Resume Critique
 

Hey everyone,

Just wondering if everyone could take a look at my resume and let me know what you think. This resume was written to submit for pilot slots. Any constructive criticism you have would be greatly appreciated.

The formatting is not correct on this but im sure you get the idea. Im not sure how to make it appear as it does in word.

440 successfully takeoffs and landings
----------------

successful. Also, how many unsuccessful ones?

I will make corrections and change them to italic bold. If anyone sees mistakes I've made, let us both know. It's late, so there's a good chance I missed some things. The format may not be correct, but I tweaked a few major errors. Make sure to keep it to ONE page.



Matthew Joseph Roy

x Orton Pl , Buffalo, NY 14201
716-536-xxxx
[email protected]
QUALIFICATIONS


I am a dedicated and motivated professional pilot with several years of aviation industry experience both in the air, and on the ground. I posses a commercial pilot certificate, and was trained at Western Michigan University and University of North Dakota. I have a strong background in aviation education including, but not limited to, crew resource management, aerodynamics, meteorology, aircraft systems, business administration, and marketing.
Certificates AND Ratings


Commercial Pilot

·Airplane Single and Multi Engine Land
·Instrument Airplane

Flight Instructor

·Ground School Completed
·Flight Training in Progress

FLIGHT HOURS


Total Time: 212

·Pilot in Command
·Night
·Cross Country
·Instrument
·440 takeoffs and landings
107
29
40
82

·Cirrus SR-20
·Piper PA-44 Seminole
·Piper PA-28 Warrior

92
55

58
Most recent PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE


Lead De-Icer

October 2009 to present
Aviation Service International Group, Buffalo NY
·Responsible for facilitating the safe and efficient de-icing of US Air and Continental Airlines mainline and express aircraft.
·Delegation of de-ice personnel daily duties.
·De-ice service billing and customer care.
·Glycol fluid ordering, acceptance and testing

Ramp Agent/Customer Service March2007 to present
Comair Holdings/ Delta Connection, Buffalo NY/ Kalamazoo MI
·Served as a senior agent, ground handling mainline Delta and Northwest aircraft as well as Comair, SkyWest, ASA, Pinnacle, Mesaba, Compass, Chautaqua, Freedom and Mesa regional aircraft.
·Station Operations and aircraft weight and balance.
·Securing of aircraft for overnight and originating flights.

Intern January 2009- June 2009
Great Lakes Aviation Services, Kalamazoo/Battle Creek MI
·Oversaw the day to day operations of the Battle Creek facility.
·Dispatch and billing for rental and flight training flights.
·New student recruiting and orientation.
·Marketing of flight school and services to the local community.
Accomplishments


·Impeccable safety record ground handling and de-icing over 2,500 flights in a three year period.
·3.4 overall GPA at Western Michigan University.
·Numerous semesters on Dean’s list at Western Michigan University
EDUCATION


Bachelor of Science

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
Major: Aviation Science and Administration
GPA 3.4 Overall
Professional References


Jeff Chonicki

Comair/Delta Connection Station Manager

716-633-xxxx

Timothy Boldt
Mesa Air Group East Coast Regional Manager Field Operations
859-767-xxxx

Felix Esquibel
Western Michigan University Professor/ Kalamazoo International Airport ATC Manager
269-345-xxxx

Additional written references available upon request.

Posses should be spelled "possess."

May remove "most recent" from Professional Experience.

Font used for name of company should all be the same (italics in this case).

Fix all the active verbs so that (1) they exist in each bullet point, (2) they are past tense for jobs you no longer have and (3) they are present tense for jobs you still have.

If you know how many semesters you were on Dean's List, say so instead of "numerous."

It's getting late here as well so if anybody sees anything I wrote is wrong, post about it.

I disagree with the the corrections. Original paragraph was more professional. Changes sound too informal...I don't think you want any "I's" on your resume. Conversational tone is more appropriate on a cover letter. Perhaps replace this whole paragraph with an "objective" column and statement (i.e. Objective: First Officer position with an industry leading part 135 flight operation)

blastoff has a point, but I like to form complete sentences. Sometimes the qualifications that set you apart from other applicants are not field related. That paragraph would look good on a cover letter. My resume has an objective portion. Try to tailor your flight time for the position you are applying for. Most jobs do not have a takeoff and landing requirement, so you can remove that. Also, you don't need to list your flight time by aircraft unless the job requires time in type.

vagabond, thanks for catching the spelling error.

Mustangcbra PM me if you want and I'll send you a generic resume. BTW, Vettes are better JK.

Mustang- If your real name and info are shown, you may want to cross them out while the edit button still works because searchbots can scan these boards and lift personal data for deleterious purposes. Just put pseudonyms in...

Your resume is an extension of you. How you write it is really personal preference. But, there are a few key things to remember.

1. Write for the reader! The reader needs to be able to understand exactly what qualifications you have and what your job(s) entailed. No slang (this is particularly important for military personnel.)
2. Be sure it is clean and easy to read. Most recruiters spend about 10 seconds scanning a resume - yes...10 seconds. The information they are looking for must be clear and easy to find.
3. Always keep it to one page. Aviation resumes are different than the rest of the world in that even as you gain experience and your resume builds it must always be one page.

That said - there is quite a bit of talk about your first paragraph. Honestly, I'm not sure why you have included it. That might belong in a cover letter. I say might because a cover letter is for what your resume doesn't/can't say - it is NOT a recap of your resume. Let your resume speak for itself, you don't need to "highlight" anything at the top. I would omit it.

You're going to quickly run out of room if you break out categories like "commercial" and "flight instructor" under your ratings section. My advice is to put them in one list under "certificates and ratings."

There is no need to include references on your resume unless specifically asked to do so. You will be providing these on the application. Your resume is your brag-sheet, all about you. Don't muck it up with references.

Hope this helps,
Lori

Your biggest issue is your lack of qualifications. 212 hours isn't going to get you much of anything these days. Your resume qualifications read like thousands of others. You need to either put something on there to differentiate yourself and/or NETWORK!!! In the pilot world, networking is the way in. You'd be surprised what you can do with the proper contacts.

Keep up with your training, get CFI, and then see what you can do. When you land that first CFI job, after a year or so, you'll have some substance to put on that resume.

Ive never put references on a resume, that should be a separate page and given to the interviewer. A resume should be straight to the point and never more than 1 page. I started with the APC resume sample and worked it my own way. http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/o...temid,112.html

Thank you everyone for the help and the critiques. I am going to re format my resume and make some changes and then repost it so you all can look over it again. Lori, right now the whole resume is exactly one page long. After taking off my references and begining paragraph it will probably shrink by about 35%. Do you have any ideas on how I can make it look beefier. The only thing that I can imagine to do is to go more in depth with my current job duties.

I would like to keep something in the resume about my training at WMU. I am very proud of my flight training and education I attained there and would like to enforce that fact with a perspective employer while showing my confidence in what I have learned.

Other than that if anyone has some tips for other ways that I can expand my resume to make it look like there is more I would welcome the suggestions.

Thanks again for all the help.

Then put your education here

Then put something here like "I am available at a mutually convenient time for an interview"