I have been reading about Maylan and the firings or layoffs of instructors and other staff. And it seems that getting that first gig in instructing in Ontario me being a class 4 will be pretty much impossible this year and probably next year. I am looking for a permanent instructing job as I am in my 40's and not looking to move up to the bigger metal, just slowly progressing to I HOPE a class 1 in a few years, but this is depressing.

I have banged on doors if you may ask without success, and It boils down to who you know.

SUGGESTIONS

Are you willing to move? Theres other places that are looking for instructors. I know Harv's Air was a while ago, in Winnipeg.

yep, its been tough, and i think going to be for a while yet.

As said above, the only suggestion I have for you is to conduct your search throughout the whole country, If you dont really want to move just keep banging on doors and sending resumes in your area and hope to get lucky.




I guess that pilot shortage everybody talk about didnt last very long

I am in the same boat as you bluenote. Finished 2 months ago at a school in the GTA and no luck yet. Now the winter is fast approaching and its gonna get even tougher. Keep looking though, Im sure something will open up for you soon. From what I read, you are a career instructor and deserve a prime spot in this industry.

Stay focused and don't give up

T01

*** edited ***

Hedley wrote:LEAVE TORONTO

Its not just in Toronto, its bad everywhere. Who's hiring right now???

I DON'T LIVE IN TORONTO HEDLEY

In Febuary, there will be a flood of unemployed instructors on the west coast due to the Olympics so I wouldn't even look at southern BC. Right now, best bet is just to do something for a paycheck, if you did land an instructing job this is slow season and you'll need your food stamps anyhow.

We're looking at laying instructors off during the Security Games here in Vancouver, so they can collect E.I.

There are Olympic related temporary jobs, has anyone looked into these?

As for Ontario, whatever possesses anyone to live there I don't know... I spent 7 winters in Pointe Claire PQ and I'd never want to live in eastern Canada again.
Toronto is actually not the centre of the Universe despite whatever propoganda keeps people there...
Mind you I worry now that once again the Police are taking special powers here in BC, the Olympics are an excuse for them to choke everyone's fun as they do every year from Christmas through New Year... Perhaps they'll make this place so secure it will be unlivable.

Yes, you'll all have to hold off until Springtime... Though you should keep yourselves prepared, know your stuff, read lots of books, perhaps travel somewhere else and fly from another perspective... It won't hurt to have some Florida, Hawaii. Australia, New Zealand or other experience.
We're looking at overhauling a some more aeroplanes for next summer, I think it will be a good one. If we're overhauling aeroplanes then we'll need instructors to fly them, and these guys and gals better be good!

If I was in eastern Canada I'd set up a snow clearing business... I made money digging people's driveways out as a teenager...

I don't mean to say, but you're discouraged the instructing world is slow right now?! How long have you been living in Canada? No offense, but when I get the odd inquiry about employment around here I have a standard answer this time of year: Talk to me in the spring. Under no circumstances could I in all good consience bring someone on at the start of the slow season. It would be like hiring farmhands after the harvest. Not to say that we won't have work to do throughout the winter, but its the nature of the business to slow down. Less daylight and the holiday season is coming. I'm sure someone in retail could give you a count of days til your last shopping day. Not to mention our historically worst weather months are comming up.

And it seems that getting that first gig in instructing in Ontario me being a class 4 will be pretty much impossible this year and probably next year.

Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right.

shiny side up

Thank you for making me feel a little bit better, does wonders for the confidence factor.

Im quite curious when someone tells others to go get experience in another part of the country or other countries all together, If someone is unemployed and looking for a job how in the f%^& are they suppose to go do that when living on
EI

you make a good point.

If someone is unemployed and looking for a job how in the f%^& are they suppose to go do that when living on EI

It's odd that we live in one of the poorest nations on Earth where people can't find a job...
If you do, any job will pay more than flying instructing, and perhaps you can save to go elsewhere.

How many of you drive your own car?
How many own a television, sound system, Blackberry etc?

The point is, what are we willing to give up in order to do what we want to do?
How did we manage to get all the money necessary to get the instructor rating in the first place?
Mummy and Daddy? Grandma? or did we go out and earn it?

I have only once resorted to EI; here!... I suppose that says something... But I've never been so depressed as I have been here... Why are Canadians so negative at times?

In the past I have always found a job, any job, whether it was as a Christmas relief postman, or driving a van around making deliveries.
I have never had any real money, but I have been around Europe a few times, Asia, and North America.
I live for the experiences life has to offer and I have foregone many things to be able to do this.

So get off your arses, if you are smart enough to fly you are smart enough to make some money to do what you want to do.

About your last comment Michael; I agree, but for an instructor right now, do you think that there is work ? Especially if that candidate is a class 4?

Getting that first instructor job is the hardest. It's never too early to start thinking of next summer. You could contact the nearest Cadet Detachment and ask to speak with someone in the Regional Cadet Air Operations section. They might be able to tell you who is considering the next summer's Air Cadet Flying Scholarship contracts. My first instructing job was as a contract instructor for the 7 weeks the cadets were getting their private licences.

