Changing careers from aviation to IT. Looking for advice

[maddogchen]

Why would you go from master of your aircraft to having to fix other people's crap?

 

[gizbug]

Why would you go from master of your aircraft to having to fix other people's crap?

Low pay, have to commute (ride standby to get to work at JFK airport from Chicago), gone for 4 nights a week. Starting a family so important to be home more

 

[gorcorps]

Could someone late 30s, early 40s get an entry level job in IT, or is that impossible?

Just curious.

Is that a serious question? It's illegal to not hire somebody because they're old... it's the same thing as not hiring somebody solely due to their race or gender. If they're right for the job then they'll be hired.

 

[Apple Of Sodom]

Is that a serious question? It's illegal to not hire somebody because they're old... it's the same thing as not hiring somebody solely due to their race or gender. If they're right for the job then they'll be hired.

It is easy to not hire someone because of a bias. Old guy walk in for an interview, he is qualified but you don't like how old he is. You simply don't hire him but give no reason for it, or make something up like "I don't think he has the right attitude for our organization."

 

[cabri]

That is some good advice. Thank you. I know Boeing has a HQ downtown Chicago. I will take a look at the links you provided. Appreciate all the feedback thus far from everyone.

Those links may not have actual jobs (I just read the articles:hmm, but the articles will have names on new work being done in the fields. From there, you can dig and/or contact those companies.

I do not know how locked into Chicago you are.

 

[Mai72]

Is that a serious question? It's illegal to not hire somebody because they're old... it's the same thing as not hiring somebody solely due to their race or gender. If they're right for the job then they'll be hired.

Your statement is nice in theory, but we all know that ageism exist. Especially in IT. There are plenty of articles that talk about older people who have been unable to find work.

Anyway, I don't want to derail op's thread.

 

[rudder]

Funny, I'd think that Aviation would be a more stable career than IT. It's tougher to outsource those kind of "hands on" jobs overseas.

It has never been stable... even in good economies. Its all about seniority (age and hire date). The job could suck for years or you could work 9 days a month with a sweet route thanks to seniority. Even when the economy is humming there are still poorly run companies. Mergers happen all the time and corporate raiders decimate airlines for quick profits.

The first company I flew at had two kinds of pilots. People like me with little experience and 30,000 hour captains who were working for $75/hour (bad pay for captain with 25+ years experience). Most of the captains came from either Pan Am or Eastern where they had the good life.

Its not all bad though, there are good companies.. but like I said, everything is based on seniority. If a good company is not growing... no new pilots are hired and you could be stuck for quite a while waiting to make captain.

There is demand for pilots now... that is because it used to be a pilot could fly a large jet with little experience. Now all co-pilots have to have Airline transport pilot ratings which require 1500 hours of flight time. Which is not easy to get early on. Then they new-hire pay sucks.

Any OP, I was in the same shoes. Just have to find that first company to give you a chance. Overall its been good. Always home for birthdays, holidays, steady schedule, etc. My degree was is aviation and had a minor is CIS... which was nothing. Just got some things like MCSE to pad the resume and then it was no problem.