@Maximilian_Jenius it's time to have a no BS discussion with yourself about your options, flight instructing, and what you are worth.
I totally get that you don't want to instruct, and while I feel like pilots who haven't instructed are missing a pretty key part of being a PIC, sometimes they manage to pick up those skills elsewhere. I'd again advise you to look in to places that you can get your CFI rating, and then get paid to instruct (and make "ok") money.
If your goal is getting to the regionals as fast as possible, what you do right now doesn't matter. It's all about getting to 1500.
Taking a job sitting in the right seat of a Caravan will (depending on the company) probably build your CRM skills and two pilot cockpit skills. It may or may not build up your decision making and IFR skills (which is what really matters right now). You've just got to ask yourself if doing it for a stupidly low amount of pay is worth it. It sounds like you are willing to move to pretty much anywhere for a while, which is good. That opens up your options for finding better options that the lowest bottom feeder out there.
That said, the Southern Airways Express guys that I know that fly for Mokulele are pretty happy, minus the pay.
Remember... getting to the shiny RJ quickly is fine. Taking shortcuts is less fine.
Realistically, I just don't think CFI'ing is in the cards for me.
I work all the time, like all the time, just to be able to pay my astronomical private student loan for flight school every month. Pay all my bills after that, save cash to build a decent nest egg/save for my multi and still have spending cash and money to go flying to stay current. I average between 130-146 hours every pay period, with only one day off a week. Every Saturday. I make a decent wage $22.50 an hour at my crazy job, which isn't bad, especially with the $3 differential and $2 on top of that Fri-Sun. But Uncle Sam butt rapes me on every check, because I'm single and have zero dependents. I'm one of his favorite victims every two weeks. What I'm getting at is that I have no time to study for a new rating. Also most of the flight school's here don't want you to work while you're training. They want you to have a singular focus and you have to be at the airport studying for 6 hours, even when you're not flying. Financially, I can't do that.
I feel that COVID really set me back, it set
everyone back. Had COVID not happened, I probably would have been starting at a regional this fall. I actually had a job right out of training flying a 172 in UT. doing aerial survey. Well, I should say that I interviewed, was offered the job then had it rescinded shortly afterwards due to COVID, before I could start training. I feel that I only have 4-5 yrs. at my age to build the necessary hours, to make it to a regional and then get to the next level LCC/ULCC, ACMI or (doubtful) a legacy and still have 15-20 yrs. left to make a good living, not having to continue to work as hard as I am now, and always have, while continuing saving for retirement. So, I feel especially under the gun. Oh man, if I can get a do over and be 18-20 yrs. old again not be dealing with all the emotional, identity and traumatic • that I was dealing with from 18-32. . . What's the going rate for selling your soul these days? Ha!
Put bluntly, this place won't work for me if we're being honest. $500-800 alone won't even pay my flight school loan or my portion of my responsibility for the mortgage every month. I can't put all of our financial responsibility on Jason's back, that's not fair. So, this is kind of a non-starter. I thought that maybe if I saved up enough money to help fill in the gaps financially, that this job doesn't pay. I *might*, *might* be able to work. But I doubt that, that would work. I saved up $25k before moving to UT. and it didn't really help all that much either, that was gone in less than a year. And I still had to end up going back to work up there. Living is expensive, even within your means.
I still wanted to get a feel for everyone's opinion to help make a decision. I don't know exactly what I need to do, or better yet what I can do. But I know that the fog is quickly lifting in the industry and I need to be ready in the best position possible to land a time building job out of the gate. Especially if this career is finally going to take off for me and I didn't just waste $65k to be a weekend warrior, still working psych and renting a 172 and flying around the pattern. Ooof!
