Airline Pilot Forums

I am in the process of making a decision on wether to take a new job, it being my 6th aviation job in 10 years. I made the choice to resign from my last company when they were facing downsizing and furloughs and I was offerred a new job. After having accepted the new and resigned from the old my personal situation hit the perverbial fan. The new job now requires either a poor commute or moving (which we were planning on originally). The old job won't take me back. So I wonder if it's more important to keep recent and hope things work out or stay put with a non aviation job until I can find further employment. Is receny more important than having too many employers in your history?

Whether having to many jobs in a given timeframe in an industry as fluid and dynamic as professional aviation might be a subjective concern to some, recency of flight time for many jobs is very objective and can prevent you from being considered. In my opinion - recency is important and you if you are looking for continued employment in aviation - you need to stay current and have an amount of flight time in the last 6 to 12 months that will get you past that particular block on the application.

USMCFLYR

Thank you usmcflyr, recency does seem more important ultimately. Hoping for the best in my new position, but fearing the worst it may become an obstacle if I end up needing to find that final career job we are all wanting so badly.

You can still have recency and be holding down a non-aviation related job. If you are applying to positions which require 100-200 hrs in the last 12 months for example I'm sure it would be hard to maintain paying out of pocket for GA expenses, but if no hours are stipulated and you just need to show that you haven't lost the touch then a few hours every now and then in a small GA plane might be enough to be considered for a position. The guy I am flying with right now was telling me tonight that when he got his Air Ambulance job that he hadn't flown but a few hours in YEARS!

USMCFLYR

From what I can tell, recency is less critical for non-typed aircraft. When I look at the job boards for say Learjet pilots, recency is always mentioned down to hours per quarter but when I look at Caravan pilots, they often do not mention recency at all. In many cases the training for the non-typed aircraft is done in-house at cost. The types usually have to be maintained at more expensive sims at CAE or FSI, and there is a big disincentive to hire someone who comes in expired because insurance makes them send that pilot on a $10k-$20k trip to the sim. If you are current in a LearJet you might consider it more of a loss to drop out than if you drive a small, non-typed airplane.

recency seems to be as important as anything else.

I would stay current. Unfortunately I have that same history as you... I am on my 5th flying job in the last 10 years... two of them I was at less than a year.

It's just tough when shady 135 operators run you like your less than human, or pay less than a livable wage. =( Oh well... I'm hoping that now that I am not super green that my length of employment improves at places as I can be pickier about where I want to work.

It is important to have recency. If you concerned about multiple jobs in the past couple of years, do not worry. When asked why, the important thing is to be honest.

I have a similar but different situation. I have been out of the flying world for the past 10 years. I have plenty of hours (over 2000) and recently completed an ATP course and I am a current ATP MEL, SEL pilot. I am staying current and should be able to reach the 100 hour recency point in the next two months.

My question is: on my resume should I include the jobs I have had over the past 10 years that were non-flying or just go with my flying info?

I have a similar but different situation. I have been out of the flying world for the past 10 years. I have plenty of hours (over 2000) and recently completed an ATP course and I am a current ATP MEL, SEL pilot. I am staying current and should be able to reach the 100 hour recency point in the next two months.

My question is: on my resume should I include the jobs I have had over the past 10 years that were non-flying or just go with my flying info?

Yes, you must include the non-flying jobs to show that you were not in federal prison. I would put them near the bottom, like this...

Flight Experience
2000 Hours, etc, etc


Aviation Employment
2001-2002: XXX
2000-2001: XXX
1999-2000: XXX

Education/Training:
1994-1998: SDSU, BS,.....

Non-Aviation Employment:
2006-Present: YYY
2002-2006: YYY
1996-1998: YYY


Military:
1988-1996: US Navy, Seal Team V

Thank you for your help I am editing the resume as we speak.

Is it still frowned upon to have a resume that is longer than 1 page? I had to drop off a flying job position from my resume to keep it the same format that I have. Maybe It's time that I changed up my format so that I can fit more info onto one page.

Is it still frowned upon to have a resume that is longer than 1 page? I had to drop off a flying job position from my resume to keep it the same format that I have. Maybe It's time that I changed up my format so that I can fit more info onto one page.


For a white-collar profession, especially with advanced degrees multi-page resumes and CV's may be necessary but for a pilot try to keep it to one page unless you have a "complicated" pilot career, perhaps including military, civilian, test pilot, management, etc. experience.

