Don't Wait - Put Your Resume To Work!

Don't Wait -
Put Your Resume To Work!

by Bob Black
AIR, Inc. Military Correspondent

Reprinted from the Airline Pilot Job Monthly, Mar 96

"In a month or so I'll have my ratings and test done. Then I'll send out me resume." Does this sound familiar to you? I hear it from pilots all the time. They never quite feel as if their resumes or applications are competitive until every square is filled, and with the daily distractions of every day life and general procrastination, filling all those squares usually takes months, sometimes years.

I've learned, however, that you don't necessarily need every square filled before your resume is competitive, so why wait?

Every day your resume sits in your top desk drawer, or in that secret file in your office computer, is a day it could be circulating in the marketplace, generating an application package or an interview invitation. Ultimately, you're putting off your date of hire, and with it, your eventual place on an airline's seniority list. Seniority, as you'll soon understand, is everything - money, time off and flexibility. So what are you waiting for?

FE Written Test Scores: Today, when you take the written exam, your score is available immediately. More likely, however, you haven't quite found time to take the test, right? Don't let this stop you from getting out your resume! Of course the FE written is required by most airlines, and very shortly you're going to have yours completed. In the mean time, indicate on your resume (and applications, if you have them) that your FE written is pending. Putting this on your resume, of course, commits you to completing the examination in a timely manner. That's part of this method's effectiveness and risk. Take the test, get your results, update your resume with the date and score, and send out the newly updated version with a follow-up letter highlighting your new qualifications ("...and I've just completed the FE Written Exam, with a score of 98%").

ATP Certificate: Same goes for this critical step, which you've been meaning to finish for months now, and simply haven't had the time. Include on your resume an anticipated completion date, preferably within 2-3 weeks, and get it in the mail. When you complete your new rating, update, attach a follow-up letter ("...and I've just completed my ATP practical and written exam"), and put this new information along with a copy of the license in the mail.

Apply this tactic whenever you anticipate completing a certificate, rating or test in the near future. But DON'T claim you have something until you actually have it. Falsifying your resume can cost you jobs.

This approach offers several advantages over procrastinating. First, it gets your resume in circulation where it can generate interview opportunities. Second, it creates legitimate opportunities for follow-up correspondence, which many airlines view favorably as an expression of a pilot's keen interest in their company. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, by committing in writing to accomplish the qualifications specified, it will motivate you to stop procrastinating and complete your FE written exam and ATP certification.

You may reasonably ask whether a resume lacking evidence of the FE written and ATP will actually hurt your chances of getting an interview, especially when these items are listed as required by most airlines. Certainly your resume looks best when you have these squares filled. But a resume in a recruiter's hand confirming that the FE written and ATP are under way rather than simply under consideration is much better than a resume stuck in your desk.

Be careful if the update period is limited to a long period because an update may not be accepted for up to six months. In this case, a short wait may be justified. Also, avoid doing your list of requirements and optional training one at a time like a check list (the usual way pilot do things). It is much better to start every item you can as soon as you can. Let the length or difficulty of the task determine when it is completed -- not when you chose to start.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not endorsing a hurried-up, thrown-together resume. Your basic document should be flawless. The information it contains should be as up-to-date as possible. But don't waste time (and valuable seniority numbers) waiting until you have every last square completely filled before putting your resume to work. Call this Black's Law of Resume Usage: a resume at rest tends to remain at rest, while a resume in circulation produces applications and interviews.

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