By popular demand, Mark Charman, CEO and Founder of GOOSE Recruitment has developed his keynote speech ‘Landing a great career after flying’ from his keynote presentation at Pilot Expo, Berlin.
It isn’t breaking news that there is a huge global requirement for pilots, but for the first time, airlines are faced with a new dilemma in their search for pilots – lack of experience, not skill. Experienced pilots are in high demand and they know it. This growing shortage is putting increasing pressure on veteran pilots to consider flying for longer and retiring later.
In particular, the demand for pilots in Asia has increased significantly in recent years, and although the compensation packages available are often industry-leading with top benefits, the career move simply isn’t for everyone.
As thought leaders in pilot recruitment, we foresee that more changes are on the horizon and as new generations enter the pilot profession, they won’t want to fly into retirement age but will be considering alternative careers.
Airlines will no longer be able to be dependent on sourcing small pockets of nationalities, and we predict that pilots from developing economies will soon start to dominate flying jobs outside of Europe and the US.
If you are considering the prospect of hanging up your wings, it can be a daunting prospect to find the career paths available.
The good news is, is that the aviation sector is booming like it never has been before. Air travel continues to help forge links between cities and countries, creating vital connections for business, trade, family and tourism. Competition amongst airlines is up which has helped to keep air travel costs down, and passenger numbers continue to soar year on year.
As a professional pilot, you have great transferrable skills and knowledge which in turn can lead to lots of different successful careers outside of the cockpit. Plus, even better news for pilots, you might even get to sleep in your own bed at night!
However, in our experience, some pilots leave it too late to start their journey in a new career after flying. The status and the pay can be too good to leave. We speak to many pilots who can’t imagine working in a 9 to 5 environment and find that the cockpit doesn’t prepare them for the boardroom.
We’ve broken down our top ten jobs to help ensure you choose the right role for you and to ensure you land a great career after flying.
1. Lifestyle flying
2. Training
3. Operations
4. Education
5. Regulatory
6. Airport Management
7. Sales – OEMs, aircraft
8. Consultancy
9. Human Resources
10. Work for GOOSE Recruitment
As a final thought on landing a great career after flying, this is our advice.
Make a plan early – are you a career pilot? Or is it the time to start considering your post-flying career options?
Decide what you are good at and what you enjoy doing – Choose a new career that compliments your strengths
Develop your soft skills – These will become your secret weapon to succeed over other ex-pilots
Leverage your experience – Sell to employers what you have learnt from being a pilot and how you transfer this into a different careers
Ask yourself, are you sure? Are you really ready to hang up your wings?
If you would like to discuss any of our points further, please don’t hesitate to get in contact.
GOOSE loves to talk to Aviation Professionals from across the world
Follow GOOSE Recruitment on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter for the very latest aviation news, updates, exclusive insights and regular hot jobs.
