CV Format
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CV Format
Hi,
Been out of the country for a while and just wondering if anyone has advice on the CV format preferred in the UK when applying for heli jobs??.
Cheers Lee...
Been out of the country for a while and just wondering if anyone has advice on the CV format preferred in the UK when applying for heli jobs??.
Cheers Lee...
Join Date: Nov 2000
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Bang on the office door with it in your hand!
Make sure it is neat and tidy - Microsoft Word has a couple of templates that are half reasonable. Better yet get it professionally done
Put in stuff you think a Chief Pilot would want to know - we just advertised for a Chief Pilot and only about three actually put in their types and hours. HR rejected the others straight away
Read on (this stuff is not specific to UK).......
"Although it is often said that a resume should fit on one page (and this is good advice), life is never so convenient, and you should always be aware from the start that you might need 2 or even 3, if you include a breakdown of your flying hours. On the one hand, trying to cut everything down when it won't get any smaller is stressful, and on the other, many resume readers (myself included) find it frustrating that more information isn't forthcoming when I want to read it. The trick is to put the information you think might be needed on the first page, and expand it on the following pages, even if you repeat yourself (you could also put it in the covering letter). As a guide, my own procedure is to go through any list of resumes with the requirements of the job in mind, and either highlight any that are already mentioned, or write down any that are not, on the front page as an aid to later sorting. What is relevant depends on the job, but it's a fair bet that licences, types flown, total hours on each and availablility would be a good start - you could probably think of more, but especially include contact details.
Don’t bother with referees, as these are usually taken up after the interview anyway.
Having said all that, you should still try to get the information in as short a space as you can without leaving anything out - if you're only going for a flying job, the tendency to include irrelevant information should be avoided, and everyone knows what a pilot does, so your resume will be on the technical side, that is, short, competent and to the point. Management qualifications (if you have them) are not important to somebody who just wants a line pilot (all the advice here should be read in this light - you don't have to include everything). As with all salesmanship, you're trying to make it as easy as possible for the customer, in this case your potential employer, or at least the poor clerk in the personnel office who has to go through all the paperwork before the interviews (it's worth mentioning at this point that the clerk's job is to screen you out, or to discover who not to interview). If you feel the need to be more specific, use the covering letter to get your details in front of the right person. The screening out can take place in as little as 8 seconds - the irony is that they use the resume for the process. What do they see in that time? Well, the type of paper, its condition and layout, to mention but a few items (your subconscious can pick up a lot without you knowing). In short, whether you've spent time on it.
You need to use quality paper, A4-sized and white, and therefore inoffensive, but this requirement is really for scanning. Use one side of the paper only with the script centralised, with no underlining or strange typefaces. Leave at least a one-inch border at the top and bottom of the page with a good sized margin on either side. It will cost a minimal amount to get a two-page resume wordprocessed properly and not much more to get a reasonable number photocopied, preferably on to the same paper. Use a spellchecker. Twice.
It should include your career history, commencing with your present position and working back about 5 years in detail, the remainder in brief. The name and town is enough to identify employers with a brief description of their activities, if needed, as aviation is a small world. You may include reasons for leaving your current position but, as said above, when people read a resume they almost always do it with a highlighter in one hand to mark relevant passages for later, and you can almost guarantee that this will be a prime target, so prepare it very carefully.
In summary, the layout must be neat, as short as possible, well spaced and easy to read, with a positive attitude conveyed throughout. Section headings could include:
Personal Details, centred at the top - just name, address and contact number
Post applied for (optional)
Profile
Key Skills
Work Experience (a better heading than career, if you haven't really got one!)
Forget the garbage about "Objective" (puke)
If you don't have much experience, include outside interests that have transferable skills. All other personal stuff (date of birth, etc.) should be at the end, as it bores most readers.
Application Forms
Practice on a photocopy first, and always use the same pen throughout (that is, make sure you're not likely to run out of ink halfway through and have to change colours).
Don't leave blank boxes - use N/A (Not Applicable) if one doesn't apply, and never refer someone to an attached resume (that is, attach one if you like, but don't ask them to look somewhere else for information they want now).
The "other information" box is the same as a covering letter, so don't miss it out.
Make sure it is neat and tidy - Microsoft Word has a couple of templates that are half reasonable. Better yet get it professionally done
Put in stuff you think a Chief Pilot would want to know - we just advertised for a Chief Pilot and only about three actually put in their types and hours. HR rejected the others straight away
Read on (this stuff is not specific to UK).......
