Career Profile

The career path I’m looking forward to beginning is a job I received training for while serving in the Military. I was responsible for maintaining aircraft records such as flight hours, maintenance data, monthly summaries etc. The actual title of the job varies, but it falls within the spectrum of an aircraft analyst. However, outside of the military this job usually requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems management, or something similar. Experience is a very important aspect of this career because improperly kept data could risk lives by overflying an aircraft. Most people in this field end up being veterans because most of their training was paid for by the military. Which could actually replace the need of a bachelor’s degree, for example, the job posting I picked for the upcoming assignment would also consider eight years of experience instead. However, there are many opportunities to work as a contractor alongside active duty military. Overall, this is a job that can be found with any airline company, military aviation squadron, or private aviation firm. Even NASA has opportunity along this line. 

Personally, I think I would prefer working on a military base for two main reasons. The first is that I have experience in that environment, I understand every company will run professionally by trained-personnel, but unspoken trust between veterans or active service members is something I can’t really explain. The second reason is because I secretly would like to make fun of the service members working there. While serving, we were always jealous of the civilian contractors that showed up to work in jeans and a t-shirt. Also, they were usually able to go home before us and lived more structured work schedules. I enjoyed my time in the military, but it was the feeling that my life was too controlled that drove me away. These civilians were able to enjoy both the job and their personal lives without much interference. We also can’t forget they were making pretty good money. Advancement in this field varies depending on the type of organization you work for. Many contractors just sign for a specific salary/time agreement, but any federal positions would follow the government’s General Schedule (GS) pay scale of GS-1 to GS-15. Your starting pay salary, is again, something that depends on which organization hired you. The median pay for a Computer systems administrator, however, appears to be around 80,000 a year. I couldn’t find an exact description of this job on BLS to pin point the exact salaries, but I have heard over the years that most people start around 70,000 a year. Looking forward, my first ambition is to finish my degree in computer science. This is a career field that requires many hours inside and attention to detail, but nonetheless it is a goal to revisit this part of my life in some way or another. I’m fascinated by airplanes and helicopters, and occasionally being able to sit on a free flight around the city is definitely a perk.