To all recently employed F/Os

[ATP_Al]

I got my frozen ATPL 10 months ago and got a multi engine piston job the next day. I had three interviews for mutli crew turbine jobs within six months of finishing my training. Two led to sim rides/further interviews and one to an offer of an F/O job starting early next year.

Like 738-jockey I think that the quality of your applications is more important than quality. I only sent CVs to around 30 companies and was careful to avoid bombarding them with constant letters and phone calls. What I did do was spend lots of time tailoring CVs and cover letters to the individual companies I applied to. For example, if an airline you're applying to has just opened a new base or route, mentioning it in your letter shows that you're really interested in the company and it's future.

You do need to patient; Even when you're doing all the right things it can take a long time for a company to come through with an interview simply because they don't have any vacancies or the time to run a selection process.

However the best piece of advice I could give would be to stay current. Unless you fly on a regular basis, the value of your training starts to depreciate the moment you leave your FTO. The pilot who flies anything he can get his hands on will be in a much better position than his friend who goes back to his old day job. In my opinion, you should apply to small operators such as parachute clubs, gliding clubs, traffic reporting companies etc FIRST and then look at the airlines. That way you'll have a foot on the ladder and something to build on.

I know money is tight, but there are plenty of opportunities to build experience without hiring aircraft or paying for your FI rating, you just have to spend some time looking. Also, make sure you regularly read over your groundschool notes and practice briefing from approach plates, doing loadsheets and planning IFR flights. It might sound stupid but it's free and will help keep you sharp. You never know when you'll need those skills.

Good luck,

Al