It was a warm day in late January when I considered boarding the plane.
I'm not a typical passenger when it comes to career change. I take my time and I plan my journey carefully. I had been thinking about a flight for months (six at least), so when I got a call from a pilot to say that I had an opportunity to fly I was eager to impress.
I was told that there were co-pilots. The one I met with presented as a professional (if slightly emotionally detached) British lady who seemed incredibly switched-on. This is a good thing for a pilot to be (switched on, not emotionally detached).
Based on this interview I earned myself a second interview with the second co-pilot. This one appeared as a slightly eccentric but warm and friendly cat owner living in New Zealand. I own a cat, so I felt like this was OK. As the organisation I was to fly with was British it was not a surprising thing that this co-pilot was also British.
After meeting with the pilots and feeling good the process progressed to me chatting to flight control (the global CEO based in the UK). This was a Skype-based interview featuring me wearing a suit up top and no pants (newsreader-style). It was a hot day and ventilation is important.
Pleasingly the flight path was approved and booked in for departure, although the formal paperwork was to be completed. This included the actual offer of a job.
As the weeks went by I went from excited about the flight to slightly concerned that the whole thing wouldn't get off the ground. I had to attend to a minor detail in March (my wedding) so was otherwise distracted from the lack of progress for a few weeks.
With a little psychological manipulation on my part I received the paperwork after 10 weeks and eagerly signed my life away. The last pre-flight ritual was to leave my old job (which I liken to going through security and immigration).
This was about as hard as I expected it to be and it certainly filled me with the dread and fear of risk that comes when you leave the country for a new horizon. But I was brave and did it - after all there was a new career at stake.
Optimism was high as the plane was boarded and took off. In a short four weeks I would arrive at my destination. I sat through the safety demonstration (which as usual I never took any notice of) and did up my seat belt to a comfortable tightness.
This was going to be some flight. I ordered a hamburger (which was no doubt going to be microwaved) and kicked back.
I'm not a typical passenger when it comes to career change. I take my time and I plan my journey carefully. I had been thinking about a flight for months (six at least), so when I got a call from a pilot to say that I had an opportunity to fly I was eager to impress.
I was told that there were co-pilots. The one I met with presented as a professional (if slightly emotionally detached) British lady who seemed incredibly switched-on. This is a good thing for a pilot to be (switched on, not emotionally detached).
Based on this interview I earned myself a second interview with the second co-pilot. This one appeared as a slightly eccentric but warm and friendly cat owner living in New Zealand. I own a cat, so I felt like this was OK. As the organisation I was to fly with was British it was not a surprising thing that this co-pilot was also British.
After meeting with the pilots and feeling good the process progressed to me chatting to flight control (the global CEO based in the UK). This was a Skype-based interview featuring me wearing a suit up top and no pants (newsreader-style). It was a hot day and ventilation is important.
Pleasingly the flight path was approved and booked in for departure, although the formal paperwork was to be completed. This included the actual offer of a job.
As the weeks went by I went from excited about the flight to slightly concerned that the whole thing wouldn't get off the ground. I had to attend to a minor detail in March (my wedding) so was otherwise distracted from the lack of progress for a few weeks.
With a little psychological manipulation on my part I received the paperwork after 10 weeks and eagerly signed my life away. The last pre-flight ritual was to leave my old job (which I liken to going through security and immigration).
This was about as hard as I expected it to be and it certainly filled me with the dread and fear of risk that comes when you leave the country for a new horizon. But I was brave and did it - after all there was a new career at stake.
Optimism was high as the plane was boarded and took off. In a short four weeks I would arrive at my destination. I sat through the safety demonstration (which as usual I never took any notice of) and did up my seat belt to a comfortable tightness.
This was going to be some flight. I ordered a hamburger (which was no doubt going to be microwaved) and kicked back.
Can't wait for the next episode - literally on the edge of my seat (and at the end of my tether - whatever a tether is is)
ReplyDelete