Making ends meet
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Making ends meet
I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what kind of job could go well beside flying. I've applied for a few jobs where I can make my own schedule but I have yet to get an answer. What did you guys do when you started out and had to make ends meet? How did you manage it with flying?
Last edited by notpaying on Fri Nov 01, 2013 10:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Making ends meet
Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, car's necessary for personal reasons and financial. Place where I work is kinda remote if I can put it that way and in order to even imagine working another job, I'd need the car to get there...WJ733 wrote:I'm not sure if this would help your situation, but a buddy of mine who flew skydivers for the summer slept and stayed in a bunker at the airfield where he didn't have to pay rent and I suppose with the money he made, he could afford food. In the winter time, he got a job at the Intl airport to make some extra coin for next season. I believe he took his car off the insurance for the summer also to cut costs. He also flew 3-4 days a week so he got quite a bit more money than a weekender pilot, but I am sure there a lots of jobs out there that let your work Mon-Fri to cover your costs. Where is this gig of yours?
As for me, I'm an all-week pilot which means that I can be called on the job pretty much anytime, however, for now, only weekends are busy which means little hours, little pay. All I can say for now is that I'm damn excited for the season to pick up and see jumpers rollin' in..
I've thought of applying either for do-at-home surveys for a telephone surveying company (pretty cool I can do it from my laptop) or going to pick fruit in the nearby farmlands on calm days.
I'd rather not disclose the location of my gig however I can tell you guys that it's about 1 hour away from one of Canada's biggest metropolises and that I do not work for free.
Re: Making ends meet
So...you have a part time flying job, which does not meet your financial requirements..
If you can survive for a month or two, I would keep sending out resumes , knocking on doors, to find a full time flying job, if that is your goal.
If you cant, and you are physcially fit, lots of places have temp work centers, where the pay is usually quite good compared to the wage you will get asking if someone wants to "supersize that".
I assume you thought this all out before you accepted a part time flying position, but it does not seem you did...I say this in the nicest way..Plan a bit better. Dont jump at the first job offered if the conditions mean you are going to be spending your evenings protecting your space next to the best dumpster at Arbys.
There is more to life than filling up logbooks for career advancement....
If you can survive for a month or two, I would keep sending out resumes , knocking on doors, to find a full time flying job, if that is your goal.
If you cant, and you are physcially fit, lots of places have temp work centers, where the pay is usually quite good compared to the wage you will get asking if someone wants to "supersize that".
I assume you thought this all out before you accepted a part time flying position, but it does not seem you did...I say this in the nicest way..Plan a bit better. Dont jump at the first job offered if the conditions mean you are going to be spending your evenings protecting your space next to the best dumpster at Arbys.
There is more to life than filling up logbooks for career advancement....
Re: Making ends meet
Gotta agree with you here that I pretty much accepted the job since I'm fresh outta school and need to make the necessary sacrifices.. I want to keep this job and I know for a fact that as soon as the season picks up pay's gonna be pretty decent... 'till then... belts getting tighter every day.trey kule wrote:So...you have a part time flying job, which does not meet your financial requirements..
If you can survive for a month or two, I would keep sending out resumes , knocking on doors, to find a full time flying job, if that is your goal.
If you cant, and you are physcially fit, lots of places have temp work centers, where the pay is usually quite good compared to the wage you will get asking if someone wants to "supersize that".
I assume you thought this all out before you accepted a part time flying position, but it does not seem you did...I say this in the nicest way..Plan a bit better. Dont jump at the first job offered if the conditions mean you are going to be spending your evenings protecting your space next to the best dumpster at Arbys.
There is more to life than filling up logbooks for career advancement....
- single_swine_herder
- Rank 7
- Posts: 627
- Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2012 9:35 pm
Re: Making ends meet
This is a very immediate resolution to your problem of being a young pilot just starting out in this business ...
http://youtu.be/i-air8-AWps
http://youtu.be/i-air8-AWps
Re: Making ends meet
NO! you do not need to take positions that don't pay enough to survive! If it was just a weekend gig for you while you work at another pay job, fine. But if they expect you to be available on more then weekends, politely ask for more money as you do not make enough to survive. If they can't provide you with more then in a very diplomatic way tell them to go %^# themselves and find something else.notpaying wrote:need to make the necessary sacrifices.
Stop lowering salaries by accepting shit work conditions and terrible pay. Come north, work the ramp, wait for a paying flying position, there are many solutions to making a living with flying, accepting terrible paying jobs is not one of them.
E
Re: Making ends meet
As soon as the season picks up my post won't be that relevant however in the meantime I wouldn't mind making some more money. I took the job because we all need a place to start, I didn't have 10 grand for an instrutors rating and not interested in it either and I wanted a flying job straight out of school for which I wouldn't have to pay a check. My bosses treat me very well, are very open, we have a very nice working environment from what I've seen lately and hope it'll be like this all summer long. I spoke to them about the fact that financially it's not easy for me right now. We'll see what gives.
Last edited by notpaying on Fri Nov 01, 2013 10:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Making ends meet
When I was working on-call during the days like that, I was also working nights at the local grocery store stocking shelves! Might I suggest an evening/night job a couple times a week to help out? Should be quite a few around.. and well, you don't drop meat bombs in the dark 

Re: Making ends meet
Get a student loan and be a lawyer ... own your own airplane and fly when YOU want to fly. It will never get better wage wise due to all the aviation prostitutes willing to fly for nothing. Talk to people that used to work for Millard Air.. they used to pay the company to just get the experience.. nothing has changed.
Re: Making ends meet
Finallynotpaying wrote: I do not work for free.

Re: Making ends meet
DHCdriver wrote:Finallynotpaying wrote: I do not work for free.Know if we can get the rest of the new drivers to say this, we could possibly make a change. Good for you notpaying. DHC
Sorry but I do not see the difference between working for free and accepting a job which does not pay enough to live off of.
I get what you mean and agree that we should all stick together to improve our working conditions and salary, however this is not a step towards that.
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- Rank 4
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- Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2008 11:58 am
Re: Making ends meet
^ This. When I was in the lean days I worked as a security guard. They would schedule around my flying. Not too many of them wanted to work nights anyhow, so it was easy to pick up shifts then. The job meshes nicely with flying in that it takes very little energy and thinking after a long day of being a meat servo... The closest you can get to sleeping while being paid.Rowdy wrote:When I was working on-call during the days like that, I was also working nights at the local grocery store stocking shelves! Might I suggest an evening/night job a couple times a week to help out? Should be quite a few around.. and well, you don't drop meat bombs in the dark
Re: Making ends meet
When I started out I subsidized my poor pilot wages by selling a kidney, sperm, a liver(we have 2 right?), and a fair bit of blood.
I made a lot money on the side and I still feel finnnnneeejelkkfsmmvsfdvsfvs.v.sv..help..s...bvsfssfvdaf
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I made a lot money on the side and I still feel finnnnneeejelkkfsmmvsfdvsfvs.v.sv..help..s...bvsfssfvdaf
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