Wednesday, September 14, 2011

"Walking" in the resume

Helping others is in my nature. It's part of the reason for this blog.

Only a handful of airlines are currently hiring. Mine is one of them.

The current market is very tight as there are a lot of pilots out of work. Simply applying isn't enough as the resume is just a virtual piece of paper in an inbox.

A few of my friends have applied to my airline recently and heard nothing. I didn't know they applied. Once they told me I asked them to send me their resume and I would attach a letter of recommendation and "walk" it in.

Once I did almost all were called for an interview within a week. It's not that I'm someone special, but it just takes a little something extra to pick up THEIR application before someone else's.  I helped my former boss get an interview, he got the job and is in the middle of IOE. Prior to my airline he worked as a pilot flying traffic watch. He also flew for a group of men who owned a plane and needed a pilot. Basically he worked in aviation for over a year prior to coming to my airline.

A childhood friend of mine is married to a pilot. I haven't seen this friend in 20+ years. She became my "friend" on Facebook about a year ago. I became "friends" with her husband about six months ago.

We talked back and forth a bit about flying now and then. He hasn't had an active flying job in 5+ years. He's been working in other fields, which pay more money.

Recently he decided he wanted to fly for an airline. He has a little over 1000 hours total time.

He applied to my airline and waited. Then I helped out by sending in a letter of recommendation. He was contacted and set up an interview. I told him about all the interview gouges online (willflyforfood.com )

His interview was on Tuesday. Monday night my airline flew him over and I met him near his hotel to talk. We discussed the interview, my job, reserve, benefits and commuting.

He was very at ease. I could tell he read the gouges and had all his paperwork in order. I wished him good luck and headed home.

Yesterday he sent me a text....didn't work out. I didn't ask specifics but suspect it was knowledge based. He hasn't been immersed in aviation for 5 years. He can apply again in a few months. I'm sure we will still be hiring.

 

2 comments:

  1. Hi, sorry for my english. It is dangerous to give friends the hand when they want a job in the same company. I did it twice. And two times was the hell after a couple of months. They only want a new job. And then......i said it: the hell. Ill, not comming to work, talking bad about others and so on. Never will do that again.

    Matthias

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  2. Your English is fine. I only help out pilots I know very well or a friend at another airline I know will vouch for. It can come back to burn me if I recommend pilots who get hired then fail out or cause issues. Burn me only in the sense that my future recommendations won't be considered. My job would never be in jeopardy.

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