CV cover letters

[speedbird23]

Could I get some tips on what to put in a cover letter. What do they want to see/read? Alternatively is there anywhere I can look for tips, samples etc.
Thanks

[EGCC4284]

Send Pilot Pete an e-mail.

I'm sure he can point you in the right direction.

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=97111

[VirginSkid]

Sorry with all due respect, but I do NOt agree with paying for CV cover letters...there are vast amounts of resources available on the net that can coach you how to write it.

Draft one up yourself, and then ask a pilot who will more than be willing to help you with out any money...

Any cover letter will ask you to write briefly and describe the following:

Responsibility and Reliability
Determination
Team work
Dedication...

these are buzz words that you need to look into...

Speedbird23 I do not mind helping you out for free dude...

This message is not mean't to have any disrespect to EGCC4284....but it looks like alot of free marketing !:)

VSkid

[Funkie]

VirginSkid,

Sorry, I disagree that you should go in to detail with the covering letter.

Any covering letter should be brief and contain pertinent information only. Such as; where you saw the advert, your contact details, the correct address and name (and spelling) of the recipient and brief message to say “Please find my attached Curriculum Vitae for your consideration in respect to the above….” Make damn sure there are no spelling mistakes.

Any more than this and it’s probably leaving the hand of the reader and heading for the PFO section…

By-the-by, having read Pilot Pete’s story over the last year and a bit, I’m sure he’s a great source of info on covering letters and CV’s. Do a search for yourself and read the details - he should write a book about it. Inspirational stuff.

Funkie

[VirginSkid]

funkie,

True, but in brief I believe you need to state your qualities, and aim to provide them those that fit their culture...

As for Pilot Pete's Inspirational qualities..no doubt about that after doing a search I believe the guy is good, but there must be many like him or better...

No disrespect to the guy or anyone but I do not agree paying money for something I can research and do myself!

But hey ...I am only a virgin who keeps skidding yet yet! hehehe

VS

[scroggs]

VirginSkid you are quite wrong. Unlike IT, advertising, marketing and other employment within the business world, you are not required to 'big yourself up' in a covering letter for an aviation CV.

Your qualities will be assessed in an interview and a simulator session, plus probably a number of group exercises. All the covering letter needs to do is confirm what post you are applying for, and include your contact details. It may be slightly less formal and in more colloquial English than the CV itself.

However, you are right that careful research (particularly here on Pprune) will reveal all that you need to know, both about CVs themselves and their covering letters.

Scroggs

[speedbird23]

Thanks for the help. I don`t believe in paying for some one`s advice. That`s why I asked. If successful pilots and guys/gals in the know wont pass on advice in this industry what hope is there for us all. I am a relative newbee and the amount of bull**** and negativity that comes from other pilots is absolutely astounding.(most of it misinformation and scaremongering). Luckily I haven`t been tainted with that brush yet. One day pilots will stop complaining about there lot in life and be happy doing what they do. For the record I`am just shy of 1000hsTT and fly singles around the bush. Gotta keep the dream alive.

[Huron Topp]

In a similar vein, do companies in the UK prefer a long-winded CV, or the shorter, more concise type?

[witchdoctor]

A small query on etiquette.

There seems to be a number of airlines where the letter should be addressed to a female member of the team, but only their name is given - no rank or marital status. How would you address the letter formally?

It seems a bit cheeky to call them by their first name, and (speaking as a married man) you are risking death or serious dismemberment by guessing their marital status. I also detest 'Ms' as a form of address, as do a lot of women.

Is there an easy way out?

It's easy with a bloke - It's 'Mr XXX' or 'Sir' - and easier still if you know your contact is Captain XXXX (male or female).

Shame for the CV to end up in the bin at the opening line.:O

[VirginSkid]

Cover letter FAQ and answers

1. Should I write my covering letter by hand?
Covering letters should be typed with black ink unless the employer has specified that they want it written by hand. In which case a good quality pen should be used and you should take care not to make mistakes and crossings out.

