I've never binned a single resume. Not once. If you've taken the time to call, and I have time to talk, I'll gladly have a chat to you regardless of your experience level. Unfortunately CAO 82.3 appx IV, and charter clients, set the minimum experience requirements. Not me. I don't keep a hard file of CV's. They're filed in sub folders in my inbox. That way I can access them anywhere I have a connection or data.

Sent from my iPhone which is prone to causing grammatical errors.


D

Although the boom years are rather cyclic in nature there is never really an easy road to that first gig.
Much of the problem seems to stem from the youngsters that 'graduate' with a CPL and seem to think they are somehow qualified as a Pilot. Many operators expect much more than just some form of flying ability.

I know of two guys at least that have scored jobs without a CPL.
The last was about twenty years ago and the operators didn't relish going through a pile of CV's from some out of town prospectives. They chose instead someone who had been flying on a PPL for many years and asked him if he would be interested in changing occupations.
I covered the position and helped tutor him through the CPL subjects while he got himself organised. The delay was only a few months and there was no loss to the business. In the end they got a pilot who gave a couple of decades service. Possibly about 18 or so years more than any of the names in the CV pile..
Some Companies just don't need a turn-over of inexperienced pilots. It may not depend on how personable you are, how well you fly, or the hours in the logbook... they just don't want to go through the hiring mode again in 18 months time.

Horses for courses I am afraid.

I have seen the volume, and content, of many CV's received by 3rd level operators. I cannot see how all those applicants could ever expect a reply.
We have all done it, sent a chain email, or letter, to every possible Company that you think you may have a chance with.

Those that actually have a job normally have better things to do, - normally something a little more productive.


The CP also has to show restraint at times. :O

Forget the photos!
Don't add the recruitment email to your spam or chain mail list!
Get a real resume put together! One page cover letter, One page resume, and another page for referees. How many times have people said "one page flying resume" This hardly means send 20 pages of your life story including your Iphoto library.

Trojan 1981 and Creampuff, I well know the feeling....

I'm looking at the presentation gift that I received from ARDU Social Club in 1987 when I left the RAAF after twelve years service.

All the then operational aircraft are pictured.

Mirage 111O; Mirage 111D; CT 4 Airtrainer; C47B Dakota; Macchi MB 326H; F111C; Bell UH-1H and Bell 206B-1.

Perhaps the odd Kiowa is still flying with Army? :{

Forget the photos!

I disagree.

Hmmmm, lets see. Killers in the CV department.

Try not to get the spelling wrong for the companies name. (yes I know some are testing, but it's open book)
Don't, repeat, don't leave the name of the previous company that you applied at in the cover letter.......or in the subject.
Don't offer to work for free.
Or that you (insert aircraft type here) that is available but only you get to fly it.
Don't offer to pay me to work for me.
Don't demand twice the award, plus better conditions. Save that part of the negotiations for after the jobs been offered, and probably only if you are really experienced or expert negotiator (or have incriminating photos):E.

And as mentioned earlier, if there has been an accident or incident in a company, don't race out and shoot off a resume. Wait a little while, listen to the grapevine and find out what they are doing.

The Do's:
Keep it simple.
Keep it short.
Keep it to the point.
Keep it neat. (basically keep it looking like someone other than my 6 year old nephew wrote it.)
Keep yourself clean shaven (includes the men) :}
Keep yourself ready to move quickly.
If your going to include a photo, make it a passport photo. No wings, party shots, self portrait shots etc


Oh and when emailing. Please please please send it in a readable format. So that means .doc not .docx
Companies are updating their systems as fast as you. Nothing worse than receiving an email and not being able to open the attachment. Will kill your chance everytime.

This is what worked for me, when I was on both sides of the fence.

I always preferred to convert my emailed CVs to .pdf rather than leave them as .doc. I thought it looked better.

To far away
 

After being with my first company for a while the CP asked me to help go through his modest pile of hopefulls. The 3 or 4 we picked (had to have a NVFR which suprisingly few had) to call had all got gigs somewhere else as some of the files we had been sitting on for a few months.

In desperation we rang some flying schools and asked if anyone had just finished and needed a job. Well apparently FNQ is much to far away for a 250 hour hopefull to travel for a job. Will I get a travel allowance one asked. The fact we had dropped our minimum from 750 hours to zip didn't seem to make a difference.

