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Old 13th Aug 2010, 12:38
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Sulako
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: In a pile of leaves
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If you want to seek your first job in Canada, you basically have 2 choices: You can head north 'into the bush' or you can instruct.

Lots of bush jobs for low-timers are pretty seasonal ie. floats, with hiring starting in the spring and a few hundred hours flown during the summer months. You will get valuable experience, and likely advance to heavier equipment at a faster rate than an instructing job.

Instructing gets you long hours and low pay, but you'll at least get PIC time, which is useful while you are chasing your Airline Transport License. With instructing, you might even wind up working in an area with paved roads and cable tv.

As a low-timer, you will be competing for jobs with hundreds of other fresh pilots, who all put "solid work ethic, dependable, reliable, and safe" on their resumes, so you will want to stand out. Phone calls are more effective than just spamming resumes, and in-person visits are more effective than phone calls. Just make sure you understand the distinction between 'cheerfully energetic job-hunting' and 'stalking' - if you get a "no", then say you'll check back in a few months and move on to the next airport. There's a Canadian publication called Wings magazine that publishes a list of charter operators each year (in spring, I think), and it's a great starting point.

So once you decide which niche you want to start in, how do you actually get the job? Well...

In Canada, there is a long and glorious tradition of the "road trip". You buy a cheap, reliable car, pack your clothing, laptop and a pair of work gloves, and drive to every small airport from coast to coast, shaking hands and telling anyone who will listen that you can start working today. Bring bug spray and trail mix, and dress for the job you are applying for - if you are at a small charter operator in the middle of nowhere, a work jacket and jeans will likely get you further through the door than epaulets and a tie - the opposite applies if you are aiming for an instructing job in a large city.

While you are driving and networking, make sure you are nice to everyone you meet - in Canada it's a pretty small community, and if you spend time here you'll be amazed at how often the same faces come up again and again. As a low-timer, all you really have to offer is your positive attitude, so keep in mind that's what you are selling.

I chose the 'bush' route for my first job, and I got my first job because the Ops Manager went to the same flying school I did, and decided to give me an interview. I showed up ready to work that day, and I started working that day. Most of my jobs have been because the hiring person had been given a good reference by someone else, and that's because I worked really hard at making friends/contacts when I was starting out. ie "Vacuum your plane for you? I sure will, and I'll do the windshields when I'm done vacuuming. Here's some hot coffee I made when I heard you call 15 minutes out, Captain." or the ever-popular "Of course you are welcome to the last beer in the cooler!"

I fly corporate now, but I follow the same basic rule of thumb: Hire for attitude, train for experience. Flying a plane isn't that hard, but getting along with people under difficult circumstances can be. Good luck!
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