Drone Jobs – Opportunities
Opportunities
Drones are used in more and more applications every day. An online search will reveal several examples of a new drone application. Over the last year, drones have been utilised during the COVID outbreak in monitoring crowds to vaccine delivery in remote locations. The renewable energy market boomed last year and so did opportunities for drone operators wanted to conduct asset inspections and performance monitoring.
Drones were used in 2020 to save Koalas affected by bush-fires. In NZ (and other places) drones have been used to monitor volcanic activity.
Some applications include:
- Firefighting
- Public Safety
- Construction
- Search and Rescue
- Law Enforcement
- Power line Inspection
- Agriculture, spaying, crop imaging
- Water management
- Oil and Gas
- Mining
- Roadway survey and construction documentation
- Environmental Protection
- Light shows (such as VIVID)
- Weed spraying (Agriculture)
- Crop mapping
- Real estate
- Solar panel and roof inspections
- Videography
- etc….!!!
How much do drone pilots get paid?
How much a person can ask to pilot drones depends very much on how experienced the pilot is, and the type of work. So it pays to gain experience and qualifications.
Flight hours, technical skills, safely record, aviation knowledge, and Remote Pilot Licence are some key aspects which give one pilot preference over another.
Making a start
Begin by conducting some online research into the uses of drones. You will be amazed at how many jobs match your skill-set! If you have industry experience look at how a drone can enhance your work. Look at how this could give you a competitive advantage.
Enhancing your existing qualifications and experience with drones is the best way to attract customers.
Don’t try to do everything! Focus on what you can be good at and what the market has room for.
Starting small allows you to gain experience and discover the market
If you operate within the Standard Operating Conditions (SOC) of the Excluded category you can use a smaller drone and gain experience within your market. As you gain experience and you can upgrade to a Remote Pilot Licence.
Another option is to obtain a Remote Pilot Licence and work under another entities Remote Operator’s Certificate. There are many operators calling for people with their licence to perform specific jobs. For example an operator with a contact to document fire or flood damage may require pilots.
What are the advantages of having a Remote Pilot Licence
This is an important the question which we are asked nearly everyday.