2. How long should my cover letter be?
Do not exceed one side of A4. Use formatting to balance the letter in the centre of the page.

3. Who do I address the letter to?
If you have the name of the employer then address the letter to them, if not try to find a name on the company webpage or by telephoning and asking who the head of department is. If you cannot find a name, then address your letter Dear Sir/Madam.

4. When do I need to send out a cover letter?
A cover letter should always be sent out to accompany your CV.

5. How should I close the letter?
A covering letter is a formal business letter and as such should be closed with 'yours sincerely'

6. What are the main points I need to include in my letter?
First Paragraph - State what position you are applying for and what makes you the best candidate for that job. If you are responding to an advertisement, refer to the publication in which it appeared. Second paragraph - Give details of what you can contribute to the company and how your qualifications make you particularly suitable. If applying to an advertised job relate your skills to those that are specified in the description. Third paragraph - Write your career aims linking them to the company's field of expertise and the job to which you are applying. Request an interview at the reader's convenience and state that you will be in touch. Incorporate this information into a maximum of four short paragraphs, include a contact address and your signature.

7. Can I send out the same letter for each application?
It is advisable to tailor a covering letter for the job to which you are applying. It is easier for an employer to dismiss a standard letter.

8. What do I do after I have sent the letter off?
Keep a record of when you posted the letter, and follow up with a telephone call after about a week. While you are waiting to hear back from the company continue to apply for other jobs, do not put all your eggs in one basket.

9. Should I use different fonts and what paper should I use?
This is a formal letter so do not use fancy fonts, stick with Times, Times New Roman or Arial. It should be black ink on white paper, do not use personal stationary. Print the letter on the same paper you used for your CV.

10. What type of language should I use?
Keep it simple, avoid clichés and commonly used catch phrases. Try not to use too many 'I can, I have, I am' starts to sentences. Your language should be hard hitting and easy to understand, use plenty of action verbs such as "designed", "implemented", avoid abbreviations and slang.

Scroggs,



I take your view stating that I am quite wrong. But its not the case of "bigging yourself" its more the case of either you fit in their culture or not and have what they are looking for.

I believe these guys have no time in reading these things at all they mostly just look at the hours etc....

But some actually go through it with a fine comb.

I personally feel that it depends on the person who is reading the application. It does not hurt to write a little about yourself and be anthusiastic about the role and the company with moderation.

Either way works. Its more so trial and error.

Your approach may work for one airline and not for the other.

Similar to aptitude tests why are BA and other airlines different, mainly because they look for different areas. Thus like CV's and Cover letters its really the same.

Witchdocter,

Why can't you simply write:

Dear (first Name) or what ever rather than Ms or Mrs etc

If you have canvassed and found out the persons name then find out the whole name.

Otherwise its always wise to use:

Dear Sir / Madam


Remeber KISS (Keep It Stupid Simple)

VS

[scroggs]

Virginskid have you just cut and pasted that from a CV advice website? It looks very like some of the business CV advice I was given when I left the RAF. Unfortunately, it is of little relevence to aviation and, in particular, the airline industry. You are not applying for a singular, competitive, position within a commercial business department. You are applying for one of a number of non-competitive posts within an organisation which is primarily involved with safety. Paragraphs detailing 'why you are the best person for the job' (over and above anyone else) are likely to label you an egotist, and see your CV deposited straight in the DFO's bin. As will any use of words like 'implemented', 'designed' or 'synergistic' or any other marketing-speak b*llocks!

Your flying qualifications and flying experience are the meat of both the covering letter and, in more detail, the CV. Other experience is pretty much irrelevent unless it's related to airline operations, or you have no flying experience and you are applying for a sponsorship. Your own opinion of your suitability to occupy a seat in my, or my colleagues', aeroplanes is pretty much worthless. I, and my colleagues, will decide that once we have been convinced that your experience and qualifications make you a reasonable prospect for interview.

