aircraft maintenance technician

instructor

admission representative

aircraft mechanic

mechanics instructor

Aviation-Institute-of-Maintenance

A typical work day would be showing up an hour early for work, chatting with various co-workers/students. I would then teach a basic course for a few hours until lunch. At lunch break, I'd hang out with either the other instructors or the students, it just depended on if I was challenged in ping pong that day or not. Management was ok. From what I remember, the School's Director (we'll call him Mr. M) was always very respectful towards me and a pleasure to talk to. The Director of Education was the same. The biker Education Coordinator was a different story. He has no tact. He has no respect if you irritate him. He would constantly get into it with other coworkers in front of everyone else- he wouldn't bring that person into his office to have that conversation like he should have. What he specifically did to me was took away hours from my paycheck that I worked. I had a student who was struggling quite a bit and had asked to come in a couple of hours before class to study for a test that was coming up. I obliged by coming in very early so I could meet with him. In a typical student fashion, the student didn't show up. To fill the time, I did paperwork, as in grading papers, getting ready for the next day's instruction, setting up work aids, etc,. The time I was there, I was clocked in. I noticed on my time sheet that those hours had been adjusted by the Education Coordinator. When I confronted him about it, he just said that I wasn't allowed to come in that early. I wasn't allowed to work a couple extra hours. I did though. I worked, and I should have been paid for it. Why does he have the authority to take money that I worked for out of my wallet? I think he had too much power and he was one of the main reasons why I left AIM.

What is the best part of working at the company?
 Priority was the students; some were from families of aviators, most were making a career change, and most had never been close to an airplane. Teaching was in my genes, and I enjoyed it at the Aviation Institute of Maintenance.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
It was the most diverse group of students, as I mentioned earlier; some were familiar with aircraft technology, while most of them had no familiarity with aviation. Avoiding the differences in the classroom was the stressful part of working at AIM Chicago.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It would have been better if the management (Directors) had a proper channel to approach students or get feedback from them regarding the instructors. The students were not following the code of conduct and approaching the Director of Campus for their concerns. 
The hangar at the Chicago Campus was equipped with a variety of ALT aircraft. Maintenance is performed by students and Instructors while being at the Institute. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Going to work two hours before the start time. Make the PowerPoint presentation, make the important handouts, test photocopied for all the students in the class, and make the answer sheet. 
Divide the day into the lab and the classroom so students can relate the theory and practical they learned that day. 
Take lunch in the break room.  During lunch break, if you need to make more copies of the handouts. so that you don't waste time coming and going from the classroom.

The great reviews are either from other locations or made up by management!

Here is the deal, they will start you at $18.50 with at most a $1 raise a year which they are always late by a few months stretching it. Problem is that most good instructors either quit before they make good money or get fired because they make good money or your not in the club, click, get it? Expect them to make you work on their old aircraft and put them together to look like new, yeah right. Expect to mop floors and clean the hanger on your no student day regardless of how much paperwork you have. Expect to occasionally have issues with students and no support from management.

 Its a Good ole boy club on Days. Your Narcissistic boss on Days knows not much about general aviation and nothing about commercial where the real money is. A true legend in his own mind. If your not in his club or think like him, your out. Expect not much support from nightshift supervisor although he's a nice guy. 

Management are only concerned with themselves, their jobs, impressing home base corp VA.

Planes, well, Atlanta Tech for all its issues has WAY BETTER aircraft and equipment. 

Last, instructors there just sit, bad mouth each other and play what I call word Jeopardy on seeing who knows more than the other. Expect to hear a lot of DC10, L1011 and defunct airline stories as most haven't touched let alone seen a current aircraft.

Now if you need a job for the time being, go, but keep looking!

Was a great Learning experience.Maintained aircraft turbine engines and their related systems, including the induction, cooling, fuel, oil, compression, combustion, turbine, gas turbine compressor, exhaust and propeller systems; preflight aircraft; conduct periodic inspections on engines and engine-related systems; field-test and adjust engine components, including fuel controls, pumps, valves and regulators; remove, repair and replace compressor and turbine blades and combustion chamber liners; preserve engines, engine accessories and components; and supervise engine work centers.  Able to perform functional checks on aircraft engines; perform engine performance measurements; troubleshoot aircraft engines and associated parameters; service aircraft engines; remove and replace engines; adjust engine parameters; inspect engines and engine components; troubleshoot and repair engine electrical and pneumatic components;  inspect, replace, and rig components of engine power control systems; troubleshoot, repair, and adjust auxiliary  power units; clean, inspect, and replace rotary head assemblies; conduct corrosion control inspections; remove corrosion and repair in accordance with published directives; dispose of hazardous material in accordance with OSHA directives; and be able to use computers to access maintenance publications, supply part requisitions, schedules, and tracking.

If you're willing to cast aside your empathy and jump into the deep end of predatory sales, this is the job for you. 

The higher ups only care for meeting arbitrary goals and not putting the students first. Get ready to always have the goal posts moved for your KPIs and any other metric you're judged by. You're made to feel like a good day's work is never enough and worked ragged.

