Engineering degree

[flyingmaverick]

Will an engineering degree work in favour when applying for airlines , I have 500 hrs of total time with absolutely no chance of getting employed

[BTyyj]

The engineering degree won't get you a job as a pilot. It might give you some extra points on an airline's hiring matrix, but that's about it.

[Colonel Sanders]

Make an offer - you can buy mine, if you want

But seriously, folks .... at 500TT, what you need is more TT.

Get 1000TT (SEL is ok) then get MEL. MEL PIC is better. Then
you need turbine time. Multi-turbine PIC would be better. Doesn't
need to be jet - turbo-prop is just fine. Jets are easy to fly.

Get your ATPL. Or at least your IATRA. Go fly a 'van or a 'ho
and then get in the right seat of King Air or a mootoo.

I think it's Doc - a grumpy old guy here - that says the best
"f__k you" move, after you get your ATPL, is to buy a 737
type rating (about 11k for both classic and NG) and go from
there.

[Shiny Side Up]

If you have an engineering degree though, why would you want to work for peanuts as a pilot? Work as an engineer and fly for fun.

[Oxi]

Deleted

[Pavese]

If you have an engineering degree though, why would you want to work for peanuts as a pilot? Work as an engineer and fly for fun.

+1, if you have the coin for the degree and are really interested in it, do it. You might even snag a good position with an aerospace company and combine your fun.

D

[DanWEC]

There are some really fun applied engineering jobs. The spectrum spreads from dirty, outdoor or underground to buttoned down in an office, and to a racetrack. Whatever your flavor... even integrating with project management of all sorts if that's your taste.
If I do all over again, (Which would happen if this industry is really as contemptible as many people say... but I'll find out for myself.) engineering is in the ring for the battle royale with pharma and real estate.

[mdscientist61]

+1, if you have the coin for the degree and are really interested in it, do it. You might even snag a good position with an aerospace company and combine your fun.

+1 on what he said.

One of my friends here in Ottawa has a degree in aerospace engineering, and in his day job he designs instrument panels for large aircraft. In has spare time, he flies for fun and does what he wants.

Anyways, if you are in the beginning stages of getting a degree, please think about getting yourself into a degree program that incorporates co-op work-terms. It will take you a bit longer to complete your degree. But the advantage (assuming that your work terms are at decent placements) is that you will graduate with some actual real-life work experience, and you will have had a taste of trying some different things in your work terms. Furthermore, you will have the opportunity to get some meaningful contacts with people in industry, and the wages you earn will have you graduate with less debt.

Whatever path you end up choosing, please think about what a wise man on this forum has said: chase life-style, not metal.

Good luck, have fun and enjoy the ride.

(And remember, they won't give you what you deserve, they'll give you what you negotiate. )

[xysn]

+1, if you have the coin for the degree and are really interested in it, do it. You might even snag a good position with an aerospace company and combine your fun.

Anyways, if you are in the beginning stages of getting a degree, please think about getting yourself into a degree program that incorporates co-op work-terms. It will take you a bit longer to complete your degree. But the advantage (assuming that your work terms are at decent placements) is that you will graduate with some actual real-life work experience, and you will have had a taste of trying some different things in your work terms. Furthermore, you will have the opportunity to get some meaningful contacts with people in industry, and the wages you earn will have you graduate with less debt.

+1 Co-op gave me a huge leg up.

[flyingmaverick]

thanks all , I really appreciate your advice , and NO I am not that into getting engineering but if that add to anything then I might , its one of those desperate attempts to break free at this stage

[chipmunk]

A four year plan to "break free" at this stage seems a little over the top.

I'm guessing you're trying to find a job by sitting at home, emailing out resumes?

