Logbook presentation for interviews?
 

Like most military flyers we have the line-by-line records and everything from our SARM/HARM, but if you have converted it to digital how are people prepping the official document for interviews? I heard recently from the Hiring Director at American on the Ready4Pushback podcast that American actually grades and gives a percentage of your weighted grade toward you logbook. He would not disclose whether it was the accumulation of hours or presentation of the logbooks that goes into the grade.

I used MilKeep to convert mine and everything matches and adds up as it should so I'm not concerned with that side of the logbook prep, but I'm unsure what avenue to take with printing & binding options. I

Looking for suggestions for digital logbook users, and specifically Milkeep users.

I would take every opportunity to present an immaculately professional demeanor in all respects when interacting with a legacy airline.

I don't think they're too particular about the exact format, but it's probably worth the effort (or money to pay someone else) to make it accurate and presentable.

The various electronic logbooks all have a print feature, you can take the file to kinkos and they'll print and bind it for you.

They do value quality of flight time. I doubt they care if you have a 'pretty' logbook. Organized? Sure. Pretty? Yeah, just like most women have a LBD (little black dress) most pilots have several BBL's (big black logbooks). BBL's should be good enough.

Why not just give them your military records? That’s what everyone else does/did.

There's something to be said about plopping a green folder on the desk that isn't actually that organized because the system is very antiquated, and taking the time to have your own logbook with the same information presented in a more easily digestible way that looks like a civilian logbook so that someone who may have never seen Air Force time logging can look through.

Make a logbook, but take the military records as they are the "source".

Different airlines have different preferences. For my interview I brought a complete copy of my HARM records and a cover sheet that broke down how I calculated the numbers in my application. The interviewers thanked me for making it so easy to understand and didn’t ask any further questions about my flight time. That was for UPS.

It would be nice if HARM/SARM had the most accurate records. Definitely some blame on me who signed off on it, but I wasn't really concerned with my hours over a decade ago. I went and put it all in a spreadsheet, took me a couple of months and asking friends to verify some dates/times. I hope it'll work. Any suggestions for pointing out omissions on the line-by-line HARM didn't include in my records, or discrepancy on hours? I did keep a pocket calendar with general information, but not as accurate as a logbook.

Are we talking 20-30 hours off or hundreds? The reality is the source document says what it says. You can transfer it all to a civilian logbook and add in what you think they missed/screwed up/etc., but if your logbook says you have 3200 hours and your HARM printout says 2500 hours you will have some explaining to do. It’s not worth it.

Every interviewer at a legacy has seen military flight records hundreds of times. Not sure what all the services have, but all that is referenced is the flying history report from an AF guy/gal (if I’m remembering the correct term). It’s a far more verifiable format than making something up on your own and is appreciated. But do whatever they tell you to do nowadays at your target airline. I can only speak for UAL.

I brought my FEF, HARM folder (complete line-by-lines on one side, FHR on the other), and printed digital logbook to AA.

For the logbook, I just got a regular landscape 8.5x11 binder with landscape dividers on Amazon. First page was a combined table of contents and simple time summary (PIC/Total for Turbine/Turboprop/Piston/Combined).

First section behind the summary sheet was a notarized letter explaining that I didn’t have logbooks for civ time up to X date anymore, and everything after that was only logged in LogTen (along with pictures of original PPL endorsements).

Second section was LogTen’s Jepp Pro 27 printout with all civ/mil checkrides tabbed.

Third section was an FAA sim time summary and the FTI gradebook (tabbed for the ATP Practical.

Got the CJO with zero logbook issues. Make sure whatever you use fits the FARs for legal logbooks.

Pretty wide aperature on that.

1. You cannot log something fraudulently, and then use it for any official FAA purpose (ie aeronautical experience for cert, rating, privilege, profiency, etc). I don't think there's any legal proscription on lying to employers, although I'm obviously not recommending it.

2. You must log enough info to show you meet FAA currency for any operations which you conduct (night landings, instrument operations, etc).

Other than that you have very wide discretion on what, when and how to log stuff. Employers obviously like the usual formats found in off-the-shelf logbooks, or similar.

I’m referring that all the content required by FAR 61.51 is there. Not just a line of Date/Type/Time, etc. The usual formats fit the mould, but its a sanity check if someone is using an Excel file.

Do you have a link to binder you bought? All the ones I am seeing are 7 ring.

8.5" X 11" Landscape View Binder,... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08J4H1MG1...p_mob_ap_share

Applications and interviews are a haze to see who wants to be there, who gives a **** enough to put in the work to land a 8 figure paying career in which attention to detail is a faily useful skill set. You can interview prep all you want and come off as slick and charming, but if someone can't be bothered to spend an hour or 3 getting their records tight as possible that will shine through.

