A noob's career decisions, questions...

[Boris Badenov]

Ian (or whomever), here's the current external opening list. There are (I would estimate) about again as many that are still internal (and there's a fair chance many of them will be filled internally).

http://www1.recruitingcenter.net/clients/AIRMETHODS/publicjobs/controller.cfm

 

[Ian_J]

It's Air Methods

I believe starting pay is around 58k, with ~1k/year raises. That said, with the amount of overtime that appears to be available for the rotorheads (this is just a line guy's impression, I have no idea of the actual numbers), you could probably do significantly better than that if you were willing to work extra shifts (depending, of course, on where you're based, their staffing, the staffing of the airframe, etc etc etc). Also: There is sometimes a 5-10k/year bonus for "hard to fill bases" (generally rural and remote). Normally the shifts are 7 on/7 off, although that could also be 3 on/3 off, 14 on/14 off, or anything in between, depending on the base. 12 hour shifts, extendable to 14 (as per 135) or 16 under extraordinary circumstances. Better than average bennies. Also a large company that seems unlikely to be going out of business any time soon.

Helo Minimums, and a bit of an "intro" are in the pdf I'll link below.

Aside from wanting more money (and I mean, who doesn't?), I couldn't be happier. I've only been here for ~6 months (since Omniflight was bought by Methods), but I have 0 serious complaints. Show up, do your job, don't cause problems just to cause problems, keep your head down, and it's a fantastic job, IMHO.

Oh, and here's the pamphlet:

http://www.airmethods.com/docs/air-...o-you-want-pilots-single-rev2-11.pdf?sfvrsn=5

Thanks - not asking for myself in the near-term (although I am keeping a running list of possible retirement jobs) but there are a number of people I work with who are sort of lost when it comes to civilian employment.

 

[Ian_J]

Ian (or whomever), here's the current external opening list. There are (I would estimate) about again as many that are still internal (and there's a fair chance many of them will be filled internally).

http://www1.recruitingcenter.net/clients/AIRMETHODS/publicjobs/controller.cfm

Holy crap - there are a lot of pilot openings!

What's interesting about the pdf with the mins is they don't give a break to military pilots.

 

[Boris Badenov]

Thanks - not asking for myself in the near-term (although I am keeping a running list of possible retirement jobs) but there are a number of people I work with who are sort of lost when it comes to civilian employment.

I'd guess that ~80% of the rotorheads here are ex-military (pilots), and maybe 75% of them have done their 20. Which is to say that it's a demographic that Methods is not only comfortable with, but likes. If you know guys who are interested and have questions, feel free to refer them to me, and if I don't know the answer, I'll find some crazy fling-winger who does.

 

[Boris Badenov]

What's interesting about the pdf with the mins is they don't give a break to military pilots.

Not knowing much directly about the whys and wherefores, I can say the from what I've heard, that's for a reason. It seems that military guys tend to have certain skills that are valuable and civilian guys seem to have other skills that are valuable, and they sort of work out to be of similar value, in the end. I will say (and proudly, frankly), that it's not a company where hiring involves having been in the right unit and having the right patches to prove it. The various branches and the civilians all get along well, and the "this is how we did it back in (whatever)" crew is (in my experience, anyway) looked down on. It ain't FedEx.

 

[Boris Badenov]

As an aside, I had a couple of guys in my Indoc class who had come over from these guys. Pay and mins are lower, but if you want to do Air Ambulance, it might be a good place to start.

http://www.lifeteam.net/careers/credentials

 

[Ian_J]

Not knowing much directly about the whys and wherefores, I can say the from what I've heard, that's for a reason. It seems that military guys tend to have certain skills that are valuable and civilian guys seem to have other skills that are valuable, and they sort of work out to be of similar value, in the end. I will say (and proudly, frankly), that it's not a company where hiring involves having been in the right unit and having the right patches to prove it. The various branches and the civilians all get along well, and the "this is how we did it back in (whatever)" crew is (in my experience, anyway) looked down on. It ain't FedEx.

That's good - sounds like a good place to work.

 

[Boris Badenov]

That's good - sounds like a good place to work.

In my very limited experience, it is. And of course we'd be very glad (lucky, even) to have you.

 

[Ian_J]

In my very limited experience, it is. And of course we'd be very glad (lucky, even) to have you.

Well, tell you what man - I have the option to retire in 5 years... if I get the wanderlust I know whose beer to buy.

 

[Boris Badenov]

I'll let you buy me beer even if you DON'T want a job. I'm a humanitarian like that. See you at NJC?

 

[Ian_J]

I'll let you buy me beer even if you DON'T want a job. I'm a humanitarian like that. See you at NJC?

Not this year - some fool decided I should teach people how to fly Blackhawks so I have to go to school to learn how to do it. God help them.

 

[Boris Badenov]

Not this year - some fool decided I should teach people how to fly Blackhawks so I have to go to school to learn how to do it. God help them.

The FOOLS, The Mad, Mad FOOLS!@

 

[HumbleSiPilot77]

This is what I call networking! I am in good hands as a noob!!!! Today has been good! I got accepted into ASU's program and learned that they are switching from Mesa to ATP as their flight training provider!