CV's - Anyone specialising in aviation?

[thatscaptaintou]

Hi guys

I've just finished my MCC and am ready to step out into the big wide world of looking for that all elusive job!

I need to get my CV together and given the amount that flight training has cost, want to spend an extra few £'s or so having a CV professionally written. Does anyone know if there are any reputable companies out there who specialise in CV's for pilots?

If anyone has had their CV done in this way I'd be really grateful for some pointers. I've Googled a few but I don't know what sort of reputation they have.

Thanks in advance.

[SloppyJoe]

Just buy some pricey paper and do them yourself, haven't you wasted enough money already?

[zerotohero]

A lot of airlines have an online application that basicly writes your CV in there desired format so having one made for you could not be a big advantage, yes you may need to take one to an interview should you get one, maybe get it done right for then.

on the other hand yea get a good one and mail it too the world, you never know, what I did was take a load of people I know CV's and take all the bits I liked to make mine,, and I am very happy with it.

[fantom]

Don't be put off by S Joe.

Here's a pointer: lose the apostrophes (CV's, £'s) or learn how to use them. Trust me; it matters.

Good luck.

[potkettleblack]

There are any number of professional format CV designs that you can download for free and use in MS Word. I see little point in getting a professional CV prepared. A pilots CV is generally only a 1 pager and your potential employer doesn't want you to cover that precious 1 page with "flowery" words but rather the basics such as when can you start, which school, what ratings, how many hours do you have and on which type, how old are you, male/female etc etc.

My 1 tip would be to make your name prominent at the top (not so big that it looks facetious). The same goes for your contact details including int'l dialing codes, email address etc. I have mine running as a footer. Takes up less space as well.

Search here on pprune as this topic has been covered many many times over the years. Once your happy with your CV avail of a free pdf converter so that when emailing all your hard work is not undone.

I would save your money and put it towards interview prep books (again search on this).

Finally...Did your MCC course give you a question bank of likely interview questions? If not the long running Ryanair interview thread is full of questions asked at interview. I would start copying and pasting those into a document and researching the answers. If you do get called for an interview it is better to be prepared as typically they are short notice.

[redstar]

http://www.pprune.org/interviews-job...5-cv-help.html

I used PIT Training for guidance. Found Pete to be very helpful.

redstar

[EGCC4284]

Pilot Interview Techniques Training

[Pilot Positive]

thatscaptaintou,

Using companies will give you an idea of structure and what might work. However, if you do, at some stage, get an interview based on your CV then you might be questionned a lot closer than you think with regards to what has been written. Remember your CV is a legal document and if there is any over embelishment or what might be considered as porkies it warrants instant dismissal for Gross Misconduct.

Only if you feel comfortable and fully appreciate that the CV companies understand your experiences would I advise using them. Otherwise I would advise you to get some samples from the internet or your FTO, choose the structure you like and write your own CV. Re-write, re-write, check with friends/family, employment agencies, even ask prospective employers, for feedback. Then re-write it again and again until you are 100% happy with it.

By going through this process you will be constantly asking yourself questions about your experience and you can continue to hone, tweak and evolve as you please. Its like a piece of artwork...your artwork.

And when it comes to the interview you will know every nuance and every interpretation of what you have written and will be able to talk up your experience congruently..and with confidence.

Good luck

[Airbus Girl]

I think the main thing is to consider who will read it. The first person will probably be someone doing a sift of CVs. They will probably be looking primarily about types and hours. So make that clear. If its hard to read, they won't bother. Then the CVs are likely to go to a pilot. They want to know what you have that is relevant to them. Splitting out your 200 hours of C152 flying is irrelevant to the job. If you have multi time or have flown into lots of big airports, flown instrument time or night then do make that clear. Also, don't put something like 59.6 hours. Put 60 hours. If someone can pick up your CV and see clearly and easily in about 30 seconds what they need to know, you have more chance of getting to the next stage. Of course, as has been mentioned already, most of the main airlines will have their own format online application anyway. Maybe send your CV to a current airline pilot for their view. Keep to the facts. Things like hobbies/ interests are not really relevant but useful for an interviewer to start conversation. And the whole time writing your CV think airline pilot - putting stamp collecting and reading as hobbies might make someone think you are a loner, whereas an airline pilot needs to be a team player who can make quick decisions - so think what strengths/ qualifications you have that are actually relevant.