Is it possible to work while studying for CFI?

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bobnuthead@reddit

I did CFI & CFII over about 5 months working 40-45 hours a week. Generally one lesson per week with my CFI, studying whenever I can (including sometimes at work).

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Verliererkolben@reddit

My timeline might have been a little longer but definitely working was good. Paid the bills and also it gave me some time not to be thinking about aviation every second of the day haha.

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evanb305@reddit

Except when you’re working an aviation job already and it never leaves your head 😭

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nightlanding@reddit

I had a full time job while getting my CFI. I flew after work and on weekends.

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ltcterry@reddit

30 hours of ground and 15 hours of flying is only four hours a week over three months. Easily do-able.

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DanThePilot_Mann@reddit

CFI is tough. It’s not “I need to quit my job and work on it 8 hours a day” tough.

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BagOfMoneyNoChange@reddit

Of course it is. Anyone who thinks civilian flight training needs to be a full time job is just trying to sell you something.

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Swimming_Way_7372@reddit

I had 2 jobs when I was studying for CFI.

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kevinossia@reddit

Yeah I did private, commercial, and CFI all while working a demanding full-time job.

CFI is a lot of work but it shouldn’t require you to quit your job. It’s basically just formalizing everything you did during your CPL training into something you can explain to a student.

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DependentTaste283@reddit

I did. Not easy but I really wanted the CFI and needed my income.

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Fine_Fortune844@reddit

I worked a full time “career” 9-5 job and a nights and weekends retail job.

Went into instrument with all my xc hours and hood time basically done. Allowed me to do IFR -> CFI in less than a year. Would have been faster but Midwest winters derail any well laid plan.

Took 5 months off of checkrides and knocked out CFII pretty quickly.

Did I have a work/life/friend balance - depends on who you ask. Did I get it done? Yes.

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Thomas-Ligotti97@reddit

If time is fully an issue, you can always buy lesson plans BUT BEWARE. Ensure you are fully educated on what you’re even teaching and able to answer all of the ‘why?’ Questions.

Buying lesson plans are a great way to speed up the process but MANY DPE’s notice they’re bought and will press harder on them.

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I think quitting your job to flight train full time is objectively one of the dumbest things I see people do. It’s like quitting your job to learn how to play guitar. Can you become a professional guitarist? Sure. Is it worth crushing debt and forgoing every other aspect of your life? Hell no.

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320sim@reddit

Haha, the lucky ones are the people who can take a sabbatical or extended leave while keeping their jobs

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SerpentineOlivine@reddit (OP)

No, I agree. I’ve been working up to CMEL. I spoke to two students who quit their jobs at this school to train for CFI and a few who hadn’t even been working, so I genuinely was curious who worked and trained for CFI since I haven’t heard anybody personally.

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JustAnotherDude1990@reddit

I had multiple jobs while studying for my CFI and while I was a CFI. You'll survive.

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e_pilot@reddit

Yes, I was working and going to college when I did mine.

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lil_layne@reddit

I have been working 2 jobs since I have been a student pilot to not go in debt. I am now starting to work on CFI and will continue to work 2 jobs.

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SquishyCoffee6640@reddit

Props to you bro, I just hit atp mins with 2200 TT and even though I'm not that competitive working another job while working flying has been tough to do for 3 years 😂

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lil_layne@reddit

Yeah I sacrificed my entire social life in my mid 20s. Shit sucks.

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SquishyCoffee6640@reddit

At least the end goal will be worth it right?😂

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LeagueResponsible985@reddit

I guess it depends on the time demand of your job. I managed a full time practice of law and study for CFI. It took me two months. To be fair, I timed CFI school for a time when I knew my practice would be slow.

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SerpentineOlivine@reddit (OP)

That’s amazing you still got done in two months, so it helps to put things into perspective. I’m also in the legal field.