They don't honor your PTO when reasonably requested with more than enough time in advance. Management tries to pit other Admissions Reps against each other and there was always tension in the air. They will also throw you under the bus to save their own skin. You can't trust anyone and the environment was hostile from the beginning. 

You will be made to coerce students (who can't enroll for financial reasons) into enrolling, saying it's in their best interest, only for them to leave the program later on. Management will step on your toes, damaging relationships you have developed with leads, resulting in another loss that will be made your fault at the end of the quarter. Not to mention forcing team members to lie to members of corporate about the real reasons we were missing our goals.

All in all my experience with AIM was sub par at best. My teammates and the schedule were the only bright sides. I would not recommend working here. 

In the beginning they will sell you a dream. The pay and hours seem great, and they will tell you that you will "Change Lives" for future students. The Admission position is a numbers game. They do not care about the actual students or their career choices. If they have too many enrolled in one program, they will make you try and coerce students to get into programs they don't want by saying things about job security, pay, tuition, and fake credentials. Your goal number of enrollments increases every month by 80% or more. And they expect you to keep up even after only being hired there just 3 or 4 months ago. If you do good they will praise you with EMAILS. But if you fall short even by one, threats come rolling in about the security of your job, and you will work EVERY SATURDAY til you reach goal. But they will tell you at the interview you will only work one out of the month. I will admit the pay is decent. But the ammount of stress from this job is not worth your sanity. VERY TOXIC POSITION. If anything I would just use the job as a stepping stool. Their turnover rate is very high. I worked there for 5 months as an admissions Rep. and I've seen 4 other admissions including one who was hired with me get fired and replaced.if you take the job don't expect to last long. Not a secure job.

Students were constantly challenging the curriculum, the instructors, and the management seemed to look the other way. Fill the seats and get the tuition mentality. Numerous times students were bringing weapons to school, drugs, drinking on breaks, stealing teachers property. At one time we had armed security in the school. Code of student conduct was tossed aside to provide for underachieving students allowing them to pass final exams. Students attendance records were falsified to allow the student into the the next block.  
When errors were found, we were told to sign them off as complied with, against our proof. 
Best part was the friends I made and the few students who worked hard to achieve. Teaching staff was helpful and worked together to repair old equipment, many of it 40 to 50 years old. Vast amount of experience was shared between the day and night shift.
 Very little self discipline was obvious and led to a lot of disruption in the classroom. When addressed to management, they said its the teaachers responsibility. When it was, students went to parents or management  and you were called out  onto the carpet. 
In a nutshell, a real challenge...

Expectations shift constantly, and it often feels like nothing you do is ever good enough for the company. The role is marketed as an opportunity to help people continue their education or access life-changing opportunities—but in reality, it functions more like a high-pressure sales environment.

Management's desperation is evident, and the primary focus is on numbers, KPIs, and performance metrics. If you're falling behind, you're quickly reminded that your job—and your paycheck—are at risk. The pressure is relentless, and support is minimal.

Many campuses are operating in the red, and that’s often the go-to excuse for denying raises or advancement opportunities. The system feels designed to burn you out—draining your motivation until you either conform completely or leave on your own.

If you're up for the challenge and don’t mind playing the game—saying yes to everything, pleasing leadership without question, and prioritizing metrics over meaning—then maybe the benefits will make it worth your while.

The only reason this isn’t a 1 out of 5 is because, unfortunately, I know there are worse jobs out there.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Helping students reach their goals for obtaining an A&P License

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
current leadership helps to minimize job related stresses

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
A diverse culture of co-workers/Instructors which is good for the diverse cultures of students that attend the school.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
have to remain flexible and assist in the learning process of each student, students have different levels of Passion for learning ,and my goal is to teach each each student in a specific method to help them reach their fullest potential. There are days that are more challenging than others due to the requirement to meet deadlines in training, and meet all FAA standards of Instruction, and motivate and teach some students which may learn at a slightly slower pace. But its' all worth it, especially to see the faces of the students that come back from the FAA DME to show you their temporary A&P Certificate. They made it!!!

A typical day of work at this job consisted of answering and routing incoming calls to appropriate persons or third parties nationwide, postdating and distributing mail, data entry and serving as first point of contact for the company. On many occasions I faxed, scanned, and copied important company documents and assembled training manuals for the Trainer at my location. 

The best part about this job to me, was staying busy with data entry, faxing, assembling training manuals running small errands for managers and human resources, and solving small problems for others when they arose. The hardest part of this job was knowing that I was coming to work everyday and not really working towards anything because there was essentially no room whatsoever for growth or advancement. 

The co-workers and working atmosphere was what was to be expected of a small office in tight quarters but everyone managed to make it function as a whole. I took away valuable lessons from this job in terms of learning to work efficiently with others for one common goal and it was an extremely satisfying feeling to be a part of a team.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Aircraft maintenance technician 186 salaries reported	$37.58 per hour
Instructor 94 salaries reported	$34.81 per hour
Admission representative 62 salaries reported	$25.79 per hour
Aircraft mechanic 205 salaries reported	$35.94 per hour
Mechanics instructor 79 salaries reported	$35.20 per hour

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