I would adjust the format before I exceeded one page. For line pilot or CFI job entries they just need to know who, where, when, and what airplanes (you don't have to list every base you ever had either). Indicate "above average" responsibilities such as MEI, captain, check airman, CP. You do NOT need to elaborate on the details of any of this duties...anybody reading your resume already knows what they entail.

If you need to shrink the resume header, remove entry-level flight time categories like solo, XC, night, dual rec. unless that employer asks for it.

I have been cleaning up/updating my resume a lot these days. Some say that you should list your hobbies. I am not sure if it is a good idea. My hobbies include don't laugh, reading, playing the guitar, running, and everything about aviation etc. For some reason I feel like this may not sound professional.

Here is what I have so far.

Credentials: CFI, CFII, ATP written, Bachelor's degree, no accidents/incidents, Medical class 1

Break down of flight hours and hours in the last 6 months.

Aviation Employment and non aviation employment.

Education: I only listed college, is high school or community college necessary?

and another questionable area I listed was "SKILLS" under this section I said I have an impeccable flying record, and experience in customer service etc.

Thanks for any help you folks can offer me. I truly appreciate it!

I have been cleaning up/updating my resume a lot these days. Some say that you should list your hobbies. I am not sure if it is a good idea. My hobbies include don't laugh, reading, playing the guitar, running, and everything about aviation etc. For some reason I feel like this may not sound professional.

Those hobbies are fine, they'll glance at it and move on.

Not listing any hobbies might mean that they'll find another resume slightly more interesting.

If you list really cool or unusual hobbies or activities they might give you an interview just to hear more about it!

But I'd be leery about listing high-speed/high risk hobbies for two reasons...

1) Skydiving, rock climbing, motorcycles, car racing, ski racing, etc might indicate someone who has a good head on his shoulders and will hold up well under operational pressures in an airplane. But it might also indicate someone who is a bit reckless or anti-authority...the interviewer would have to talk to you in person to tell the difference.

2) Those kinds of activities carry an obvious risk of injury and subsequent medical leave/disability, regardless of whether you are reckless or not.

I would probably list no more than one such activity, that minimizes the chance that they'll think you're reckless and/or bound to get hurt eventually.




Education: I only listed college, is high school or community college necessary?

List everything after HS that you graduated from, don't list incomplete programs unless it is still in progress. Only list HS if you have no college.


and another questionable area I listed was "SKILLS" under this section I said I have an impeccable flying record, and experience in customer service etc.


I'm not sure about "impeccable" flying record...does that mean no accidents/incidents/checkride busts? If you're low time, that might mean you've just been "lucky" so far, as opposed to impeccable. A high-time pilot interviewer who has a blemish or two on his record might resent that, taking the view that your record might not be so impeccable either after ten years or ten thousand hours.

Since the lawyers and bean counters do care about those things, you are right to identify them, just be careful how you do it. Use words like clean FAA record, passed all checkrides on first attempt, etc.

Agree - - take it easy on the hobbies.
Depending on the type of job that you are applying for - hobbies don't make a hill of beans difference, and as a friend who recently went to a job search/resume seminar recently told me - they take a few precious seconds to glance over the resume and they don't want to waste time or hearing that you like collecting arrow heads.

The military has prohibitions (or at least use too) against certain activities considered high risk exactly for the reasons rickair mentioned during certain training evolutions. Injuries lead to delays in training which in their case increases time-to-train and costs. I assume an airline could just let you go. I don't really know - but I could see listing a number of high risk acitivites/hobbies as possibly having a sobering effect.

My opinion on listing HS graduation is how long has it been since graduation and how many other schools/courses have you graduated from - especially ones that might show a specialized talent or skill.

"Impeccable flying record" is like a 'flawless landing' when you are solo
:D

USMCFLYR

Thank you very much gents! Much appreciated!!

"Impeccable flying record" is like a 'flawless landing' when you are solo
:D

USMCFLYR

The beauty is, if flying solo and no one was in the run up block or near the TDZ and plane was able to be reused without inspection, there's ONLY one person to tell the tale ;)

It's been answered but I'd skip the hobbies and add in "Memberships and associations" only if you have the space (or have a light resume and need to fill in stuff).

Example: Instead of hunting, add 'Ducks Unlimited', or instead of hangliding put 'National Hangliders Association'. Associations will reveal your interest, but IMO only put them if you have the space.