I can’t tell you how many times I have had a CFI candidate on a practical test tell me that they are “hoping to be ready to be a CFI soon if they pass today.”

That makes me think, “Aren’t I testing you to be a CFI today? As in you need to be ready to be one if you pass today and do the job immediately, don’t you? That is kind of the point of testing someone for the CFI certificate.

When you are preparing for your CFI certificate, the goal is to prepare to the point that when you take the test, you are demonstrating that you have the knowledge, skills, risk management, and resources to do the job. Expecting that you could be starting with a first student the next day.

Don’t prepare for your CFI hoping if you pass to become one after that, prepare as if you are going to be ready to be a CFI before the test even begins.

Prepare along the way by gathering resources you would use to do the job. You can use them during the test, and you don’t have to create them all on your own. Leverage the plethora of quality resources out there that you can collect and have at your disposal to make doing the job effective. Come to your CFI practical test ready to demonstrate that you can do that.

There are two things this will do. One, it will make it more likely you will pass the test because you have gathered all the material you will use to answer the mean old examiner’s questions.

Second, it will make you gather the resources you will actually use if you pass and have to work as a CFI even later that day!

The goal here is to fill your quiver with arrows you will use in battle as a CFI to teach your students. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel here and create all the materials yourself, there are LOTS of great material providers and resources out there you can leverage. But you do need to collect them.

Show up ready to do the job, not just wanting to do the job and hoping to be ready when you do it later. This as if you ready to be the teacher, not just wanting to be one.