It was a quick trip to my class 3, and a full-time job at another flight training unit on the field. The rest is all history.

but for an instructor right now, do you think that there is work ? Especially if that candidate is a class 4?

Not much hope... Less hope than finding a bar with good beer in the middle of the Sahara desert!

Just because we have a Class IV rating does that mean we instantly get an instructing job?

If you agree the answer is no, then there should always be a plan B...

Do you agree that working a night in a good pub or good restaurant nets more money in tips than a Class IV can imagine getting in perhaps a week?

If you agree, then there's your answer; work the evenings, and hang around the airfield during the day until you get lucky... And perhaps by the time you get your first job next spring you'll have enough in the account to not worry about going hungry when you get the job you really want.

*** edited ***

I applied at this particular school without luck. I went back again and was told "not right now".

I went back again a couple of weeks later and again , keep trying. I navigate their internet website
and they are congratulating on a new instructor (class 3) I am a class 4 . I guess it's who you know, why
didn't I get the call? He/she couldn't have trained at the school as a new instructor because he/she is a class 3.

I am not pissed, don't get me wrong but in this situation this new instructor must have some sort of a connection
with the school to get the job and I guess hiring a class 3 would be better than hiring a class 4.

By the sounds of it, there might not be an opening for me for another year or two.

just my two cents, that is all.

It´s not even worth the money you spend on the rating. Let´s face it, the flight training industry is a dead duck. People don´t want to pay to learn how to fly like they used to. The whole foreign student thing has been a sham from the start, where the instructors and students are/were screwed over.

happyav8r wrote:The whole foreign student thing has been a sham from the start, where the instructors and students are/were screwed over.

"Sir, can you recommend me for my flight test now?"

If I had a nickel for every time...

bluenote wrote:I applied at this particular school without luck. I went back again and was told "not right now".

I went back again a couple of weeks later and again , keep trying. I navigate their internet website
and they are congratulating on a new instructor (class 3) I am a class 4 . I guess it's who you know, why
didn't I get the call? He/she couldn't have trained at the school as a new instructor because he/she is a class 3.

I am not pissed, don't get me wrong but in this situation this new instructor must have some sort of a connection
with the school to get the job and I guess hiring a class 3 would be better than hiring a class 4.

By the sounds of it, there might not be an opening for me for another year or two.

just my two cents, that is all.

I applied even with an insider connection and didn't get on board. I find that going around and meeting different CFI's is a great way to get your name in the pool.

[quote="MichaelP"][quote]If someone is unemployed and looking for a job how in the f%^& are they suppose to go do that when living on EI[/quote]

It's odd that we live in one of the poorest nations on Earth where people can't find a job...
If you do, any job will pay more than flying instructing, and perhaps you can save to go elsewhere.

How many of you drive your own car?
How many own a television, sound system, Blackberry etc?

The point is, what are we willing to give up in order to do what we want to do?
How did we manage to get all the money necessary to get the instructor rating in the first place?
Mummy and Daddy? Grandma? or did we go out and earn it?

I have only once resorted to EI; here!... I suppose that says something... But I've never been so depressed as I have been here... Why are Canadians so negative at times?

In the past I have always found a job, any job, whether it was as a Christmas relief postman, or driving a van around making deliveries.
I have never had any real money, but I have been around Europe a few times, Asia, and North America.
I live for the experiences life has to offer and I have foregone many things to be able to do this.

So get off your arses, if you are smart enough to fly you are smart enough to make some money to do what you want to do.[/quote]


before i reply i just want to say that i am employed(outside aviation) and have only been on ei for 1 month four years ago, so im not trying to figure out how to make it work for me but just for general knowledge i guess you could say. Even getting rid of blackberries, cars etc. i think the max you get for ei is around 700 in ontario every 2 weeks(that is if you qualify for the max, being an instructor i dont think you would) rent alone now a days your looking at around 700, so that leaves you 700, factor in food because you shouldnt sacrifice that for being able to travel here there and evrywhere, then you have everyday stuff like soap, shampoo, clothes, paper towels etc etc, fromt hat 700 it doesnt leave you with a whole hell of a lot to go get experience elsewhere.


Not trying to start anything here but just trying to understand how to go elsewhere and get that experience.


Again i am not on ei or a disgruntled pilot laid off or anythign, just puting things into perspective.


P.S to the original poster, hope you found something, if not just keep on trying, nothing to lose in trying.

Is my only chance on gaining employment as a class four instructor at the school whch I completed the rating.

I enjoy very much the school at which I completed the rating and the chief instructor is the best I have seen anywhere.

The whole gang and atmosphere are appealing to me.

I might as well pack it in at least things improve in 2011 if I get lucky.

So if Maylan closes next month, which is what I have been hearing then you will see even more instructors out of a job, also canadian flight academy out of the island airport is closing their Barrie operation so who knows how many instructors there are going to be out of a job.

Canadian Flight Academy is based out of Oshawa as far as I know. The only schools at CYTZ are:

1.Island Air (unlikely to ever close down)

2.Canadian Flyers (very likely to close down)

Is Number 2 the one you are talking about bluenote?