Resume Data

[RkyMtnHI]

Hey everybody,

 

I was thinking about the folks that I had the privilege to meet this year, and how hard it was for some to find a job. I wish we could place them all but I guess that’s just not realistic. When I went back to the file cabinet to look thru the resumes I thought that there was some interesting data there and that others might like to know what we saw. I sincerely hope this helps folks as it was a lot of work to put together.

 

I had just over 120 resumes in the file (these are from 2010 alone), about half came via email, the rest thru the post or delivered in person. I think that I saw about 20% of the candidates face to face, but that is only a guess. I picked the first 60 and the data is below. I put the info on a yellow pad and then transposed to excel so if there is anything further you want to know from the data let me know and I’ll try to add it.

 

Age: some were estimated and some changed by a year one way or the other to keep it all confidential. On some resumes there was no way to even estimate so I put a question mark.

 

Cert: CFII or II, there were 5 ATPs (not listed)

 

Hours: I changed these in some places rounding off, but only a few hours in a few places.

 

Deg: Degree or not, there was one PHD and one Law degree.

 

Helos: Pretty self-explanatory on most, ENS is Enstrom.

 

CL: Cover letter or not..

 

 

The data is in a pdf file attached.. i also have it in an excel file if anyone wants to play with the numbers, just send me a pm.

 

Notes:

 

Please keep in mind that this is only about 60 resumes.. so the data might not really mean anything.

 

While I was collecting the data I jotted down some additional notes..

 

There were five female candidates.. they all were CFIIs (i hired one of them).

 

There was very little high DA time.

 

There was less than one hundred hours of Enstrom time (ENS) total, and one guy had most of that.

 

Only fourteen were currently employed in the aviation industry.

 

Four were also A&Ps.

 

Twelve were dual trained.. RW & FW.

 

Very few were Military (about five but it was hard to tell on a couple).

 

Seven people sent me more than one resume.. one guy sent four. I hired him!! On that subject, if you send more than one resume, except for the updated info.. make sure they match and make sense..

 

Four had JA licenses, and for me, those that i met were the sharpest and most educated.

 

Some suggestions that I would add:

 

Military folks: separate your flight time, we need to know how much PIC, piston vs turbine, what platforms you have experience in and how much time in each.

 

Don’t put ‘500+’… it's hard to know what that means!

 

From some resumes, where there are question marks, I couldn’t get the answer.. believe it or not, some I couldn’t figure out what they flew, if they had a CFI or II, and or if they went to college.

 

Some folks sent copies of their certs and/or drivers lic.. it was nice to have a photo of the candidates. On that subject, I would like to see photos on every resume.. I know some don’t want that but I do., when I was at the job fair last month I met so many people, when I went back thru the resumes I couldn’t keep them all straight.. a photo would have helped immensely. In the future I will keep a camera with me and take a photo of everyone in the line and match it to their resumes.. just saying. Just for the record, I helped three folks from the job fair get interviews even tho I knew I couldn’t hire them.. so keep that in mind.. the person that gets your resume could hand it off to the right person.. this is a small industry!!

 

CL; cover letter, there weren’t a lot of them, but I really like to see them, you can tell us things about you that might not be in the resume: like; do you even like Colorado (or wherever you are thinking of moving to), do you have family that supports you, do you like physical activity (gives and idea of your health).. ' i like to mountain bike' or skydive or what ever...

 

Don’t put ‘mountain time’ unless it is..

 

Don’t put 'High DA time' unless it is operating from an airport at that altitude.. flying from sea level to the foot hills and back is not really mountain time or considered high DA time (by us anyway). It kinda makes it look like you don’t understand or are trying to pull one off..

 

Don’t address your cover letter to ‘chief pilot’.. find out who that person is and send it to them.. research the company you are applying for, and what ever you do, don’t put the wrong company name on it!! lol

 

Do NOT lie about your hours.. this is a small industry and folks will find out.. and once they do.. you will probably be done. I know three folks from around here that padded their books, none of them are working and probably won’t be.

 

That's all for now..

 

aloha and Happy Holidays folks!!

 

dp

[Shaun]

 

Do NOT lie about your hours..

 

There was a pilot who lied his way to the captain seat of a 747, if I remember correctly he only had 1,000 actual flight hours. They caught him obviously. A lot of airlines do logbook audits, I'm not sure if helicopter companies do the same.

[Goldy]

Dennis, while you gave some insight into what you like to see, I think it might help some to share more of what you are looking for as an owner.

 

So let's say you have an opening for a CFI right now and you are reviewing resumes. You have 60 to go thru, and you need to pick out the best lets say 10.

 

What are you looking for?

