Need some sage advice

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falconkidding

Line Up and Wait
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Sep 11, 2014
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Falcon Kidding
So a little background I'm currently a sales guy with Coca-Cola its a good place to work but pay is not great (40k) and its not exactly rewarding walking into stores and getting screamed and cussed at by walmart and kroger managers and working every holiday and weekend. Last year I finally got my pilots license and though hell or high water i'm going to do something aviation related.

Cue my attempts at joining the military, attempt one right before i started flight training AFOQT scores are good above RPA(drones) and Navigator/cso averages but not quite pilot averages. Decent gpa 3.41 in econ and good pcsm scores for no flight time. Didn't get in for rated slot. To prepare for round two got license and flew circles to hit 200 hours to max my pcsm. Called guard units with open pilots slots and was pretty much laughed out the door since no prior service they all pretty much said you can apply but we only take our own guys.. To old for navy flying(27)) and have 2 more boards with the USAF active duty (July and November) before i'm too old for those.

My thinking is with a near maxed pcsm and license i'm that much more attractive as an applicant though I don't exactly have Colonels writing letters of recommendations like some of the peers i've seen. So I think i will at least be selected for a rated slot though pilot is a long shot.

In ranking my choices not sure if I want to put nav/cso above rpa or put rpa in front of nav. Upside nav/cso your still on a plane downside there is nothing for you when you go back to civilian life. RPA seems to be a potential career option post military but then your probably sitting in the desert in Nevada staring at a screen watching the real pilots do their thing.

Or another option is to just take a loan grind out the training hit 1500 and get on with the airlines on the front/middle of a hiring wave.

Reason for going military is they pay absurdly high for officers, it seems interesting, dad and granddad both flew in the USAF and i'm familiar with the lifestyle. Could perhaps get my IR commercial and ME while in and fly after my 6 years is up. Downside your in military for 6 years or 12 if i somehow get pilot.

So what would you do. Accept an RPA slot if offered? Say screw the military and put down 50+ grand on training for IR ME COMm license and try airlines.

Some days i'm excited about maybe flying drones cause I love technology and getting new technical skills other days it makes me feel sick to probably not being able to get a pilots slot.

Anyway thats my rambling thoughts on my situation, what say you forum?
 
Too bad you're not in the DFW area... I'll be recruiting salespersons starting mid/late September
 
I was 27 when I finished college, and found I was too old for all practical matters to re-enter the military in any officer capacity, even with prior service. I would focus on getting a non-aviation job that will fund you through your various ratings, vs. taking a leap and dumping all your assets in to a career that may never materialize, and that could end in a day with a bad medical.
 
If you are a good salesperson who can truly find and close deals versus just ride around and take orders, then you should have the talent to go anywhere and find a better job than the one you currently don't like. The product you're selling is yourself!

In my opinion, a $40k/yr salesperson is either in the wrong employer, the wrong commission structure, the wrong profession, isn't trying, or bits of all four with emphasis on the last.

While we get that you love aviation and flying, and want to make a career out of it, Sac's idea of a non-aviation job that can carry you through training and ratings (and do so with out debt) is sound. Nearly ever pro pilot I know today (especially the part 121 guys) has some business venture going on that pays the bills, and then the flying job covers the frills.

Going into debt for this? Bad idea.
 
Such is the nature of working for the corporate beast what used to be a 6 figure commission job turned into a 70k cap turned into them hiring new college grads(me) working for a 36k salary and car fund. I really regret working for Coke, out of college its portrayed as some sales professional job but its turned into just dealing with BS upon BS. (last week wal-mart wanted to kick me out of their accounts because the vendor badge(cheap 25cent nametag) they gave me broke its clasp.) So I spend two hours just fighting to stay and crap like that is routine O man the stories I could tell but i'm getting off topic lol.

I guess the idea with taking a loan is just to get rolling and hired and make it up on the backend if it shaves 3-4 years off me doing it with extra spending money thats Lord willing 4 extra years at a major somewhere.

So many options maybe just taking an RPA slot using the hefty salary increase to fund flight training would be best. To bad I didn't start flying when I was younger i'd be in a lot better shape now lol.
 