What you need to do is network. Get yourself a job where you're constantly in contact with people in the industry... i.e. fuelling/ramp at an FBO, flight school, etc., and do it well. Talk to people, show you're a good worker and employee, etc. (I have several friends who got hired to a flying position by doing this, one guy of them had a mere 250 hours, right seat on an MU2 simply by doing ramp work and making connections!) Or, go on a road trip and find yourself a right seat or ramp job away from the city. Or, if you like to teach, get yourself an instructor rating. Get your hands dirty, get yourself out there. Work hard. Don't complain or slack off. Someone is ALWAYS watching, and that someone could make or break your chances.

There are lots of ways to get yourself out there and trust me, it's a lot different at this moment than it was when many of us were trying to get that elusive first job just after 9/11.

[DanWEC]

Big Plus 1 for Chipmunk. Jees, if you're not that into really getting a P.Eng now, then imagine how little you'll feel like doing it after a few years of full time math and theory classes, watching another 50k of debt build up that you WILL have to pay back. There are much easier ways to get ahead if it's just for the purpose of flying airplanes.

[Colonel Sanders]

A PhD in theoretical physics and 500TT still isn't going
to get you hired by a frikken airline.

Get hours in an airplane, not hours in a classroom. Someone
with 500TT still has an awful lot to learn about aviation, and
you do that in a cockpit.

There's nothing wrong with getting a BSc or MSc or even PhD
in engineering. It's just that after that, it would be kind of a
waste of your abilities to drive an airplane.

Earn a pile of dough, and buy the coolest airplane at your airport.
Get a beaver or otter on amphibs - your choice radial or turbine.
Or get a King Air. Or TBM-850 or PC-12. Or MiG-21. Maybe
a Citation or Learjet.

Doctors and dentists generally have that figured out. Try to
fly a bit better than them, though.

[rob-air]

''Or get a King Air. Or TBM-850 or PC-12. Or MiG-21. Maybe
a Citation or Learjet.''

Not sure the average engineer makes that much.
Plus even if you have the money to get a plane
you also need to find time to fly it.

[Colonel Sanders]

Earn a pile of dough

[culver10]

Doctors and dentists generally have that figured out. Try to
fly a bit better than them, though.

That is a great one CS!!

I have a Dentist customer with a almost new R-44 Raven II. When he comes to the hangar to land we always hide behind a major structure to protect from any exploding bits on landing.

[BTyyj]

an almost new R-44 Raven II / exploding bits on landing.

[Colonel Sanders]

a Dentist ... any exploding bits on landing

Try really hard not to be that pilot

[Bede]

There's nothing wrong with getting a BSc or MSc or even PhD
in engineering. It's just that after that, it would be kind of a
waste of your abilities to drive an airplane.

That may be true, but a pilot at WJ, AC, or even Jazz will make more over the course of their career than pretty much any PhD working in academia. I'm not sure how much PhD engineers make in industry, but I make significantly more as a WJ FO than the engineers I know that work in industry (P.Eng).

Doctors, dentists and lawyers who are partners are about the only professions that I can think of that can fly decent airplanes as much as they want without sacrificing the rest of their lifestyle too much. PhD's definitely cannot.

Having said that a B.Eng is about the most useful degree you can get. If you're going to go to university, you might as well get an engineering degree. I know a guy who did his coop work terms at a 703 company flying/doing small projects. Built time and got an engineering degree concurrently.

[photofly]

Doctors, dentists and lawyers who are partners are about the only professions that I can think of that can fly decent airplanes as much as they want without sacrificing the rest of their lifestyle too much. PhD's definitely cannot.

Some software engineers can, too, so I'm told.

[Colonel Sanders]

I was told there wasn't any money in software, or technology for that matter:











All these guys wished they earned as much as a right seat airline pilot.

[Bede]

lol. I was talking in generalities of course. I'm sure there are lot's of engineers who make more than the average airline pilot, but the median income for engineers is less than that for airline pilots.

BTW Balsillie was never an engineer, he was an accountant.

[Colonel Sanders]

Balsillie was never an engineer

Yup - I knew him when he was doing his undergrad
at Trinity. Despite that, he still did ok in tech.