 

Minimum hours

Is military experience a plus? I usually hear of great training but not so much PIC time.

How much emphasis do you put on a degree. Especially if the degree is non aviation. Does an AA in aviation trump a law degree or a Masters in Art?

What do you think when you see 3 jobs listed and only 6 months at each?

Does turbine time or lack thereof mean anything to you?

Obviously you want to see pilots with time in your model ships (S300, R44). How much time is acceptable? If I have 20 hours of S300C time, is that enough to count as checked out? What about 50 hours, or 5 ?

Instrument rating...is that important to you?

Just because you have CFII applicants, do you still consider CFI apps, or even CFI apps that dont have an instrument rating?

 

I know I'm pinning you down here buddy. And I know you are just one owner of one school, but you put up the post, and I think some job seekers may in fact benefit from this.

 

Oh, how many CFI's have you hired in the last 2 years? How many had you met face to face BEFORE you decided to interview them? I guess that question is really how important is the networking piece of the job puzzle.

[RagMan]

Very nice addition, Dennis! That should give some of the lower time pilots an insight into what kind of competition they are dealing with in today's industry in attempting to secure their first CFI/II position.

[RkyMtnHI]

Great questions Goldy!! answered below:

 

Dennis, while you gave some insight into what you like to see, I think it might help some to share more of what you are looking for as an owner.

 

So let's say you have an opening for a CFI right now and you are reviewing resumes. You have 60 to go thru, and you need to pick out the best lets say 10.

 

What are you looking for?

 

Minimum hours

 

500, but that's not a hard line..

 

Is military experience a plus? I usually hear of great training but not so much PIC time.

 

absolutely a plus.. disciplined, professional and adults!! (not related to age, but attitude)

 

How much emphasis do you put on a degree. Especially if the degree is non aviation. Does an AA in aviation trump a law degree or a Masters in Art?

 

Not a lot, but the Aviation might get extra points.. i also like to see management, marketing and business, especially if the candidate had other jobs in this area in the past.. (law degree would go to the bottom of the stack!!) lol, just kidding!

 

What do you think when you see 3 jobs listed and only 6 months at each?

 

bad sign, but if everything else adds up i would look closer, could mean other things like very motivated, maybe the places they worked went out of biz..

 

Does turbine time or lack thereof mean anything to you?

 

not at all, especially in a lower time candidate, but, we already have our turbine instructors, if we lost them, like when one goes on deployment later next year, things might change.

 

Obviously you want to see pilots with time in your model ships (S300, R44). How much time is acceptable? If I have 20 hours of S300C time, is that enough to count as checked out? What about 50 hours, or 5 ?

 

good questions Goldy.. we hired one guy that only had 30ish in the 300, but all of it was at altitude and he had a ton of 44, 22 and some 206 time. that being said it still took him 30 more hours before he was totally good to go (complex maneuvers, could he have done them, yes of course, but why take the risk when we had others more current, he spent most of that time teaching instrument and doing cross countries).

 

Instrument rating...is that important to you?

 

We do not hire anyone that doesn't have their II, it just doesn't make sense, now if the perfect CFI came to us and said they'd pay for their II and do it in the ship they were weakest in we would consider that, but we would put a time limit on the completion of their II (two months or so), we might even give the right person cost as we have done before..

 

Just because you have CFII applicants, do you still consider CFI apps, or even CFI apps that dont have an instrument rating?

 

Answered above

 

I know I'm pinning you down here buddy. And I know you are just one owner of one school, but you put up the post, and I think some job seekers may in fact benefit from this.

 

no worries, i totally agree

 

Oh, how many CFI's have you hired in the last 2 years?

 

Eleven, i offered two jobs that passed due to prior commitments (extra points)

 

How many had you met face to face BEFORE you decided to interview them?

 

All but two, one i hired almost totally off of Facebook, of course there were a lot of emails over almost one year, a good reference check, and finally a face to face & flight, but i had decided to hire the candidate before the face to face. This person had some particular experience that was especially important to our programs in the area of syllabus development. Many times it's not just about the flying.. some say that's the easy part.. i tend to agree. The other was referred by one of our team members and was a no-brainer, he teaches our turbine courses and mountain training

 

I guess that question is really how important is the networking piece of the job puzzle.

 

I think it's invaluable, as with most i would use the networking to really check on the candidate, it's a small world, and a past or present employer might just want to get rid of the pilot or be afraid to tell you the whole truth.. i expect that within an hour i can find someone that i know that knows most any candidate.. i also keep in touch with as many folks as possible because someone that i like might just fit somewhere else better.. there were three people that i met at the job fair that i wanted to hire, but there were better places out there for them, it's about being fair to everyone

 

dp

[Rogue]

Take it for what it is worth from a non-lawyer but pictures on a resume could spell discrimination lawsuit.