There is much good advice on this site and elsewhere about aviation CVs. Search for it. Do not be misled by advice that is intended for other areas of employment.

Scroggs

PS. I know that Pilot Pete will have more to say on this topic, and his advice is excellent. Read it carefully.

[WhiskeyNovember]

Also remember that your CV should, to a certain degree, be tailored to the company you're applying for. There isn't necessarily one correct format.

Southwest, for example, is drawn to those who express themselves and are a little more open and creative (Within reason, of course). Other companies look for the "cookie-cutter" individual who conforms to exacting characteristics.

Best of luck to you. :)



-WN

[V- 5]

IMHO,

It probably desn't matter that you use the full page of the covering letter, to describe your attributes, as opposed to a single sentence- or less- (how minimalist do you need to be??)

If the prospective employer opens the envelope, and doesn't want to read the accompanying letter, he/she will set it aside immediately, to get into the accompanying CV. On the other hand, another prospective employer may well be interested in a bit of background to fill in the bare bones of the single page CV. After all, it doesn't take more than a few seconds to scan a few sentences!

One small point, close the letter with "Yours Faithfully" if you start with "Dear Sir/ Madam", and use"Yours Sincerely", if you start with the person's name- "Dear Mr.----/ Ms.----".

[foghorn]

Pedantic maybe, but you shouldn't capitalise the words 'faithfully' or 'sincerely'

[VirginSkid]

Scroggs,

Fine your point taken.

You obviously do not cater your CV for Management job! The Management B@llocks can be left out. But would you not think that some of this management crap does provide further insight to a persons capability.

How could you differentiate between 2 pilots with the same hours etc...there must be other qualities that may make a CV more attractive?

Possibly Pete could put some of his wisdom in to this.

If I remember rightly BA were looking their pilots to have certain management qualities as opposed to mere techies...

So what would you reckon would be a suitable format of CV and Covering letter, it would be most helpfull if you could give us clue...

thanks

VS

[Pilot Pete]

I have never posted on any thread that mentions my course as I do not want to be seen to be advertising, but I thought I would just post something here to put down the other side to this thread and make a few points.

I totally agree that pilots should help pilots and indeed, what is this industry coming to if we don't? I would like to think that I (just like many others on here) have helped a large number of Wannabes with plenty of absolutely free advice, both on these pages and via PM and email. Indeed my PM box is next to useless, as it can't handle the amount of traffic that I get! I am always willing to offer an opinion, as that is all that any of us can do, perhaps pointing out options and recounting experiences that help an individual make their choices, for it is 'their' choices, that they need to make, as, after all, it is their money they are spending.

What I would like to say is that Virginskid has made some very valid points; there is plenty of information out there in internet land about CV and cover letter writing and interviews and selection tests, but as pointed out by others, much of it is inappropriate to the aviation market and the UK aviation market in particular. CVs and cover letters are subjective and each recruiter will have different ideas about what they like. The main thing is that the basics are right and they can see the information that they need with little effort. Also, the more hours on relevant types with well established and respected carriers and the higher demand for your skills, the worse your CV can be and still be read! It’s just like any other market forces transaction. If we look at these pages, they tend to be dominated by low hours guys looking to break into airlines (mainly UK based), so their CVs and letters need to be just right and they need (especially in the current market) to do everything possible to ensure that if they get asked to a selection, they pass. Plenty do not, and indeed some don't even learn from the process. That is tragic and could be the only chance they get for employment for many, many months.

I have had the pleasure of meeting many Wannabes who will make excellent pilots (just my opinion!) but who lack the presentation skills for CVs and interviews, usually through a lack of understanding of what the market wants and not having a clear understanding of what they are trying to achieve at each stage and how to do it. All the effort seems to go into getting the licence and then there is a period of 'sitting back' thinking it will happen, followed by an understanding that they are just not doing enough, then hopefully a more determined effort goes in and perhaps a selection or two results.

