how to write a CV?

[creaze]

Hi!

I've just got my CPL ME with 235 hours, and am looking for my first job. What would you suggest, i should put on my CV? Because there's nothing really to tell, beside my first sentence.

What do folks put on their CV before they get their first pilot jobs?

Thanks in advance.

[Babel Fish]

The discussions that I've seen on PPRuNe of CVs often show a split of opinion around certain aspects of the "ideal" CV (e.g. photo/no photo). For me, I subscribe to the following content & format (from top to bottom):

Personal/contact details; licences & hours (and perhaps where you trained if you think this may be beneficial); employment background; educational background; anything else that might be of interest (involvement with any professional organisations etc.).

Even fresh out of flight school you should be able to fill 1 side of A4 with that information (albeit with rather large header and footer areas perhaps :) ) For employment background I keep to just a one-liner for anything non-aviation related (employer; job description; dates) as I would assume nobody really cares unless it was something spectacular.

One thing I do try to do in order to survive round 1 of the paper-sift is make it very clear (i.e. right at the top of the CV, in a format/style that is eye catching) that I'm qualified and meet the very basic requirements of whatever I might be applying for e.g. fATPL, ICAO Level 4 English, EU Citizen etc. I've seen the CVs of a few fellow job hunters and, IMHO, my eyes had to work a little too hard in order to determine these basic facts.

Having said all of that, my CV has yet to work its magic out there in the wild, so take the above with a large pinch of salt :ok:

[RTN11]

Perhaps it's time to get some other interests, hobbies or volunteer work to put on that cv so you stand out from the crowd.

An aviation CV certainly shouldn't be more than one side of A4, and I had no problem filling that with concise bullet points.

Remember the CV is just to get an interview, you'll have plenty of chance to fill them in then, so keep the CV interesting and to the point.

[OhNoCB]

Anyone with a licence should be able to cobble together a CV. If that sort of things isn't something you're good at then it might be worth paying someone to do one for you.

For what it's worth, someone (non aviation) in a high level HR job told me that certain companies will have policies whereby they have to bin a CV with a photo on it because the can be open to discrimination issues otherwise. For this reason I don't include a photo unless it has been explicitly required.

[BWSBoy6]

For interpersonal skills, do you think it's better to list in bullet points i.e. decisive, adaptable, friendly or to 'fluff it up a little bit: One of my strengths is being decisive but am able to be flexible and adapt etc etc

Many thanks.

[Evanelpus]

I spent most of yesterday looking at cv's for a job my organisation have advertised. I couldn't believe how many spelling mistakes there were in them and the job involved education and young people. Doh!