Joe
Well-Known Member
Okay, so short-story-long: In the summer of 1990, at the age of 6, I flew on an airplane for the first time. It was our first family vacation to Disney World in Orlando, and we flew American Airlines out of PVD with a connection at their at-the-time RDU hub. 34 years later, I still have the plastic wings the Captain handed to me, and a lifelong passion for aviation, particularly the airlines, began:
Despite that interest, growing up, I always saw myself pursuing a career in art. Later in high school, the interest in art was dwindling, and my new hobby of computers and web design was an okay way to pass (i.e., waste) time but something I couldn't see myself doing for a living. My mom briefly attended a Private Pilot ground school before I was born, and I used to browse through her old black-and-white Jeppesen textbooks, and I began to express a desire to one day learn to fly myself, but at the time I never saw it going beyond a hobby. For my 17th birthday, she bought me my first flying lesson and the Jeppsen student pilot kit, and I was once again hooked.
Not long after, I found myself browsing the web at home, and I still don't remember what early-2000s internet rabbit hole I was in that day that led me here, but I managed to stumble across a web site that looked a little something like this:
I was instantly sold on flying as a career, eventually joined the forums, and began doing my research. 20 years ago, going into six-figure debt only to end up in an entry-level job making $20K wasn't feasible for me, so I went to a state college for an aviation degree and saved my dollar$ and ¢ents to pay for my flight training out of pocket. I started training in earnest 20 years ago, knocking out one rating at a time, then starting the next after replenishing my savings account. I worked line service for 2½ years, instructed for 2½ years, and worked my way up the career food chain with almost 3 years flying 402s with a seagull on the tail, a brief stint at a regional, and then just over 8 years flying Part 135, starting in a King Air 350 and then Citation Excel/XLS, working my way up from FO to Captain to Instructor Pilot to Check Pilot.
After years of ups and downs (get it???), triumphs and setbacks, networking, and updating my resume and applications regularly, I'm happy to announce that 1 year ago this past Friday I started working for the very same airline I took my first airplane ride with 3 decades earlier. I'm flying the 737 for American out of BOS, which is perfect since I live an hour south and can drive to work and even sit short call reserve from my couch. I held a line after 3 months on reserve and even managed to get Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and a fair amount of weekend days off. A year in and with my first recurrent complete as of yesterday, and I'm still in disbelief that I finally made it.
I'm not as active on the forums as I was in my 20s, hence the year-long delay in this post, but as many of my fellow long time members can probably relate, life is different with a full time job and a family, so I've been mostly a lurker for the last 10 or so years. I did, however, want to express my profound gratitude to @derg for the years of work and dedication he's poured into this place. I know countless others credit JetCareers for inspiring their careers and helping them achieve their dreams, and I wanted to be sure to add my name to the list as well.
P.S. - A highlight for me while still in the applications phase was in March 2023, when I attended an in-person recruiting event at the SouthernJets International Flight Museum in Atlanta. At the point in the event when everyone is in line waiting to meet for a one-on-one with an individual recruiter, imagine my surprise at the incredible coincidence of being paired with one Captain Douglas Taylor... I couldn't think of any better way to "break the ice" than to begin with the story of how I had discovered JetCareers.com 20+ years earlier and how that moment led me to where I was that day... they say "never meet your heroes," but it was very much a "full-circle" moment to shake hands and chat with the very person who inspired me to choose this profession.
Despite that interest, growing up, I always saw myself pursuing a career in art. Later in high school, the interest in art was dwindling, and my new hobby of computers and web design was an okay way to pass (i.e., waste) time but something I couldn't see myself doing for a living. My mom briefly attended a Private Pilot ground school before I was born, and I used to browse through her old black-and-white Jeppesen textbooks, and I began to express a desire to one day learn to fly myself, but at the time I never saw it going beyond a hobby. For my 17th birthday, she bought me my first flying lesson and the Jeppsen student pilot kit, and I was once again hooked.
Not long after, I found myself browsing the web at home, and I still don't remember what early-2000s internet rabbit hole I was in that day that led me here, but I managed to stumble across a web site that looked a little something like this:
I was instantly sold on flying as a career, eventually joined the forums, and began doing my research. 20 years ago, going into six-figure debt only to end up in an entry-level job making $20K wasn't feasible for me, so I went to a state college for an aviation degree and saved my dollar$ and ¢ents to pay for my flight training out of pocket. I started training in earnest 20 years ago, knocking out one rating at a time, then starting the next after replenishing my savings account. I worked line service for 2½ years, instructed for 2½ years, and worked my way up the career food chain with almost 3 years flying 402s with a seagull on the tail, a brief stint at a regional, and then just over 8 years flying Part 135, starting in a King Air 350 and then Citation Excel/XLS, working my way up from FO to Captain to Instructor Pilot to Check Pilot.
After years of ups and downs (get it???), triumphs and setbacks, networking, and updating my resume and applications regularly, I'm happy to announce that 1 year ago this past Friday I started working for the very same airline I took my first airplane ride with 3 decades earlier. I'm flying the 737 for American out of BOS, which is perfect since I live an hour south and can drive to work and even sit short call reserve from my couch. I held a line after 3 months on reserve and even managed to get Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and a fair amount of weekend days off. A year in and with my first recurrent complete as of yesterday, and I'm still in disbelief that I finally made it.
I'm not as active on the forums as I was in my 20s, hence the year-long delay in this post, but as many of my fellow long time members can probably relate, life is different with a full time job and a family, so I've been mostly a lurker for the last 10 or so years. I did, however, want to express my profound gratitude to @derg for the years of work and dedication he's poured into this place. I know countless others credit JetCareers for inspiring their careers and helping them achieve their dreams, and I wanted to be sure to add my name to the list as well.
P.S. - A highlight for me while still in the applications phase was in March 2023, when I attended an in-person recruiting event at the SouthernJets International Flight Museum in Atlanta. At the point in the event when everyone is in line waiting to meet for a one-on-one with an individual recruiter, imagine my surprise at the incredible coincidence of being paired with one Captain Douglas Taylor... I couldn't think of any better way to "break the ice" than to begin with the story of how I had discovered JetCareers.com 20+ years earlier and how that moment led me to where I was that day... they say "never meet your heroes," but it was very much a "full-circle" moment to shake hands and chat with the very person who inspired me to choose this profession.
