Career Changers in Aviation
11 members · 8 posts · Second careers
People who came to aviation after doing something else first. Money, timelines, and whether the second career math actually works.
11 members · 8 posts · Second careers
People who came to aviation after doing something else first. Money, timelines, and whether the second career math actually works.
Jesse Lin (pinned)
Started this because I could not find anyone doing the math out loud. I left software at 39, I am 41 now, and my instrument checkride is a few weeks out. Ask me about the money. It was worse than I expected.
Emmett Boyd
Came from industrial electronics at 31, into simulator maintenance, no aviation background at all. Nobody tells electricians and electronics techs that aviation wants them badly. The pay was a small step up, the work is more interesting, and I have never once been asked what my degree was in.
Nadia Petrova
Came from hotel front desk to an FBO at 27 and it was the smallest career change imaginable, which is exactly why it worked. Same job, different building, and suddenly I am around airplanes. If you are trying to get into aviation with no aviation skills, look at what you already do and find the aviation version of it.
Rosa Iglesias
not a career change yet, im 24 and working the line while i train, but reading this group convinced me im not behind. soloed today. thank you all for doing the math out loud
Nate Adeyemi
Came from oilfield work at 28. The pay cut while instructing was brutal for two years. Hit 1500 last week and the math finally turned. Two years is the number nobody tells you up front.
Kai Nakamura
Came from a salaried tech job to running a small survey operation and flying a 206. The part nobody warns you about is not the pay cut. It is that finding your own work becomes a permanent background process in your head and it never switches off.
Grace Hollis
I hire second career pilots regularly. What you bring that a 22 year old does not is knowing how to talk to a customer who is upset. Do not undersell that in an interview.
Shayla Boone
Came to the cabin at 29 from restaurant management. Every single skill transferred and not one of them was on the application form. If you are switching, the interview is where you explain the transfer, so do not let the form speak for you.