While some people get a pilot's license strictly for recreational purposes, others intend to make flying their career. If you intend to make your living by flying, you've probably thought about becoming a pilot for one of the major airlines or for the military. These are certainly career options available to you, but they are not the only ones. Take a look at some of the career options available to you as a pilot that you may never have thought of.

1. Freight

There are many goods that need to be shipped by air to retail locations managing their sales pipeline or directly to consumers. Freight pilots transport these goods from one place to another so they are ready for the next leg of their journey. This is a pilot job that would allow you to work nights, if you prefer, and to avoid dealing with passengers if you are not a people person. However, you would have to learn all about the cargo you were carrying.

2. Air Ambulance

As an air ambulance pilot, you fly patients for medical reasons. Sometimes these are non-emergency patient transports, but more often, you are flying patients to the hospital in emergency situations when it is not possible to transport them by road or you are delivering organs for transplant. Becoming an air ambulance pilot can be a demanding job but it can also be an extremely rewarding one. It is considered one of the most important pilot jobs.

3. Aerial Firefighting

Another way in which you can save lives with your pilot job is to become an aerial firefighter. This is a pilot who helps to extinguish wildfires from the air by dumping water and slurry on them from a water bomber or an air tanker. With the incidence of large and damaging wildfires increasing, demand for aerial firefighters is likely to remain high.

4. Charter Flights

A charter flight is one that passengers hire exclusively to transport them from one location to another on demand. If you start your own charter flight company, it can give you more flexibility to take charters only when you want to fly. It also gives you the freedom to set your own dress code.

There are different types of charter flights. Those that transport tourists around their vacation destinations are sometimes called air taxis. As implied by the name, these mean shorter flights, which helps to make this job more flexible.

5. Business Jets

Business jets are similar to charter flights in that they are hired by specific passengers. They fly prestigious executives to and from important meetings around the globe. In some respects, this is similar to a charter flight, except that you may fly longer distances. Another difference is that, when you fly a business jet, you are expected to make arrangements for your passengers to reach their destination upon landing, which means planning ground transportation as well as filing flight plans. If you are an organized person who likes planning and scheduling, this could be a good job for you. It can be less stressful than being an airline pilot because you typically have some downtime before you have to turn around and fly your passengers back to their origination point, and it can be a good way to see exciting destinations from around the world.

6. Ferry Flying

Ferry flying may sound similar to charter flights, but it is not. Ferry flying does not involve transporting passengers, as air taxi does. Instead, you are flying a new plane, often a smaller craft, to its permanent base of operations. This can be an adventure because, once the plane arrives at its destination, it may only fly short flights but, in order to transport it, you may fly it a much greater distance than it was originally intended for. This means that you have to take multiple stops along the way.

Making a career as a pilot does not necessarily mean that you have to deal with passengers on a big airline or enlist in the military. There are flying career options available that better suit your personality and preferences.