Incredible and hats off. After getting my B.S.I.E at 33 and working in the field making a good starting salary of 45k the desire to fly was overwhelming, not just to fly but do it as a career. I saw/had the opportunity and ran with it. Packed up moved to Florida and went through 0 hrs. to my CFi/II in 7 mos, which I really dont recommend beacuse I was burnt. Thinking the same as you, that I really didnt want to flight instruct but was inevitable for getting the hours. Set off got my first job as a CFI and 8 mos later on a landing the student slams hard right rudder making it difficult to land resulting in substantial damage, and luckily no injuries. F$%#. There it goes, my career and record right? Well they would have kept me on but found a closer school to where I lived to work for.
Two years in with that school the 172 RG was having gear connection issues with the horn and squat switches. Goes to maintenance comes back, ok gear working fine, but the horn would still come on no matter what and above the normal 12". Ok I have to get this guy done, moreover he is down my neck " I have to get this done". Ok, but we are leaving the gear down the entire flight. We are doing maneuvers but the climb rate sucked 50'/min ugh! alright retract the gear. After finishing manuevers we did about 4 landings cycling the gear ok, then coming back to base performing a short field, we extended the gear, saw the green but the horn, like I said would go off no matter what, and upon landing the nose gear did not extend and lock. Bam another ding on my record F$%6.
All I want to be perfect in my life is my Aviation record. So I continued to Instruct accruing nearly 3000 hrs 140 multi, with what I stated above, and oh yea a 2004 DWAI it is seeming very bleek to acquire my dream aviation job. I am getting out of instructing, full time that is, I really do enjoy it, but for pilots who want to do the work, and mainly proffesional seeking ones, I will continue on the side.
Therefore I will be heading to flight express to give them all I have and see what will become of it. What is dissapointing is we as pilots spend 60 to 100k on training and get paid rocks and dirt. Therefore if nothing comes of my next endeavor, I will need to look elsewhere as you did to get the money we/I deserve from our extensive training especially if there were 4 more years spent getting a Bachelors especially a technical science degree, we should be priceless.
Anyway, good job, very impressive the road you took, the decisions you made, especially with a family in tow. Also wish I had a better mentor, mentor period, and made better decisions from the start to better guide me through my possibly ending aviation career.
Aggrivated