In the current market you have to do everything possible to minimise the risk of failure. I am not saying that everyone should pay for some kind of instruction in this field, far from it. Plenty have previous experience of CVs and selection tests, which they can and do apply successfully to the aviation job market. But with such fierce competition for flying jobs and the large number of applicants for every post, if you don’t do better than the other applicants you won’t get the job. If you are not strong in this field then it’s just like any flying test; get some instruction!

There is indeed plenty of information on the internet about CVs, letters, selection tests and the like, but it tends to be well buried and surrounded by a lot of rubbish which someone new to the industry may find hard to disseminate. Remember, not everyone wants to troll through pages and pages of info on the internet trying to find what they want. Some people would prefer to just get some instruction.

So there you have it, paying for this type of advice, especially if you don't have the skills (say with presentation of documents like CVs) is not for everyone, but some find it extremely valuable.

PP

[GA Driver]

Just to give you an idea, I used the following link to help me out with the basics of a cover letter.

The company I applied to had their own papers they wanted filled out so really didn't require too much on the covering letter.

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=85333&highlight=cover+letter

I think the one Luke Skytoddler is the one to read.

Cheers

[scroggs]

Thanks Pilot Pete.

Virginskid airlines like BA who cloud their aircrew recruiting with issues about being part of the management of the airline are the exception rather than the rule! However, even BA require only the very basics on your CV and covering letter; their own in-house application form extracts the information about your character and personality that they need to determine who to invite for interview. Many applicants to BA never needed to send a CV at all, as all they had to do to get the application form was to ring the airline!

Most airlines that you (or any Wannabe) will write to are probably not looking for new pilots. Often, an airline's decision to employ new pilots is very short notice, and the need may be for very few people. Airlines will keep CVs of those pilots they think may fit their needs, even in times when they don't anticipate recruiting, and you can find that you are contacted out of the blue by an airline you last contacted months ago! All most airlines need to know is that you are qualified at the appropriate level for the job or training that they may offer; the interview and selection process will provide the filters to get the required numbers into employment.

Most Wannabes will look to sponsorships as their preferred method of getting into aviation. They are few and far between, but they do exist. For these, CVs are usually irrelevent - after all, by definition a sponsorship seeker will have little or no experience to write about! Normally applicants for these will be chosen by application forms and subsequent interviews and tests.

For the majority of Wannabes who do not get a sponsorship, the CV is the primary method of contact with prospective employer airlines. These CVs are speculative; ie they are not in response to a specific job advert. To have any chance of success, you need to target your CVs at employers who are known to have taken on pilots of your experience. For instance, it would be a waste of time for a 250-hour fATPL to send a CV to Virgin Atlantic, who need pilots with a minimum of 2500 hours jet or TP time!

As it is speculative, your covering letter needs to detail exactly what you are applying for, so that it can be directed to the correct department (or, more likely, the correct in-tray on the secretary's desk!). Once in front of the Director Flight Ops (DFO) or whoever is responsible for pilot recruiting in your target airline, all he or she needs to see is that you are appropriately qualified, hold a current licence, and have the experience required by that particular airline. If your covering letter gives hm or her that information succinctly, and your details fit that airline's requirements, you can reasonably expect your CV to be held on file until such time as the airline next recruits new pilots. If your covering letter (or CV) goes into unnecessary detail about what a fine chap you are, and how you've done great things for McDonalds Big Mac sales in Lower Thumping-on-the-Naze by synergising their marketing strategy with the implementation of customer-focussed sales techniques, you can expect your CV to be posted either in the bin or to the airline's PR department!

Keep it simple and to the point. You are not selling yourself as an individual, you are selling your skills as a pilot. The airlines don't care how great you were in non-aviation jobs, they just care that you can drive their punters from A to B safely and legally. That's it.

Scroggs