICS grad. Yes you'll have spent 2 years in school to get to that point but you'll always have the advantage in the eyes of TC and the employer. Just my 2 cents, good luck to you whichever route you pick.

ps, I'm one of those old guys but I won't tell ya that you know it all, just ask my wife...lol

[timart]

thanks for the replys guys, the thing is that im a 4th year apprentice and i have alot of pt6 and piston experience and im wondering if i should go back to college or not. maybe when ill be done writting the exams it wont really matter.

[tellyourkidstogetarealjob]

timart,

I disagree with some of the ICS opinions posted here.

ICS won't get you into the industry but if, as you write, you're 4th year don't waste your money on college unless it's a different trade.

I've tried correspondence courses in the past. They take a lot of self dicipline which is a positive that can be emphasized on a resume.

From experience I've usually found 4 years experience + ICS superior to 2 or 2 and a half years + college. ICS grads do miss some of the theoretical aspects covered in school but then I've seen a lot of that even between colleges. There's one college in this country that, until recently, I would'nt give you two cents for one of their grads (after having worked with several).

Once you get licensed, few care where you went to school.

[AME343]

Hey timart,

I agree with tellyourkidstogetarealjob about the ICS course. I think it's a great way for someone already working as an apprentice in the field to get that much needed piece of paper to become a licenced engineer. I know of a few guys that went that way and are now in crew chief or supervisory postions and are doing pretty good for themselves. For you, being a fourth year apprentice, you shouldn't go waste 2 years of your time and money on college. You'll get a lot more out of 2 years of work experience than you would ever get in school, and you can do your ICS in your spare time. If you work hard at it you could probably get it done within 6 months or so.

Now for somebody looking to get in the aircraft maintenance field and without any experience, I would definitly say go to college.

Good luck

[Techopsgirl]

both my husband & I have completed the ICS course. I work in the records dept of maintenance and found that it has help me greatly, as well as having my pilot's licence. My husband works in corporate aviation and he does very well. The apprenticeship is longer, but he found work very easy. He has no desire to join an airline, but I know a few guys at Jazz who had the ICS course. I've seen guys who spent 4 years in college and sill didn't know which end of the airplane to look at. A lot of it comes down to mechanical aptitude of the individual.