Photos on resumes: 3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Put a Photo on Your Resume

I would have killed for that sort of opportunity when I finished training.
No idea what was offered so it must have either been unappealing or they where nuts.

I turned down a "job" in Tennant Creek (I think it was) - simply because when I rang and spoke to them the pay and conditions where terrible.

I bet that it wasn't that no one wanted a job n FNQ at 250 hours - I bet that it was a below award slave wage illegal employment. :hmm:

Something frustrating is those that are quite experienced and in some regards "over-qualified" for the job. They send in their resume and clearly stand out, but then have the nerve to complain that the conditions aren't good enough for them, the cash not enough and how they won't work behind a bar to subsidise their accommodation at the pub at the back of Bourke.

A junior job is a junior job. A job with 250 hours as a requirement is a starting job and those that want the fast aircraft with the regular hours and the better pay, look elsewhere!

Quite an interesting subject, this is! Especially for me, who is planning to follow his girl to the other side of the world but has not "special appeal" other than some reasonable pilot experience!

I hope this is not regarded as a tread-hijack but I would like to hear from the other posters, since many of them are obviously sitting in the recruiter's chair.

As a potential EU expat I know I won't stand a chance until I get my CASA license but then I need to start knocking doors and that's when in gets tough. As I said before I have some reasonable experience, above the 1500 hrs-marks, ME turboprop time, speak couple of EU languages and the will to pick up an entry job anywhere-hopefully it won't be one of those "junior" jobs right from the start!

The plan is to persuade someone that I am worth being sponsored to stay, it's that simple. I sincerely hope this doesn't set someone on fire (you know what I mean) but if that was the case, then I am prepared to offer pretty solid counter-arguments. Fair play, nothing else.

To contribute to the OP, I would suggest any job-seeker to invest a bit of money on couple of those CV-guidelines books rather than picking the tips from the web. They are not bibles but they might offer you a neutral approach, then you have to put a lot of hard work in moulding your CV to the right shape. Yes it is true that today's profiling softwares require pretty standard formats but it's also true that not every company can afford them. A polite, professional and PERSONAL approach to a potential employer is the key, me thinks! And it all applies to the cover letter as well.

On a lighter note:

After I qualified as FI I had to sit on my hands for nearly 1 year, then I was "offered" a junior-position in a one-man-band operation, didn't work out well (the cash-flow was not there to keep it going), so back to the original FTO where I got started on...ahem...ZERO/hrs. That kept me current while I was working a night-shift job to feed me and pay the room but there was simply no life. When a mate suggested to get in touch with another friend who was instructing in Ireland I was on the 1st morning flight to Dublin. His boss arranged me an interview over the same WE and once back home all I had left to do was to pack and move my life to the green isle...

Shame that even then my 20's were loooong gone! :{

DK :ok:

First piece if advice is don't follow an Aussie girl anywhere except to the bar.

Quite wise, mate! I forgot to mention mine is EU (but she has a PhD...) as me, so that might be safer...not! :}

DK :ok:

Something like this, with a suitable covering letter.

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p...ume-Format.jpg

Read the ad (if there is one) and ensure you have included whatever info that has been asked for.

FFS make sure your referees KNOW that they are your referees!

Hey Jamair,

That pretty much covers it. Only change I'd make is to change the Multi-Engine to Multi-Engine PIC.

D

Thanks for the constructive criticism Smash Bugger... but after several re-readings of the post apparently in question, I still see no gross grammatical errors. Sure, the language use is a little colloquial, but that reflects this environment, my personality to a degree and the way that I speak. I would be very interested to know where you perceive gross grammatical error. Further, whilst use of colloquialism and use of "every day" language here in a "casual" environment is quite appropriate, use of the same language in a formal document such as a job application is entirely inappropriate -which was, of course, my point in its entirety.

:E

You should not put your referees' contact details on the resume. You can give them when requested. There is a risk or referee fatigue if they get a call from everyone to whom you have submitted your resume. If you submit them when requested, you have time to coach them specifically to the requirements of the job you are applying for.

You should not put your DOB on a resume either. It should be a short "sales" document on you, your ability and experience.

With Multi time, I have no PIC but a handful of dual hours (from my MECIR training). Should I put the multi hours down or just let the MECIR in the qualifications section speak for the fact I will have some dual hours on a multi engine plane?