Well I'd stay with the AF boards and see how they pan out. If you don't get picked up, check with the Army WOFT. Currently their age limit is 33. Obviously you'd be in helos but as a warrant you wouldn't be doing as much of the non flying duties as the RLOs. You could pretty much work it out so your entire career is in a flight spot...if that's what you desire. If you're into UAVs, they have warrant pilots now a days that are team leaders of a UAV unit. If you want fixed wing they have boards I believe quarterly. Reserves are hurting for FW pilots right now. Gotta friend who flys full time Reserves and he flys all over the country

Quality of life in the Army won't be as good as AF but you probably knew that. Still, you'd be making more money as a WO1 than what you make now and you'd have all the benefits that go with it.
 
Did you say you were going to pay for your hours to hit 1500?!!!
 
falconkidding said:
Such is the nature of working for the corporate beast what used to be a 6 figure commission job turned into a 70k cap turned into them hiring new college grads(me) working for a 36k salary and car fund. I really regret working for Coke, out of college its portrayed as some sales professional job but its turned into just dealing with BS upon BS. (last week wal-mart wanted to kick me out of their accounts because the vendor badge(cheap 25cent nametag) they gave me broke its clasp.) So I spend two hours just fighting to stay and crap like that is routine O man the stories I could tell but i'm getting off topic lol.

I guess the idea with taking a loan is just to get rolling and hired and make it up on the backend if it shaves 3-4 years off me doing it with extra spending money thats Lord willing 4 extra years at a major somewhere.

So many options maybe just taking an RPA slot using the hefty salary increase to fund flight training would be best. To bad I didn't start flying when I was younger i'd be in a lot better shape now lol.
Click to expand...

Like I said earlier.... to bad you're not down in my woods... I'm all for letting my sales guys start off at something modest ($45-50/yr) but are expected to push onwards to $70-90 within 2years. And no cap. If you scored $10k in commission in one month (extremely challenging, but possible), I will not only happily write the check, we're having a celebration dinner. It's because as a small business, I'm acutely aware what the revenue you generated to do that means to my success.

Again, I suggest you're in the wrong space. Time to explore others.

And where are you anyway... others in my industry are needing good talent.
 
A cap for a sales guy? What are these people smoking :)
"Please, don't sell any more of our products, you've sold too much this month"...? :)
 
Velocity173 said:
Well I'd stay with the AF boards and see how they pan out. If you don't get picked up, check with the Army WOFT. Currently their age limit is 33. Obviously you'd be in helos but as a warrant you wouldn't be doing as much of the non flying duties as the RLOs. You could pretty much work it out so your entire career is in a flight spot...if that's what you desire. If you're into UAVs, they have warrant pilots now a days that are team leaders of a UAV unit. If you want fixed wing they have boards I believe quarterly. Reserves are hurting for FW pilots right now. Gotta friend who flys full time Reserves and he flys all over the country

Quality of life in the Army won't be as good as AF but you probably knew that. Still, you'd be making more money as a WO1 than what you make now and you'd have all the benefits that go with it.
Click to expand...
I didn't really look into the army I might have to hit up the local recruiter. Would be nice if they had a fixed wing position. Though I just see rotary stuff on their site.
mtuomi said:
A cap for a sales guy? What are these people smoking :)
"Please, don't sell any more of our products, you've sold too much this month"...? :)
Click to expand...

Yeah a lot of coke bottlers have gone from commission to straight salary. Pepsi has a commission based one but they will structure and restructure your route if you make too much so you hit 55 or 60 and max out. Local frito lay guys are getting a 55 base and a tiny incentive (something like if you hit 105% of your goal you get 3-4% of anything over that) It also varies from sales center to sales center some are still very well paying. In 2-3 years I bet my position is a 14-15 dollar an hour position. I guess thats what happens when you still get 200 applications for a job opening also probably why our turnover is so high.
 
mtuomi said:
A cap for a sales guy? What are these people smoking :)
"Please, don't sell any more of our products, you've sold too much this month"...? :)
Click to expand...

IBM did it to Ross Perot, he left. He has done pretty well, financially.
 
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