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LeagueResponsible985@reddit

I also decamped from California and went to a 141 with self examination authority in Texas. I left all my household responsibilities in the loving care of my wife (which meant that they were waiting for me when I got home). All I did was fly, tend to my clients, eat, sleep, and look after myself (hygiene, laundry, etc). No kid, no honey do. No social responsibilites.

BTW I don't necessarily recommend a 141 school for CFI. If you know your stuff, then you'll get through the process a lot faster in the 61 world. For example, the CFI curriculum had 15 flights. I was checkride ready after 8. I flew 7 more basically useless flights to get to the point where I could take stage and end of course checks.

One more bit of advice from my CFI instructor: regarding the ground/teaching portion of the CFI ride, you know more than you think you do.

Good luck

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46tcraft@reddit

Yes. I am a partner in a large CPA firm in the US. I did my CFI while working about 55 hours a week. I also have three kids and a wife and all the commitments and responsibilities that go with having a family. Most of my time preparing and studying was weekends and weeknights after everyone went to bed. 10:00PM to about 1:00AM. Like many things in life, this is absolutely do-able. It just boils down to how bad do you want to do it. If you want to do it bad enough, you will put forth the effort to make it happen.

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SerpentineOlivine@reddit (OP)

That is encouraging, thank you. My work-life balance sounds similar to yours.

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InJailForCrimes@reddit

I mean I quit my job and got IR, CPL, CFI and a job in under a year, but this was 2022. I don't recommend quitting, but it definitely beats working if you can swing it.

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lainposter@reddit

I will say I'm definitely having a rougher time juggling the two, but I have a big boy job with lots of meetings and project management involved, and it's a little stupid to prioritize the thing that objectively won't make rent while I'm doing it over my job.

I'm sharing in case you feel alone in struggling to balance the two. Lots of smart asses love to sound like they're all put together, and I hope to be as bad ass and cool as them some day!

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SerpentineOlivine@reddit (OP)

Thank you, appreciate it! And I think you’re already bad ass and cool getting up to this point.

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Moe_be_flying@reddit

Dude since ppl to commercial multi and now cfi checkride in 2 weeks and have had a full time job From restaurants to airport lineman (ramp agent) to uber driver, its tiring but do I have an option? No Is it doable? Yes %100 I would have had finished faster but I would be living in my car, am grateful regardless and enjoying the journey but yes its doable

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nodajinho@reddit

lol

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Ok_Experience1443@reddit

Nope. Impossible. No one's ever done that before. Time to hit up Sallie Mae to pay rent /s

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SerpentineOlivine@reddit (OP)

lol! Perfect. Banks love funding bad ideas 😌

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EliteEthos@reddit

Of course.

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SerpentineOlivine@reddit (OP)

Thank you. I really didn’t want to quit given how competitive it is to even get a CFI job nowadays. At least I still have something to fall back on.

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EliteEthos@reddit

Exactly. And FYI, I’m not sure what “starts” in two months but you can start studying now. Plenty of good recommendations here for lesson plans or you can create your own.

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pilotshashi@reddit

Sacrifice your PTO for CFi checkride prep.

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FortifyStamina@reddit

Yes it's doable. My best recommendation is to use the ACS for what it is, a rubric!

Mark up each task with small notes for each sub-task. Teach the lesson just using the ACS, and have lesson plans there in case something slips your mind as you're studying.

Lesson plans can be bought or "found" online for free.

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Biker1124@reddit

I mean I’d like to think it’s similar to doing work study at a college so it’s doable but be prepared to not have much time outside of work and studying.

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SerpentineOlivine@reddit (OP)

I guess anything is possible. People had me worried that this was the most intense studying program. Up until now, I’ve managed to work and get to CMEL. Thank you.

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rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

I’ve seen mixed results online from people either working or quitting all together to focus 100 percent on studying for their CFI course. I heard I should get ahead and study for my lesson plans ahead of time. The course I signed up for is about two months.

I still have about a month to go before I begin. I guess, what was your work-life balance like studying for CFI? I’d like to give my job some notice, if I have to.

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