I'm sure many of us know how you feel in this market. I was in the software field before making the switch. I've been instructing professionally for just over two and a half years now. I was all setup with interviews in August 2001, then nothing for the next two years. Well, there's instructing.
Don't get me wrong, I love instructing and meeting people and helping them accomplish their goals, though my goals just keep getting delayed further and further. I still enjoy knowing that if I have to go to work, it means I'll be in the sky. But I also know how little money you make and the long hours you have to work, because I'm there myself and have been for over two years now. I have a house which I will probably have to sell in six months when the savings run out. I have 1800 hours, and the ratings...
So far in my personal experience, the hiring outlook is bleak, very bleak. I'm starting to get burned out on instructing... yeah yeah it's great, but come on now, after the first thousand hours of dual given it can become a chore at times. All this for long days and low pay.. and the sky.
But damnit, I'm flying which is what I've always wanted to do. I decided that I was going to stick with this thing until I'm broke, At the moment, it's a race to see which happens first: I go broke, burned out from instructing or I get the next job which will allow me to hold on a little longer with maybe just enough pay to cover the bills. I've been actively looking for some time now and am hoping that the dream comes through. That or I'll be heading back to a cubicle, which seems a fate unimaginable to me anymore.
I have a love/hate relationship with flying now. I love it because I'm a captive to the sky, yet hate it because I'm still a captive whatever the costs.