[Eggbeater]

What's an OH-59? I think that's a neat project that gives an idea of the real variety of experience out there. Plenty of different ways to the top of the mountain, I guess. And I have heard that a picture in a resume automatically disqualifies it due to liability, but I would think the picture on a driver's license wouldn't be a problem.

[rick1128]

Hey everybody,

 

I was thinking about the folks that I had the privilege to meet this year, and how hard it was for some to find a job. I wish we could place them all but I guess that’s just not realistic. When I went back to the file cabinet to look thru the resumes I thought that there was some interesting data there and that others might like to know what we saw. I sincerely hope this helps folks as it was a lot of work to put together.

 

I had just over 120 resumes in the file (these are from 2010 alone), about half came via email, the rest thru the post or delivered in person. I think that I saw about 20% of the candidates face to face, but that is only a guess. I picked the first 60 and the data is below. I put the info on a yellow pad and then transposed to excel so if there is anything further you want to know from the data let me know and I’ll try to add it.

 

Age: some were estimated and some changed by a year one way or the other to keep it all confidential. On some resumes there was no way to even estimate so I put a question mark.

 

Cert: CFII or II, there were 5 ATPs (not listed)

 

Hours: I changed these in some places rounding off, but only a few hours in a few places.

 

Deg: Degree or not, there was one PHD and one Law degree.

 

Helos: Pretty self-explanatory on most, ENS is Enstrom.

 

CL: Cover letter or not..

 

 

The data is in a pdf file attached.. i also have it in an excel file if anyone wants to play with the numbers, just send me a pm.

 

Notes:

 

Please keep in mind that this is only about 60 resumes.. so the data might not really mean anything.

 

While I was collecting the data I jotted down some additional notes..

 

There were five female candidates.. they all were CFIIs (i hired one of them).

 

There was very little high DA time.

 

There was less than one hundred hours of Enstrom time (ENS) total, and one guy had most of that.

 

Only fourteen were currently employed in the aviation industry.

 

Four were also A&Ps.

 

Twelve were dual trained.. RW & FW.

 

Very few were Military (about five but it was hard to tell on a couple).

 

Seven people sent me more than one resume.. one guy sent four. I hired him!! On that subject, if you send more than one resume, except for the updated info.. make sure they match and make sense..

 

Four had JA licenses, and for me, those that i met were the sharpest and most educated.

 

Some suggestions that I would add:

 

Military folks: separate your flight time, we need to know how much PIC, piston vs turbine, what platforms you have experience in and how much time in each.

 

Don’t put ‘500+’… it's hard to know what that means!

 

From some resumes, where there are question marks, I couldn’t get the answer.. believe it or not, some I couldn’t figure out what they flew, if they had a CFI or II, and or if they went to college.

 

Some folks sent copies of their certs and/or drivers lic.. it was nice to have a photo of the candidates. On that subject, I would like to see photos on every resume.. I know some don’t want that but I do., when I was at the job fair last month I met so many people, when I went back thru the resumes I couldn’t keep them all straight.. a photo would have helped immensely. In the future I will keep a camera with me and take a photo of everyone in the line and match it to their resumes.. just saying. Just for the record, I helped three folks from the job fair get interviews even tho I knew I couldn’t hire them.. so keep that in mind.. the person that gets your resume could hand it off to the right person.. this is a small industry!!

 

CL; cover letter, there weren’t a lot of them, but I really like to see them, you can tell us things about you that might not be in the resume: like; do you even like Colorado (or wherever you are thinking of moving to), do you have family that supports you, do you like physical activity (gives and idea of your health).. ' i like to mountain bike' or skydive or what ever...

 

Don’t put ‘mountain time’ unless it is..

 

Don’t put 'High DA time' unless it is operating from an airport at that altitude.. flying from sea level to the foot hills and back is not really mountain time or considered high DA time (by us anyway). It kinda makes it look like you don’t understand or are trying to pull one off..

 

Don’t address your cover letter to ‘chief pilot’.. find out who that person is and send it to them.. research the company you are applying for, and what ever you do, don’t put the wrong company name on it!! lol

 

Do NOT lie about your hours.. this is a small industry and folks will find out.. and once they do.. you will probably be done. I know three folks from around here that padded their books, none of them are working and probably won’t be.

 

That's all for now..

 

aloha and Happy Holidays folks!!

