Pilot resume format

[gann]

I'm a new cpl with mecir and I'm just looking for a bit of advice regarding how most pilots format their resumes. Especially as I obviously have no previous aviation references or experience. I'm particularly looking for advice from people who employ low hour pilots about what kind information they are interested in from a prospective employee.
Cheers

[Troopy]

Mate. keep it simple. Your name, Contact, hours broken down, and endorsements and ratings.
and any other relevent (sorry about spelling drunk one bottle of red already) stuff.
They dont want to know you were a boy scout for 3 years.
If still unsure talk to Pinstripes solutions (on the Web as well)

Troopy




I spent most my money on booze and woman, the rest I wasted.:E

[Chadzat]

2 very important things with resume's let alone flying resumes.
SPELLING
FORMAT

The first one could be the difference between it getting binned by the receptionist and it making the Chief Pilots desk. (I bet I have spelling mistakes in this post hehe)

Second one could be the difference between making it to the desk and it actually getting read.

As Troopy said (In a much more lacquered state than I wish I was atm) keep your resume simple. Its like a personal information sheet with references and BRIEF work history. The cover letter is where you sell yourself.

[kookabat]

I bet I have spelling mistakes in this post hehe
resume's

How'd that stray apostrophe get there???? :E

[Jamair]

Hey bloke:

Well done on getting to your current level and on having the sense to ask those who have gone before 'how to....?':ok:

In another life I was a personnel manager. PM me your email and I'll send you a simple Resume format that will do the job.

Note, that is Resume, NOT CV; there is a significant difference. A Resume is a brief. A CV (CURRICULUM VITAE) is a blow-by-blow of your life to date. Don't send a CV. Don't send a Resume either; take it in yourself. The boss will want to SEE you and TALK to you.

My opinions only.;)

[Luke SkyToddler]

One page. Absolutely always.

Name in big letters on the top

Immediately under that (before your address or phone number or anything else ) a highlighted box or bullet points or something with your hours summary :

- any targetted time appropriate to the employer (i.e. if it's a CV going to a bush operator and you've got some C206 time, or an Aztec rating for a bank runners job, then put that in first).
- P in C
- Multi
- Turbine / night / IFR time as appropriate (don't bother if you've only got 3 hours turbine or something)
- Total time

That is the most important thing because that's as far as most chief pilots will ever read. If they're interested then they'll read the rest of the CV below, which can contain in any particular order

Your personal details : address / phone number / email / marital status etc etc.

Qualifications : list of your relevant licences, type ratings, multi crew qualifications, first aid certificates etc etc. Don't list your correspondence course in bovine artificial insemination or your grade 5 in classical piano or anything else that isn't aviation related. (you might laugh but people actually do it - honestly).

RELEVANT employment history. If it's your first job then yeah working in ops or plane washing or something counts as relevant experience. No GA operator wants to read a 20 line paragraph about all the great decision making skills you gained assembling hamburgers.

Training history : where you trained and did you finish high school is really all they want to know. The one-page CV is not the place to make a huge great list of every single 98% pass mark you got in your ATPLs.

Referees (Not a bad idea, but only if they are genuinely experienced and respectable aviators who are happy to talk it up on the phone for you. if you know anyone who's a captain - or even better a training captain - at a decent airline who's willing to be a referee for you, then fill your boots. If you don't know anyone like that then it's better just to put nothing, don't put your old Mcdonalds shift manager as a referee cos it makes you look like a muppet).

And that's IT. Less is more when it comes to cold selling the CV's.

