♪♪♪ Narr: That buzzing noise you hear could be the sound of the future.
With more businesses than ever using drones for everything from rooftop inspections to farming to cinematography.
Job opportunities are, well, flying high.
George: Society is changing.
Drones are gonna come, uh, become a big part of our everyday life.
George Foster is an instructor at Mira Costa College, a community college in San Diego County.
It offers a drone pilot and technician program and certificate.
George: You could come in here not knowing anything about flying a drone and we would baby stop you from seeing a drone sitting on a table to operating in a simulator, to flying a beginner drone, to flying a drone with an advanced payload system on it.
If you need glasses.
Student: Yeah.
George: And it also adjusts for the eye space... George: The other aspect of the course is for them to learn the technical skills - the components of a drone, how to solder and repair your drone, how to build your own drone, or to get hired on as a technical advisor to build and repair drones for a company.
Jonathan: We're learning to fly.
We're learning where not to fly.
Um, the basics of if something goes really wrong, we can troubleshoot it.
Say, Oh, this battery's dead.
Oh, this sensor needs to be replaced or this wire came unplugged, I just need to solder it and the training of how to do that.
Narr: Student Jonathan Moore says he was searching for career opportunities when he discovered the drone program.
Jonathan: I just have a history like in my life of being around robotics, being around aerospace stuff.
My dad was an aerospace engineer, so honestly, drones have been on the fringe of my life for like a long time.
And so, when I saw this was available, it just seemed like I would probably love to do that.
Narr: The program is an intensive 335 hours, but by the end, students are fully prepared to take the FAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems Drone Knowledge test.
That allows them to fly drones for commercial purposes.
Jaroslav: My like, dream job would be to, uh, get hired by some, uh, media company where I would be either a technician or a pilot for flying the drones that have the big cameras on them.
And yeah, just doing that fun stuff in movies.
Narr: Even though Jaroslav already passed the FAA test before enrolling in the program, he says he's gaining real-life experience.
Jaroslav: So this is like a great way to get started because you get hands-on training from people who have been in the industry.
George: You never want your props on unless you're about to fly.
Narr: People like George Foster, who also flies drones for a roofing company to perform inspections and those industry jobs are growing as companies and public safety organizations find new ways to use the technology.
George: Currently, right now, the big companies UPS, Amazon, they're working on drone delivery.
The medical fields.
Uh, we happen to live in Southern California.
Chula Vista PD uses drones for their advanced eyes on site at a location before officers arrive.
So we're on the pulse of the next generation of the big, big things thats happening in society.
Jonathan: It is a young industry and it is evolving very quickly.
So, people are getting new ideas.
People are getting new capabilities and people are getting more comfortable with them.
And so, it's just a lot is moving very quickly.
The rules we're learning this year are different than the rules that we would have learned last year.
Narr: In this fast-paced environment where the technology changes every year and new regulations are frequently introduced, students say they're excited about being part of an emerging industry.
[drone buzzing] On this day, they're racing on an indoor obstacle course, using goggles with first person view, also called FPV.
They can see what the drone sees as they zip through the classroom.
George: So, it's an immersive drone experience that allows you to travel inside the drone as if you were like a bee or hummingbird around the course.
And in the professional world, that skill set transcribes into drones used for inspection purposes.
Jonathan: The real fun stuff is the hands-on, like we're using state-of-the-art equipment here.
So having the newest toys to play with is really interesting.
Narr: Interesting, fun, and technical - a combination that these students say they can't wait to bring to the job market.
George: Having drone knowledge and technical skills, it gives you a plethora of op-options.
You know, if youre on Indeed or Glassdoor, its job's coming up every day.
And literally, if you have a drone and are willing to travel, the world is your oyster.
Narr: According to recent studies, the average annual pay for a drone pilot in the United States is just under $100,000 a year.
As the commercial drone industry continues to grow, so does the demand for pilots.
Industry experts say some 100,000 drone-related jobs will be created over the next two years.