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Old 06-12-2009 | 04:27 PM
  #21  
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KC10 FATboy
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Joined: Jun 2007
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From: Legacy FO
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First of all, to the people suggesting that you should lie and/or misrepresent your driving history, that is completely the WRONG answer. Background checks can and will search back farther than what your local DMV keeps on
record.

Second, don't lie to the HR people. They are experts in sizing up people and they'll know if you are telling the truth. Sure, you could fake it and pass the interview. But anytime during your employment, if they find out that you lied, and some employers do keep checking your background after you've been employed, you'll be terminated on the spot. And it will be very unlikely that you'll be hired by another company. HR people talk to one another.

This is only more important given the findings of the Colgan crash and the fact that the CA wasn't very honest on his applications. You can bet the HR departments at the regionals / small companies are going to be more diligent in their background checks.

Third, STOP BREAKING THE LAW. How can the HR people trust you with the lives of their passengers and their equipment if you can't follow simple driving laws? Yes, we all have broken the law at some point, but some of us never got caught. Unfortunately for you, you have built quite a record in a very short period of time

Fourth, be honest to yourself and your application. An employer is more likely to higher you if you say, "Yes, I do have some motor vehicle violations. I got them for blah blah blah. I now realize how wrong of me it was to drive that way and knowing that it can affect future employment, I am ashamed of it. I did go to driving school and I have not received any infractions since my last ticket." In other words, tell the HR you made some mistakes and that you've learned from them. DO NOT tell the HR person "everyone gets tickets" "I was stupid, I didn't know any better". No, everybody doesn't get tickets and never call yourself bad names during an interview. Always keep it positive, only talk about the negative if they ask about such things ... and always turn the negative into a positive (talk about what learned from your mistakes).

Finally, like the others have said, NEVER give up. There were several times during my flying career where I was told I would never fly again. Additionally, and probably more relevant to the thread, I had four tickets on my record. Three were for speeding, one was for driving too close (thank you Lowndes County, GA). Every interviewer asked me about the driving too close ticket. And so I told my story and I admitted my fault. But I quickly explained to them, after realizing the dangers of following too close, I always TRY to keep the proper distance.

So, in short, yes it will affect your chances of being asked into an interview and thus hired; however, it is very very doable.

Good luck.
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