...we regret to inform you...

[aviator_88]

After careful consideration, we regret to inform you......
Leider müssen wir Ihnen mitteilen...
We regret to inform you...

so what are your numbers of "regret to inform you"???

I have CPL for 8 months, already got 31 "regret to inform you", more than 120 unanswered, 20k€ to go until debt free (or 49140 glasses to wash :\ )

[Blohm]

well, keep on washing. Schreib mir eine PM, mir ist es genau so gegangen im anfang.

[flyhighspeed300]

Your either rich or poor in the aviation world. There is nothing in the middle, specally for low hour pilots. Companies will not give you a chance even if you offer to fly for free with them.

where is the option of getting experience flying IFR/ airways in Europe?

[volunteerpilot]

Could you give us a list of 120 that didnt bother to respond so the rest of us dont waste any time trying to apply for their positions?

[Superpilot]

3 years. Don't give up!
Yet :ok:

[aviator_88]

Could you give us a list of 120 that didnt bother to respond so the rest of us dont waste any time trying to apply for their positions?
---not gonna happen
I suggest using access or any other database program. Most of the airlines were from European Regions Airline Association + Africa + China

sometimes it's smart to give up on time...my "overspeed" alarm will sound at about 200 "regret to inform you"

I think it would be much easier knowing we are not alone in this :mad: situation...so, share the numbers :ok:

[Luke SkyToddler]

I've got a big box of PFO letters I've saved from my unemployed days ... a couple hundred at least ... when I build my million dollar dream house in a couple years, I'm going to wallpaper my office with them :}

[MIKECR]

I probably sent several hundred cv's, letters and applications in 2006/07 when I was applying for jobs. Believe it or not, but I received only 1 formal written reply. A very kind chief pilot, of a very small airline(now defunct) based in Aberdeen, kindly took the time to write a personal letter to me and explain the recruitment process and company requirements. It wasnt a bog standard pro forma letter either, it commented on several things i'd said in my covering letter to him. I still have the letter, I keep it filed away. Well done Captain P M!!

[max_continuous]

I have an excel sheet entitled "application record" which currently has on it 103 entries, colour coded and kept as up to date with detailed information as I can achieve between working and various other commitments.

With a few notable exceptions they are all red with PFO next to them. One is beige (my employers who did not respond to my CV but realised after two months of me being there they genuinely did have it on file, I've seen it); and three are green as I have reason/hope to suspect that patience might pay off in the long run.

There are a further few on there which I have not yet tried for various reasons, and the bottom line is a well known mobile phone company where I used to work... I haven't gone there, yet, and hope not to.

I qualified last year from OAA integrated and genuinely want to try to do things the "traditional" way. If anyone wonders or cares, I haven't applied to RYR or EZY. I often question myself and don't plan to do it here.

What might be of interest is that I am responsible for CV filtering at my company. I'm not employed as flight crew, but do occasionaly get to keep my hand in, and know more than anyone else who is likely to come across a CV we receive. The company is a small operator, in the UK, with fairly unqiue requirements.

I see literally, hand on heart truth, five or six CVs a day, and four or five will be from low hours, newly qualified pilots. Without exception they are boring, dull and absolutely useless as a form of selling the person. I reply to everyone of them with a standard reply edited to contain the appropriate information. Usually once a week someone will have the gumption to call us about their CV, they get an extra pat on the back and shortlisted for non-flying ops jobs...there are about fifty people on that list and we expect to have three or four jobs. In seven months I have sent three CVs to our CP and all of them were experienced.

Now these figures are skewed slightly because of our requirements (we could almost certainly never take a low hours pilot on) and I dont have a magic solution to the problem and I am very much stuck in it with everyone else...but...what I would say is that if you are using CVs as your only form of job hunting it seems to me that you will need the patience of a saint, luck of the Irish, and a :mad: miracle.

[captainsuperstorm]

best is to apply where nobody want go.
if you apply after an ad is published, you will be 10000th on the list.

I can tell you, Sons, most guys will change career once the flying bug is gone or when nothing to eat..
it s just a question of time. many abandon aviation after 2-3 years, and some news dreamers replace them...
The situation is totally desperate. I have never seen that. continue to send your CV. Post office need your money!:E
if you have friends, relatives, who want be pilots, tell them to not to do it with their own money.

[Rodeo]

I regret to inform you that you have to keep on sending those cvs untill one day the door opens for you.

[aviator_88]

just got another 2, so now I'm on 33 "regrets" :*, 167 to go

[redsnail]

Yep, I had a box full of FOAD letters. A very happy day was the day I burnt them all. :ok:

[ClintonBaptiste]

I have a nice memorable rejection letter. After sending hundreds myself, I received a nice personal reply from Corsair (in French, although I did apply to them with a CV in French).

They informed me that unfortunately with my hours and lack of experience, there were no positions. But that as soon as I reach 4000 hours and have a 747 Type Rating to send back this letter and updated CV and we could go from there. A very nice touch, after so many rejections or even worse - not having the decency to reply!

Currently on 1100 hours (instructing), but once I reach that magic number - I may well give them a call.

[Mohit_C]

The only "thanks, but no thanks" letter I received was from a CV I sent by e-mail from an airline in Scotland. The rest were by e-mail.

[TiltedTomato]

I see literally, hand on heart truth, five or six CVs a day, and four or five will be from low hours, newly qualified pilots. Without exception they are boring, dull and absolutely useless as a form of selling the person.
Hi MCT, I've read and reread the last three paragraphs approximately 10 times since yesterday. I find it quite brutal to be exposed to the reality of what will actually happen to my CVs in the next weeks when I start sending them around.

In the case of your company it seems that you're looking for experience before all but what comes next in the criterion for selecting a CV and what kind of "features" does attract your attention on a CV?

[giggitygiggity]

This is not an attempt to wind anyone up and especially as I am nowhere near the point of sending any CV's off to potential employers and therefore cant comment or profess.

But in the future, would it be wise to hold off sending CV's to the some of the airlines? Instead of bombarding them, biding your time until they are more likely to give a positive response. I would just worry that if I fired off a CV to every airline during a recession, I would have burnt all of my bridges and when the hiring time returns, I will already be faced with a rejection letter and a history with the potential employers personnel department. Or perhaps this is a favorable method as they will see you as a keener potential employee?

[coco-nuts]

From CPL till first job, nearly 4 years. Many, many rejection letters but i never ever gave up. Attitude!

Keep going guys, it will happen, just DON'T GIVE UP!


best of luck to all!


cheers

coco

[Ronand]

I received an email from Farnair saying, that I meet their requirements and will be called for the next selection, that was almost 5 months ago and I never heard back, I tried contacting them but they never replied....