Instructing at ERAU Daytona

[Kleigh]

Does anybody know what "life" is like as CFI/CFII/MEI for ERAU?

[Flyboy1313]

Life as an instructor at ERAU is not too bad. I just graduated this past May from the University and worked as a Part Time Instructor. The difference between working at a local FBO and ERAU is the fact there is a fast majority of instruction which is done in FTD's for all courses. Most Full Time students are given Private and Commercial Students. Indoc last for approximately 3-4 weeks and then after they'll let you start working. There is never a lack of students as this fall the University is expecting to have over 900 flights students. Pay is no the best...15.50/hr plus benefits which include up to 6 credit hours for Ungrad/Grad classes. They were doing a signing bonus of CRJ FTD training or other benefits...however not sure on the status of that. If you have any other questions let me know. I will tell you this...it is not your local FBO, everything is extremely structured, which can be a plus an minus as they try to push as many kids as possible through the system. Over all it is a good flight department with some kinks to work out. Currently teaching in all Cessna 172SP NavIII, Piper Arrows, and all ME students are flying the DA-42 and Piper Seminole.

[ufgators]

Are they still hiring instructors this summer? Also what is the 3-4 week indoc like?

[Flyboy1313]

Bascially the 3-4 week Indoc is just learning Embry-Riddle SOP and trying to get everybody standardized and on the same page. Its a combination of both flying, ground labs, Simulator sessions (FTD's) to make sure you are "Up to Par" teaching at Riddle. The Best part is its unpaid!!!! Not 100% sure but with over 900 flight students registered for the fall. I'm sure they're gonna be needing instructors. If you're looking to work full time you're going to be with Private Students in the C-172NavIII. Depending on the status they may upgrade you to the Arrow or if you have your MEI the DA-42/Seminole. Oh I mention these upgrades do not mean you get an increase in pay? Pay is based on hours of dual given and flight time. I think below 750 hrs is 15.50/hr 1200 is 17.50 or something along those lines. Great maintained aircraft...just everything is so scheduled, strict, and to the point gets to be frustrating sometimes and feels like you're a baby sitter!

UFgators if you have any questions PM me and I'll give ya all the juicy details! But I have to warn ya...GO DAWGS!

[sargeanb]

I've taught at Riddle and elsewhere, and I can safely say that there are not many better instructing jobs out there. Flyboy got the pay and bennies about right. As a beginning full time instructor, the pay is actually exceeded by alot of FBOs, but the benefits far outweigh that. Bennies include Health, dental, free tuition for up to 6 creds per semester(undergrad or grad) for you and immediate family (wife/kids), and a retirement plan better than the one I get now at a regional. The supply of work is limitless. If some of my students were sick, out of town, etc, I could always find more from another instructor who was going on vacation, etc. If the wx was bad, we could do ground and sims. The equipment is the best maintained you will find anywhere. I disagreed with the idea to go with all glass cockpits, but that is the direction alot of other top schools were going, so that's what we got.

But, it is run similar to an airline, as the jobs there are in high demand. The interview/indoc process is long and tough, sort of a preview of airline indoc. When I interviewed, people were being furloughed from the regionals, and jobs were very tough to get...I'm not sure if the process has changed as of late. The interview was a sit down interview with the chief CFI and two training managers, all sorts of HR and technical Q's, including teaching several maneuvers and systems. There was also a written test, and a sim with a couple of approaches. I was then placed in a "hiring pool" (yes, they had one at one time), but with the industry as it is now, they might not be doing this anymore, or they might be! Once you get the call for a class date, indoc starts, where they teach you most things youll need to get started, all of our procedures, the local airspace, the scheduling system, benefits, etc. etc., There are a few tests during indoc, but they are pretty easy. During indoc, you go on several flights with a check pilot or senior instructor to practice maneuvers, learn the airspace, etc, then you've got your hiring ride in the airplane with the chief or a check pilot. Once this is passed, you're officially hired.

Another issue is if you have an MEI, you will not immediately be able to teach multi courses. Mgmt raises and lowers the requirements to teach multi students based on demand. The training course for students as it is laid out now is very multi-intensive, so they need alot of MEIs. When I started teaching multi the requirements were 750 dual given, MEI completed, with a good pass rate, which I had after teaching there about a year. We had some pretty high requirements to teach CFI as well. There are alot of opportunities for advancement, and side jobs as well. Positions for assistant team managers, and team safety leaders open up regularly as instructors move on, and there are side jobs outside of teaching college students as well, like working with professors on flight research projects, and teaching kids to fly at the summer academy camp each year.

It was a fun job, and I would not have gone anywhere else...if they paid a bit better I may have never left!

[ufgators]

Great information guys thanks! I've got an interview next week so I'll be hardcore on the books. By the way...does ERAU use Jepp charts or NACO?

[Flyboy1313]

Either! I always use NACO;however, I teach my students both NACO and Jepp. Most of the professors teach the Instrument students Jepp.

[sargeanb]

As far as the charts, they didn't seem to care which we used. The profs in the classes did teach Jepp, and initially as a student I had Jepps, until I found out how much cheaper NACO charts were (and not doing revisions was nice too). So I used all NACO through my instructing days, then on to the airline and I'm back in Jepp country. In my interview, it was broken down so one Team Manager asked me HR questions, and one technical questions, and the Chief CFI threw something in every once in a while, but mostly observed. HR stuff was pretty standard, why do you want to work here, ever had trouble with a previous boss, if you see someone doing something unsafe on the ramp what do you do...etc. Technical was pretty much a mix of CFI checkride questions. I taught a few private and commercial maneuvers as well, again nothing not covered on the CFI checkride. Don't sweat it...I've worked closely with all the TMs at one time or another...all really nice folks.

[Crism]

Sarg and Fly, if you've got any info on the interview, shoot me a PM. I'm about to finish up Fast Track and it's about that time to start thinking about the interview process.

From what I've seen so far, working at Riddle is a good deal. I'm hoping to go into the interview as a CFI/CFII out of Fast Track then get hired, go through standards, and go home for a few weeks. I'm going to try to knock out the MEI Part 61 at home so I don't have to do the Riddle run-around for the Multi upgrade when the time comes.

Let me know if you've got anything else. Other than that I'll be working Part-time but working my butt off to teach.

-Steve