Pilots Resumes

[MCA]

I would like to get a general consensus on what Chief pilots like to see in prospective employees (pilots) Resumes? I have tried the fancy book type, but have been told that most Chief pilots use them to light there fires. I have also been told that a one page, detailing experience on Aircraft types is all that’s needed. What would you like to see?
Regards

[Fun Police]

in canadia, all they seem to care about is hours, hours, hours, and then endorsements.

[paco]

And PPCs!

Youwill get as many opinions on this as on any subject, but my own preference is to receive a 1-page summary with everything relevant (no personal details, aside from contact stuff) and some expanded stuff afterwards, even at the risk of repeating yourself. That means I have information when i want it, i.e. now!

Some people also say don't use the Word templates, but I also go against the trend - at least they are neat and tidy. Some of the resumes I've seen went straight in the bin without being read because they were so badly laid out and spelt.

There is a sticky on this in the Pro Pilot Training forum (forget its proper name)

What can I say? Less is more!

Phil

[SandBlaster-214]

Hey There MCA,

Ol' Paco here sums it up well and yes, less is more.

Remember it's kinduv like telling someone how interested you are in the position. Yeah, hours are important however, the time you take to ensure your paperwork is neat and in order is also important. I don't care if it's in some template or not - just get it right. I've received resumes the envelope addressed to me with another outfit's jeffe on the cover letter. I've received resumes with coffee stains, bread crumbs and sesame seeds in the folds of the paper and in the envelope, spattered ink... you name it. Also, take the time to sign your cover letter yourself, don't let your computer do it for you - you're personally axin' me for a job... at least sign the dad-gum thing personally. Look at it this way; we're meetin' each other for the first time through your resume and I'm fixin' to turn someone loose in a $3 million dollar helicopter. You want that to be you and I want it to be someone who's qualified - yes, but someone that's also gonna take care of my customers and my equipment - for a long time. Kinduv like; if you ain't got enough pride to turn out a decent resume for yourself, how well are you gonna take care of my interests?

Now, I don't know about what anyone else wants to see but, I read a schitload of these things every week and the ones that catch my attention are short, concise, neat and easy to read. I prefer a short letter of introduction followed by a one page resume and one page breaking down your flight hours in type of aircraft. If you can get the resume and the flight hours on one page, mo better - just don't try and scrunch everything in 'cause some of us may be havin' trouble makin' out fine print.

..., for whatever it's worth, that's my opinion.

Best of luck.

[MCA]

Thanks for the advice, I will keep the coffee and sesame seeds away from my paper work.

Regards

[NickLappos]

Sandblaster has it right. A good 1 paged resume (CV) with a sharp, short cover letter (a personal one, specific to the reader) is an essential skill. The resume should be specific to the company applied for, and it should be specific enough that a fast web search, or a call to your previous employers, will lead to facts about you.

Hours are nice, but so are the types of skills, jobs, supervisors and training courses.

Frankly, our industry is so small (look at the thread that lists the numbers of helo drivers in each country). It is very helpful to have a pilot contact toss your resume into the boss's office with a word that says "This person is OK." Take the trouble to network around and find out who knows who from your circle to theirs.

[SASless]

Nick,

Most working helicopter pilots get very few if any schools beyond maybe a Flight Safety Course or a factory course. Helicopter companie run on such tight margins due to the need to bolster the quarterly stock price and management bonuses that result from successfully accomplishing that....that little if any money is left to provide "career enhancing training". I fear you roam the hallowed hallways of the part of industry that both acknowledges and supports the notion that long-term career employees are an investment and not a commodity to be used like the sheet metal that goes onto the production line.

Heck! Nick, some places are lucky to have a ten year old version of CTS to re-do year after year....try to get some of the EMS operators to spring for FSI training for their Bell machine pilots.....you won't see much of that kind of money being spent. Checkrides to minimum standard are good enough for the majority of operators....expecially if the 135 ride can substitute for training.

I would love to do a research study on training and education acheivements within the helicopter industy. Would that not be an embarrassment to most operators. Or howabout a Resume review of management staff....from training captains up....base managers up.....and see what advanced qualifications the industry uses to run the operations.

A study on Pilot Retention and Turnover would also be an interesting study.....to identify and label successful techniques and policies that keep pilots at the same company year after year and satisfy their needs so they become real assets to their employers.

How do I identify, recruit, train, and retain a pilot to do specialized production longline work.....maintain a profitable operation, keep my customers happy, and finally create a work environment that will convince the pilot to do that job year after year.

Come on out to the trenches a while Nick, it is a much different place than you think.

Training is the key...but how do we accomplish that ....and what kind of training do we do? Are we talking training and/or education?

[NickLappos]

SASless,

The factory schools and Flight Safety were exactly what I had in mind. The impact of listing such formal courses, even those of a few days is a big factor on believability of your experience and the possible acceptance by the inurance company after hire.

In the past, I have spent literally months at operator sites doing line training on initial deliveries, operations set-ups and the like, and also on regular liaison trips where I would help re-check the model chief pilots and instructors.

Now you speak as though I have been hiding behind a desk for years. Unfortunately, you are right!

[SASless]

Nick dear boy,

It is not the hiding behind the desk that I refer to....I would submit sir that your 76's usually do not find themselves too close to mud, tundra, longlines, forest fires, or other more "utilitarian" uses thus you see a different part of the industry.

The utility market is much different than the Corporate, EMS, and offshore world your aircraft find themselves. I dare say you spent more time there than you did with the 61-64 community.

I speak to your perspective and not your analysis.

[rotorboy]

Well, I have been shopping for a job as of late. My current employer doesnt want to give me a small 15$ a day raise. The one comment I have gotten from every CP was never change my resume no matter how much time or experience I get...

1 page, includes Lic/rating, education, factory schools, hours on type, previous employers, and 3 references. short , sweet and neat.

Hey Sasless, you still got my CV on your desk.?.. skiing is getting boring, all the girls in town have heard my lies by now and the bank account is dwindling fast......


;)


RB

[NickLappos]

SASless,

You are proving my adage, "If the place really needs helicopters, it isn't worth visiting."

Enjoy the mud and tundra!

PS, I have had my share of Beenie-Weenies in the past. :ok:

[SASless]

Oh Nick...that just isn't true!

The one part of my flying that I treasure is the wonderful places I have been able to see that was only possible by helicopter or due to having to use a helicopter for that particular job.

There have been fishing trips in Alaska that money could not buy, scenic views that are not possible any other way.

Ferry flights from Alaska to Louisana....seeing North America from close up.....crossing the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, the Columbia River Gorge, the snow capped mountains of the Pacific Northwest....old mining camps and towns now deserted....waterfalls....Vegas at night....the list goes on. The North Sea at full force....Pisa...An Loc...Bu Dop....Bu Prang....the beaches of Vietnam....Luzon....Rassay....Skye....the Artic coastline....

We complain sometimes but we have to remember what makes helicopter flying special.....as a dear friend said one time....helicopter flying starts where the road ends.
:ok: