Hacker15e

By far, honesty is the best policy with this. Be up front about it, and be ready to explain what happened. No excuses, own it completely.

Be able to explain where you did not perform to standard, what you learned from the experience, and what you've done to be a better aviator afterward.

There are lots and lots of professional pilots with black marks on their records. Recruiters and interviewers know this; they want to know how you got up and succeeded after you fell down.

tbevis135r

I agree, honesty is the best policy...but also prefer not to air dirty laundry unless asked specifically. Looking back, I was close to two months into an intense program that came immediately on the heels of a cross country military move from retiring, which itself took a lot of time and stress to plan. And of course, my sim slot was the graveyard 2100 to 0300 slot, and we were all tired. External factors definitely played a part, but bottom line, yes, I screwed the pooch on my single engine go arounds, after a couple extra sims to nail down other minor things, which I did. In fact, the instructor said my V1 cuts and SE approaches were great, it was the heading control on the initial MA that was out of tolerance. What would I do different? More chair fly, obviously, but also ask for a block of time to practice nothing except SE power and rudder management. As it was, I learned that I was going to be discontinued from training, and that was when I decided to voluntarily resign versus be asked to leave in lieu of termination. And truth be told, I was seriously reconsidering the domiciles and crash pad prospects I was facing, versus have a chance to base closer to home. Now, I'm hoping that this isn't a show stopper as far as other opportunities go. So there it is, out in the open. Additional ideas and thoughts greatly appreciated.

Hacker15e

I understand that's what you may prefer, but you will get substantially better mileage being 100% upfront with it, both on the application and when asked about it at a job fair or in an interview. I think that's especially true as a retired military dude who probably already has a lengthy aviation resume.

I personally know guys with way more substantial black marks on their records (aircraft accidents where they were found at fault, military guys grounded by FEB/FNAEB, a guy with jail time from a reckless driving incident) who were all hired at major airlines in the last 3-4 years. All of them were totally out in the open about it, and all were both called for interviews and hired.

They may not have been hired from every interview they were called for, but as they say, if they call you for the interview it means they've accepted in principle whatever is on your application. All of them eventually landed jobs at legacy or cargo carriers.

Plus, you're not fooling any airline recruiters/interviewers with the "I resigned during training" thing. With only a few exceptions, this generally means resignation in lieu of termination. Your employment at whatever airline you left is a matter of PRIA record, so anyone looking at your application or interviewing you is going to know exactly what your very short employment probably means.

Bottom line, there is nothing --nothing-- to be gained from not being upfront about it, and absolutely everything to lose.

You'd be surprised at how many airline pilots have skeletons in their closets and black marks on their records. Recruiters and interviewers have heard -- and hired -- a lot worse than what you have.