[Pinky the pilot]

I concur with the above posters; keep it brief and with correct grammar and spelling. The first page should be your full name at the top. Then adress, residential and postal if different.
Followed by phone numbers, age and date of birth, marital status, then licences and ratings held with number of renewals if applicable.
Then your flying times; the whole thing neatly laid out on one sheet of A4.
Above all, do not turn it into a booklet laying out your schooling etc with interests, hobbies etc with a photograph of a 747 on the cover as once turned up on the CP's desk at a company I worked for in PNG. (It went into the circular filing cabinet unread by the CP)
I spent most my money on booze and woman, the rest I wasted.
I spent my money on Aviation, Women (plural) and Booze!! And after that I did'nt have any left to waste!!:{ :{

[compressor stall]

Pinky - that booklet CV with the 747 on the cover, was it part of a front page collage? I think I saw the same resume dating from about mid - late 90's.

[Pinky the pilot]

Compressor stall; This was in 1991 and it was about a four or five page 'booklet' which if memory serves correctly, came from a young bloke with a brand new CPL.

Only myself and one of the other base pilots looked at it; The CP saw the cover with the 747 photo and promptly binned it!

And to repeat what a previous poster mentioned; Don't post it, take it there personally!:ok:

[gann]

Cheers for the responses, I'll be sure to delete the 747 photo and basket weaving course from my current draft before I send it anywhere.

[PS2A_yay!]

Also agree with the above posters.

Stick to the KISS principle - Keep It Simple Stupid.

[Dawn Raid]

Hey............

I wonder what the bloke who sent out that 4 page resume' 16 years ago is doing now?

Are you out there anywhere.

[Cloud Cutter]

Flying a 747 perhaps? No? :}

[pakeha-boy]

when they ask how many hours you have????

Reply....how many do I need.???....

When they tell you.......write that down on your CV:}

[horserun]

I love your posts pakeha-boy! Has to be the be the best thing to come out of the "rua" for a long time!

[Peter Fanelli]

I'll be sure to delete the 747 photo and basket weaving course from my current draft before I send it anywhere.


Clearly you are not paying attention.
:ugh:

[VH-XXX]

Whilst hours are important, it's Johnny on the spot that gets the job. If you are unemployed and can be there to start tomorrow and have roughly the right hours as the next guy you have much more chance. Those that already have a job and write stuff like "I can start with 2 weeks notice" or "I live in PNG but want a job back in OZ" will struggle I'm afraid unless they have a very specific skill / rating / endorsement that the employer requires.

In summary, make yourself available at extremely short notice to be able to be there the next day, don't go saying how you might be able to get a day off from Coles sometime next week, it won't fly and nor will you.

[archangel7]

xxx are you seriouse? what if COLES is your bread and butter? that is some really bad advice.

[40Deg STH]

gann

I love your name. Fate will be on your side!!:ok:

There is so much good advice here for you. The only thing I would add, is don't put "I don't drink", that equates to does not get the job!!!

Good luck. Enjoy flying.

[VH-XXX]

xxx are you seriouse? what if COLES is your bread and butter? that is some really bad advice.


Quite the contrary, not at all.

Do you want to be a PILOT or do you want to work at COLES for the rest of your life?

I can tell you, from experience, that Johnny on the spot gets the job, just like the early bird gets the worm.

Rarely does a job in aviation come along where they are looking for a 210 Charter pilot, with applications closing in 4 weeks, then you go along for an interview in 4.5 weeks, then tell them that you have to give your current employer 4 weeks notice. It simply doesn't happen in reality. The only exception to this would be a Amphibious Van Pilot, hey, there's not many of those around and perhaps an airline, but the small operators are a here and now operation.

I didn't say to quit your job at Coles. Take a sick day, tell them you are going to the dentist or your aunt is sick, just be prepared to go there and meet them face to face as soon as you can.

[das Uber Soldat]

I assume then that any organization that required someone to start the next day wouldn't themselves expect said employee to give the proper 2 weeks notice come time to move on again?

[The Green Goblin]

Such is the way of GA in Australia.

When there are 40 guys waiting in town and half prepared to sell a nut or their mother for some experience then that is the game you must play.

There are plenty of CPLs in Australia that never got a start because they didn't want to leave the cushy city life and take a gamble for the betterment of their career.

One good thing about coles is there are plenty of checkout chicks to wreak havoc with on the weekend :p