"Although it is often said that a resume should fit on one page (and this is good advice), life is never so convenient, and you should always be aware from the start that you might need 2 or even 3, if you include a breakdown of your flying hours. On the one hand, trying to cut everything down when it won't get any smaller is stressful, and on the other, many resume readers (myself included) find it frustrating that more information isn't forthcoming when I want to read it. The trick is to put the information you think might be needed on the first page, and expand it on the following pages, even if you repeat yourself (you could also put it in the covering letter). As a guide, my own procedure is to go through any list of resumes with the requirements of the job in mind, and either highlight any that are already mentioned, or write down any that are not, on the front page as an aid to later sorting. What is relevant depends on the job, but it's a fair bet that licences, types flown, total hours on each and availablility would be a good start - you could probably think of more, but especially include contact details.
Don’t bother with referees, as these are usually taken up after the interview anyway.
Having said all that, you should still try to get the information in as short a space as you can without leaving anything out - if you're only going for a flying job, the tendency to include irrelevant information should be avoided, and everyone knows what a pilot does, so your resume will be on the technical side, that is, short, competent and to the point. Management qualifications (if you have them) are not important to somebody who just wants a line pilot (all the advice here should be read in this light - you don't have to include everything). As with all salesmanship, you're trying to make it as easy as possible for the customer, in this case your potential employer, or at least the poor clerk in the personnel office who has to go through all the paperwork before the interviews (it's worth mentioning at this point that the clerk's job is to screen you out, or to discover who not to interview). If you feel the need to be more specific, use the covering letter to get your details in front of the right person. The screening out can take place in as little as 8 seconds - the irony is that they use the resume for the process. What do they see in that time? Well, the type of paper, its condition and layout, to mention but a few items (your subconscious can pick up a lot without you knowing). In short, whether you've spent time on it.
You need to use quality paper, A4-sized and white, and therefore inoffensive, but this requirement is really for scanning. Use one side of the paper only with the script centralised, with no underlining or strange typefaces. Leave at least a one-inch border at the top and bottom of the page with a good sized margin on either side. It will cost a minimal amount to get a two-page resume wordprocessed properly and not much more to get a reasonable number photocopied, preferably on to the same paper. Use a spellchecker. Twice.
It should include your career history, commencing with your present position and working back about 5 years in detail, the remainder in brief. The name and town is enough to identify employers with a brief description of their activities, if needed, as aviation is a small world. You may include reasons for leaving your current position but, as said above, when people read a resume they almost always do it with a highlighter in one hand to mark relevant passages for later, and you can almost guarantee that this will be a prime target, so prepare it very carefully.
In summary, the layout must be neat, as short as possible, well spaced and easy to read, with a positive attitude conveyed throughout. Section headings could include:
Personal Details, centred at the top - just name, address and contact number
Post applied for (optional)
Profile
Key Skills
Work Experience (a better heading than career, if you haven't really got one!)
Forget the garbage about "Objective" (puke)
If you don't have much experience, include outside interests that have transferable skills. All other personal stuff (date of birth, etc.) should be at the end, as it bores most readers.
Application Forms
Practice on a photocopy first, and always use the same pen throughout (that is, make sure you're not likely to run out of ink halfway through and have to change colours).
Don't leave blank boxes - use N/A (Not Applicable) if one doesn't apply, and never refer someone to an attached resume (that is, attach one if you like, but don't ask them to look somewhere else for information they want now).
The "other information" box is the same as a covering letter, so don't miss it out.
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Couple of thoughts. Have had pretty good feed back on mine. One thing several guys have said is never change the fact that is one page.
Mine looks something like this
Name contact stuff
Goal
Education, certs, lic, brief experience description, skills(longline, mtn flyng, seismic, winter, et)
list of time on time
As350 1000
Md 500 1000
etc
Employers
References
thats it , short neat tidy
For low timers dont list all your hobbys, jobs washing dishes, etc, only relevant experience gets looked at ( truck driver, mechanical ability etc) Keep it to a page no matter how much time or experience you have
rb
Mine looks something like this
Name contact stuff
Goal
Education, certs, lic, brief experience description, skills(longline, mtn flyng, seismic, winter, et)
list of time on time
As350 1000
Md 500 1000
etc
Employers
References
thats it , short neat tidy
For low timers dont list all your hobbys, jobs washing dishes, etc, only relevant experience gets looked at ( truck driver, mechanical ability etc) Keep it to a page no matter how much time or experience you have
rb
