Are you a fighter pilot?

As part of a pre job interview for a position as a security consultant, I was asked this question. The interviewer expanded the question further as :

Given the choice between a luxurious journey in a passenger jetliner (flying business class) and a thrilling trip as a fighter pilot, which one would you choose?

My immediate reply was (without a single doubt): “I’ll take the fighter jet, thanks.”

Then the interviewer tried to dissuade me from my choice: “Its not as glamorous as it sounds. Its a terrible job flying a jet plane. There are lots of complications, you are literally defying death, and even the pay isn’t that good.”. He then spent quite some time explaining the luxuries and comforts that we take for granted in a passenger jet, and those that aren’t available in a fighter jet. “You can’t even piss properly”, he told me. “And there’s free booze on the Boeing.”

Me (after some deliberation and moment of self-doubt): I’d ultimately like to have my own private jet, but I’m willing to strap myself to a 300 million dollar plane just trying to get there. I’d take that over a passenger jet any day.

For those who didn’t get the analogy: He was trying to convince me to join a high risk job, where I’d be working late nights doing what I love. But it also means giving up tons of luxuries and comforts that I could get at other companies.

I’m sure that I’m the fighter jet kind of person, I’m just having difficulty deciding what jet I wanna fly. If you have an opening for a Full Stack Developer/Security Consultant, shoot me a mail.

Published on January 28, 2015
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