 

dp

 

Dennis,

 

Sometimes you have to be careful about some of the things you put on your resume. First of all, the larger companies usually have some sort of resume policy. Most of that is due to EEOC or potential EEOC problems. Age, gender, race, etc. Some companies have a policy of discarding resumes that contain personal information on them. The problem is that you don't know what companies to that and who don't. So if they do that, you will never know if they discarded it and you have lost your chance. For many of these companies a photo is a major no no.

 

For a face to face or walk-in a cover letter is not consider a major requirement.

 

As for certificate copies, when I was sitting on the Chief Pilot side of the desk, my preference was not to see them unless I asked for them. It is just another piece of paper to keep track of. List all your certificates on your resume including your medical, radio operators permit and passport. If you have them. If I am interested in you I ask for more information including references. I have had applicants send me copies of all sorts of documents. DD-214s, a copy of a marriage certificate and even a family photo.

 

Some times you need to be careful about the Chief Pilot's name. There are a few companies out there that change Chief Pilots more often then they change their under drawers. And the former Chief Pilot could still be working for the company.

 

And as far as time break downs, keep in mind that you need to write your resume for the lowest common denominator. The HR or Flight Ops secretary on her first day on the job. Generally, it has been my experience with the larger companies, that the first person to see the resume is either the HR or Flight Ops secretary. They will sort through the resumes and then hand the ones that meet the requires they have been told to look for off the appropriate person. Many of these requires are for insurance or contract requirements. But once they have hired for the position they had advertised for, they don't just throw the rest out. There are kept and if there is another opening, they will most likely go through them again. Especially if they need someone RIGHT THE F*** NOW.

 

I am more interested in what someone has flown to earn a living than all the different types.

 

As for having jobs that lasted only a few months, keep in mind that the economy has changed over the years. It is now becoming necessary for people to go to new employer to advance. Also many of the jobs in this industry are seasonal and many are contract jobs. There are pilots out there that do almost nothing but contract work. Those that I have worked with were great sticks and with one exception were outstanding folks to work with.

[apiaguy]

with all these experienced guys out there... and all applying to be flight instructors... it makes me wonder why some of them don't get together and start an operation in a needed area.

Colorado Heli Ops... is a pretty new company... has 2 helicopters... 1 heck of an advertising campaign... and seems to be putting alot of older schools to shame... from the online perspective they seem like a much bigger operation...which is why I believe they are doing so well recently.

interesting

[Goldy]

it makes me wonder why some of them don't get together and start an operation in a needed area.

 

I have spoken to guys and gals all over the US that are trying to do just that. Some are a success and fill a hole left by an operator moving or shutting down. The real problem for most falls into the "financing" category.

[apiaguy]

financing the aircraft/operation or financing for their students?

[rick1128]

financing the aircraft/operation or financing for their students?

 

All the above. Earlier this year I was working on a couple of programs that that the potential of being profitable quite quickly. I had the customers all lined up and all the required certificates on track. Just couldn't get any financing. And I have a very good credit score personally and so does my business. So until the economy at least stabilizes we will not see much growth in the industry.

[Njordic]

There's very few jobs out there right now for anyone with less than 2000 hours.... other than the Flight School Ponzi schemes!

 

Buyer beware!

[dc3freightdog]

Dennis,

Thank you for the detailed analysis. Your post will help pilots to improve theyr resume writing skills. I will definatly rewrite my resume and coverletter.

Thank you for your contribution and fly safe.

BC

[Parafiddle]

Dennis,

Great info, especially for us aspiring helicopter pilots! What is your feeling on FW hours? Do you give any credit in terms of total time, night, instrument, X-C, instructing? In other words, does the aeronautical decision making, flight planning, weather interpretation, lesson planning and presentation, etc., experience that you aqcuire flying airplanes carry any weight when I start flying helicopters? Obviously, RW flying is significantly different the FW and I know I will suffer from negative transfer of skills/reactions. I'm just wondering if anyone will care about ANY of my FW time.

 

Merry Christmas from the desert!

 

Steve

[RkyMtnHI]

Dennis,

Great info, especially for us aspiring helicopter pilots! What is your feeling on FW hours? Do you give any credit in terms of total time, night, instrument, X-C, instructing? In other words, does the aeronautical decision making, flight planning, weather interpretation, lesson planning and presentation, etc., experience that you aqcuire flying airplanes carry any weight when I start flying helicopters? Obviously, RW flying is significantly different the FW and I know I will suffer from negative transfer of skills/reactions. I'm just wondering if anyone will care about ANY of my FW time.

 

Merry Christmas from the desert!

 

Steve

 

 

Hi Steve,

 

I think that all-of-the-above counts when vying for an instructor position. There are post instructor jobs as well that look for dual trained pilots...

 

Thanks for serving Sir,

 

aloha,

 

dp