I had the exact same problem! I looked at my logs and I had like 25 extra hours of primary, 10 less of IP, 2 more EP, 10 extra night hours, etc. It made no sense. I went through my records and the line by line to see where ARMS had typos or maybe it was my math errors they fixed, and out of my ~3000 hours I got mine within about 10 hours of the official record. I had a reasonable response ready to explain the air force records keeping process, and especially how screwed up it was while we were deployed, and I was ready to speak to those numbers and my app had the lower of the 2 numbers. In the end nobody asked me about them, but you can see how an answer about my methodology, an explanation and a good faith answer that isn't trying to game the system would go over much better than a shrug and "IDK lol. Can I have my legacy job now?"

1- Do your due dilligence and be ready to speak to your logbook deltas
2- Present them in a nice clear spreadsheet that is easy to comprehend
3- Bring all your official records as proof in case they need to see them

Just because the interview packet says they do not need to see official records deosn't mean that you can't bring them along just in case and keep them in your bag on the small chance they could be useful.

If you're trying to turn your logbooks into a gallery piece with a scripted presentation to explain the last tenth, you maybe overthinking things in the extreme. Show up, having been there and done that, and whomever is interviewing you will know that without ever needing to look at the liebooks. It will be clear from the conversation that follows.

The truth is that at most interviews I've attended, I've offered a stack of logbooks, with no interest in seeing them. If I got the job, it wasn't because I knew someone, nor because I wore a blue suit with a red tie, nor because my logbooks glowed with perfection, nor because I had a litany of canned stories to tell and answers to sell. My pen and ink logs look about like they did when I was in my early teens. My suit is a sport coat and slacks. Herringbone. I've never sought or got a job based on knowing someone, and I don't walk into an interview fresh from rehearsal.

You know how to fly. Hopefully you've been told how to interview. Be honest, be genuine, be present and listen. You already know what you're talking about. Let it show. I'm not going to go back to logbooks and put in the bazillion hours of tedium necessary to parallel them with Godliness. The employer isn't hiring me to fill out logbooks. Be correct, but the notion that it's got to crosscheck every which way from mothers day is far beyond overkill.

As for counsel that the only part of your logbook that must be legal is the part used to record landings, approaches, and time for certificates, ratings, and currency, ah...no. It's a legal document. Log legally. Log accuratley. Don't invent ****. Don't tell employers what they want to hear. Just log, show the log if asked, present your numbers when asked. and focus on more important things like passing tests and evaluations. If your job offer comes down to being the most-squared away logbook in the history of squares, so be it. If you're in the interview, the operator wants to hire you. If it's your imperfect logbook that torpedoes you below the waterline, perhaps you were already riding fairly low in the water. The interview is simple; show up, don't drown.

You could spend all that time before the interview lining out the perfect logbook, or you could focus on other things that will actually be asked and evaluated.

Failure to have a logbooks, or dress and groom appropriately, or play other games can indicate poor SA or lack of GAS. I agree they're not getting you the job, but lack of certain things can you lose you a job. The HR ladies make a profession of noticing those things.

I never suggested one should fail to bring logs, if requested. One does not need to place so much emphasis on them, as some seem to suggest.

Dressing appropriately is not necessarily dressing like a well-cut cookie. No one has suggested one should not dress for the interview. I've seen people show up in a Levi cordoroy suit, or a crushed velvet suit; neither appropriate nor the correct decade. Also both were badly wrinkled and didn't look professional. One need not be in a new blue suit with a red tie to get the job, however. A sport jacket, blue or grey slacks, white shirt and tie, have worked well for me for a long time. To each his own.

Echoes of Kit Darby abound everywhere, and despite the flashy magazines, he was right about half the time. Kind of like a broken clock.

Thanks for the advice. I already got the job, but they want to do logbook review during INDOC, and am wanting to make it as professional and painless on their end as possible to make sure I actually qualify...It is all duplicated on a digital log, and I went through all my paper logs and the only questionable one I found is a flight from my instrument training that the instructor didn't endorse. Other than that, it looks pretty clean. I went the pretty generic training route, so there isn't really much room for weird interpretation of my time.

At that point you just want to make sure you can clearly document the aeronautical experience required for the ATP.

it’s been along while… but as a military pilot with less than 14 hours civilian time I went the simple route during my interview with Delta and United… Had a binder with my HARM flying hour summary page(s), the annual breakdown printout from HARM each year during my records review, and my FEF folder. When the pilot interviewers asked for my logbooks I gave them both the binder and asked if he wanted to see the annual summary folder or FEF… they both asked if I had any civilian time and I said 14 hours give/take during flight screening in college… said no thanks for reviewing the summaries or FEF and we moved on each time. Bottom line, I don’t think you need to convert anything… when you transcribe you make errors… and errors causes unnecessary scrutiny. Ask the hiring department you’re working with if they’d be satisfied with your military flight hour summaries/printouts. If you flew civilian on the side then bring a logbook that only addresses/lists those flight activities and sign/offs… nothing more nothing less. Good luck!