Richard Yeomans

I have been flying for a living for over 10 years now. I have been one of the lucky ones who has found employment in a financially strong company and I am a very happy pilot! Things could have been very different if I had completed my flight training in today’s financial environment. A quick search on Google for ‘how to find a pilot job’ takes you to pilot employment sites and few of them offer any real help and support apart from www.flightcrewfinder.com. I think we know how tough it is to find a flying job especially if you are starting out on your career.

What I intend to do is offer some practical advice on how to build a network and increase your chances of finding work. This is not a definative guide but hopefully will point people in the right direction.

Research is important, you need to target airlines that you want to work for. You need to ensure that they are hiring or are about to hire and that you meet their minimum criteria. As an example, if Cathay Pacific only hire pilots with 5000+ hours it is no good applying to them if you have just qualified. Find out who reads the CV’s and address all correspondence to them, you need to build up a personal relationship with them.

Flexibility is a feature all pilots are familar with and it will be needed in huge quanities when you are looking for work. You may need to spead your wings a little further than your home town or even your own country. As part of my work at www.flightcrewfinder.com I look around the world to see who is recruiting and what opportunities there are for our members. There is work for very many qualified pilots in Asia and in the Far East but, some people’s commitments make it impossible for them to move.

Planning is a thing that all pilots do every time we take to the skies even for the shortest flight. You need to make an ideal career plan but accept it will change as your life changes and you get older. Where do you want to be in 20 years time and what steps do you need to make to get there? You may have to make a short term sacrifice to achieve your goal.

CV/Resumes are still important but getting less so in today’s environment of online applications. There are plenty of resources on the web that will help you write the ‘killer’ CV but remember it needs to be factual and only on one sheet of paper. The covering letter is the place where you can embellish your achievements.

Internet and Networking I was talking to someone who works for a large recruiter recently and he stressed the importance of ensuring your online identity is professional and becoming of an airline captain. So now maybe now is the time to look at your social networking sites and suspend or cancel your accounts. I do know of one employer who searches Google and Facebook before every interview, could this cause you embarrassment? Is your email address suitable? ’snugglypooch@email.com’ may not be the best address to have, set up a gmail/hotmail account just for the recruiting process.

More people are using ‘linkedin.com’ to help build up a professional network. It is hard when you come to a new industry to find people that maybe able to help you get an interview. The more groups you join, the more you interact, the more articles you write, the more people will ‘link’ to you and help you build a network.

Employment websites like www.flightcrewfinder.com are used by employers who are looking for pilots and cabin crew and listing your details has proved very useful for many. www.flightcrewfinder.com is trying to do things differently and encourage interaction via forums, articles and news items. You can standout from the crowd by getting involved and contributing, this may just raise your profile and help you get a job!