Cabin crew to RAF?

Im sure you know there is a huge jump between cabin crew to RAF pilot. It seems that you loved working as cabin crew and that is what is inspiring you in this way. Have you looked at the other careers provided by the RAF that may be more like the cabin crew job you used to have? Pilots are such a small percentage of the workforce and are completely useless without the many many people that work around them. Sure it’s not as ‘cool’ as zipping round in some jet - but its in no way less important. You have an engineering degree (hats off to you) have you looked at the more technical roles? Why fly a plane when you can fix one?

Thank you, you do make a very good point, and it is something that I will definitely look into. I think that I just still have this dream of actually flying which has never left me (I appreciate that might sound a bit naive given at the minute it seems like a luxury to have a job, let alone one that you enjoy!). A B757 captain who was ex RAF suggested that I should join about a year ago and I’d never given it much thought until now, but the engineering side does seem like a solid possibility

Hi, a bit of background, a few years ago I finished my engineering degree and went straight from uni to work as cabin crew. I have always been a complete av geek and wanted to work on aircraft. I dreamed if being a pilot, hence doing the engineering degree, but spending hundreds of thousands on training for often little job stability to become a commercial pilot is not financially realistic. Cabin crew seemed like the next best thing. Anyway, I absolutely loved working as crew but like a lot of others was recently made redundant, and I can’t see many crew job opportunities anytime soon!
I’d never really considered the joining the RAF until recently, and I’ll admit that I’ve not done huge amounts of research yet, but I do meet the minimum requirements for applying for a pilot role, amongst others (although obviously I know that there’s meeting minimum requirements and actually being suitable).
Is a pilot role just a bit of a pipe dream. Obviously it’s hugely competitive anyway, but is it the sort of thing that most candidates will have prepared for since they were tiny?
What other roles involve flying? The only obvious one I could find was air and ground steward, but I would now prefer something where I could put my degree to good use.
I should add that I am also female, and quite a girly one at that! I wouldn’t say that I’m intimidated by joining the RAF because of this but I’m certainly not typical ‘Alpha Male’ material!
If anyone has any thoughts it would be appreciated as I could use some guidance. Thanks

Is a pilot role just a bit of a pipe dream. Obviously it’s hugely competitive anyway, but is it the sort of thing that most candidates will have prepared for since they were tiny?
What other roles involve flying?

Honestly, the fitness requirement for pilots is gruelling. That’s what put me off. Even then if you meet it you’re competing against others (many who have practically trained their whole lives in the hope they get in) and you still may not get in.

Yes, it's competitive. But so is becoming commercial cabin crew. You did that...


It's the exact same fitness test every other officer has to pass. There are a few more medical tests first, but they're not really things you can prepare for. In terms of actual physical fitness, the standards required are not onerous.

Sorry to hear about your redundancy. I know too well the hard hit that the aviation industry has had.
If you meet the requirements for Pilot; give it a go. Someone has to do the job - why shouldn’t it be you?

Don’t let anyone put you off or so ‘oh it’s too hard to become a pilot - don’t bother’. They tend to be the ones who didn’t give it their all (Or weren’t fully committed) and fell at the first hurdle only to then spread their negativity to others.

The very best of luck

F, ex-RAF Engineer Officer, happy to answer general questions.

As an ex-RAF Recruiter as well, I can say that the vast majority of people don't train their whole lives to join up. What they have done, and not necessarily with a particular career in mind, is that they get involved in activities. They do societies and clubs at school and uni, scouts or cadets, charity work, mentor, volunteer, play sports. And what's more, they take on responsibilities within those activities; they are life's natural doers and organisers and leaders. You've got something of an advantage here with your job, but probably there are other things you've done and are doing that can show the 'leadership potential' the RAF looks for.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter what grades you have or how many sit-ups you can do above the pass rate; if you meet the minimum requirements listed on the recruitment website, you are suitable to join and during selection you aren't judged on those things anyway. There's a whole raft of other tests and there's no telling who will get through or who won't. I was at OASC with the daughter of an RAF officer and she failed miserably at interview, and I've seen graduates fail the AST and those who've come out of their shell since Filter Interview to win awards during Basic at Halton.

if you are good enough you'll make it and the competition doesn't matter. You only ever see a small percentage of who you are up against anyway, so whilst you need people on board with certain of the exercises, you concentrate on how you are doing and that's all that matters.

Thank you, you have reassured me that It’s not a completely crazy idea...


Thanks 🙂

I’m genuinely leaning towards just submitting a pilot an application and seeing what happens. Ideally I would prefer to wait a few months or so as I do like to over prepare; I feel like I could do with learning a lot more about the RAF and it’s operations in general before applying. On the RAF website it states that you can apply for a pilot role now, but how often do they recruit? Is it a year round thing with a target number of recruits or do they have periodic recruitment windows?

With regards to the WSO and engineering officers (thank you for the suggestions), I had a quick look on the RAF website and I would definitely be interested and their upper age limits are much higher so am I right in thinking that I could pursue those after an unsuccessful pilot application?

Thank you all for the help and apologies for all the questions 🙂

Hi

The entire application process normally takes between 3-9 months from start to finish. But it's going to take longer currently, for obvious reasons. You have plenty of time to get ready for the different stages of the process if you apply now. Recruitment is constant all year round with intakes for phasew one training as people pass Officer and Aircrew Selection.

You'll be advised on your options at every stage of the process if you're unsuccessful for any reason.

Kind regards
Adam
RAF Recruitment

Thank you, you have reassured me that It’s not a completely crazy idea...


Thanks 🙂

I’m genuinely leaning towards just submitting a pilot an application and seeing what happens. Ideally I would prefer to wait a few months or so as I do like to over prepare; I feel like I could do with learning a lot more about the RAF and it’s operations in general before applying. On the RAF website it states that you can apply for a pilot role now, but how often do they recruit? Is it a year round thing with a target number of recruits or do they have periodic recruitment windows?

With regards to the WSO and engineering officers (thank you for the suggestions), I had a quick look on the RAF website and I would definitely be interested and their upper age limits are much higher so am I right in thinking that I could pursue those after an unsuccessful pilot application?

Thank you all for the help and apologies for all the questions 🙂

Thank you this is exactly what I needed to hear! If you don’t mind my asking, how many of your colleagues were women? I was one of the only girls on my course and uni and I wondered whether it was similar numbers of female engineers? It’s not something that bothers me particularly but I’ve now just become accustomed to working in a mostly female environment and was curious

VS

In which discipline is your Engineering Degree?

My experience personally and in general is that female engineer officers and techies were a minority. There was a time when there were more female pilots than female engineer officers!

The most F Engineer Officers I've come across in any one place is 4; once on a flying station, once in an office at an HQ job, but that was exceptional. At the other extreme I've been the only female on the engineering rosta of a flying squadron; there other 5 Engineer Officers, all male, but one of those was the boss and he 'headhunted' me into the job. I've also had jobs where I've deputised for my bosses and that was on merit, so being female has never been a problem; it's what you make of it and how you do the job

That said, there were other females around the squadron in admin or Ops or logistics, and stations had a fair few female officers across all the roles, so you can have a girly cadre to get together with.

(Is Loadmaster Sgt still an RAF thing? I'm sure that's a role I looked at yonks ago, that sounds...kinda cabin crewy? )