Full time job along with CFI?

Incus

New Member
I'm currently in the process of getting a Computer Science degree at the University of Minnesota and I have my private pilots license.

Basically I'm going to use my summers for internships so I can get a good Computer Science job right off the bat. And because a good CSCI job pays pretty well and are extremely plentiful, I can get easily pay my flight training upfront. This also gives me time to get a feel for a good paying deskjob.

So my question essentially is, is it possible to have a full time job and still get hours in for being a CFI? I figure I could do CFI on the weekends and slowly amass hours. This way I can get about 2-3 years experience with Computer Science (This way I have a very good plan b, degree+experience) and then save money from that job and keep it all the way up until I join a regional. This way I should have no debt and a reasonable amount of savings to adequately survive the first few years of regional flying.

Any other CFIs here have a full time job? If so, how do you manage?
 
i have known a few that do it this way.

Some do it for the love of teaching, and don't care about moving on to he regional.
One I know would do it full time, but has a family to support, and padding his wallet and log book i guess are not his priority :crazy:

It is possible, but you will obviously have less free time than most of your co-workers.
Very do-able.
 
i have known a few that do it this way.

Some do it for the love of teaching, and don't care about moving on to he regional.
One I know would do it full time, but has a family to support, and padding his wallet and log book i guess are not his priority :crazy:

It is possible, but you will obviously have less free time than most of your co-workers.
Very do-able.

Yeah I figure so, but if I want to do flying for a career it'll be something I know I'll enjoy at that point and time won't be a concern so much (Assuming I don't have a family at that point)

But I figure at a full time job I get off at 5 pm on weekdays, so that kinda cuts down on the prime time instructing time for a lot of students?
 
Incus I have a full time job and finished my CFI and II last year. I teach evenings and weekends in a flying club at LVN. Part time work at FBO's are tough to come by. It can be done, I do it because I like to teach and it pays for my flying. You have to determine the right number of students to take on at one time, it can be done.

I am local to the area, let me know if you have any questions I can help with.
 
I work the line 6-2 M-F (40 hrs.) and CFI in my free time(whatever that is...) It can definately be done. My advice is don't be in a big rush because it will feel like you are working your tail off, which you are, with little pay off. Just take each day as it comes and the hours will build. That's what works for me.
 
I'm working a full time job about an hour away from my airport M-F 7-3. Three days of the week I'm going to school after work. Most of my instruction is done on the weekends with students who have a similar schedule.

I tried working part time at a school and found it very difficult to keep up with what is going on with each student, what lesson to do next, etc. I also felt a little pressured by the guy in charge to teach what he said each lesson because I was not aware of what goes on during the week.

Since I've moved to more of a freelance situation I feel much better with keeping up with all the students and managing their progress. I think that if you are really passionate about flying, and have such a busy schedule, you will enjoy working as a CFI on the weekends because it is very enjoyable (almost relaxing). It distracts you from the rigors of your life on the ground.
 
I'm not sure how realistic it is if the goal is to build hours toward the goal of a professional flying job unless you're really young, have a terrific amount of stamina, professional flying is really important to you, and you're willing to give up having a life for a while.

I teach part-time with a full-time non-aviation job but (fortunately or unfortunately) none of the above apply to me (except lately I'm not sure about the have a life part) ;)
 
I have a full time gig as well as my part time CFI stuff. Works well for me. Granted, I often refer to my house as a rather expensive place to sleep since I am not there too often. I would echo that you need to figure out how many students you are able to carry at one time. There will be some times you feel like all you do is work. However, if you are willing and able to give up time with friends and family (basically give up having a life) it is possible and be quite rewarding.
 
It depends on the clientele. If you are teaching weekend warriors working on their certificates as a hobby, it should be no problem at all, since they have similar schedules. If the flight school caters to full time students, it would definitely be tougher.

If I had a non-flying job, I would definitely CFI on the weekends. Just doing discovery flights and BFRs would be fine by me.
 
I'm a full time computer engineer for a major computer company and part time CFI.

I'm lucky enough to work 4 10hr days that leave 3 full days to fly and give students my complete attention. The only downside is working around my full time job when students want to fly those 4 days.
 
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