Getting logbook ready for interview

[wannabe22]

I have a question for everyone-

I have a friend who has an interview at a major in a month but hasn't touched his logbook is quite some time. I was wondering if anyone had any advice as to how he can get his logbok up and ready and make it look good and spend as little time as possible?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

WB22

 

[Amish RakeFight]

I have a question for everyone-

I have a friend who has an interview at a major in a month but hasn't touched his logbook is quiet some time. I was wondering if any had any advice as to how he can get his logbok up and ready and make it look good and spend as little time as possible?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

WB22

A major interview is the opportunity of a lifetime. Tell your friend to open his logbook and pen the entries. I don't think there's any other way. Perhaps an hours worth every night depending on how long its been.

Also, he may want to look into an electronic logbook. Logbook Pro works with some PDA's which can make recording your time much easier.

 

[wannabe22]

its been about 7 years, would it look ok to put some of the earlier enteries month by month and some of the most recent sequence by sequence?

 

[MJG]

If "your friend" hasn't logged anything in 7 years, and now wants a job at a major, he's got 7 years worth of logbook entries to catch up on, plain and simple. Gotta get them all in there somehow, someway. Leg/Day/Month at a time, that's his choice, but the more detailed and accurate his personal logs, the better it reflects on him.

Really no easy way to do it unless he uses APDL (Part of Logbook Pro these days), they do offer a service to enter entries into your overall electronic logbook. That's the only kind of service like that, that I know of.

The combo of a Palm/PocketPC and electronic logbook are worth every penny IMO.

 

[jke406]

why is it always the guy's "friend?"

it will be difficult to get past anyone's logbook review without several hours of work to catch up.

 

[AA717driver]

I've got gallons of whiteout and yards of 'white-tape' and even cut out some pages when my wife and I entered the same info twice... Your logbook should be like your flight kit--the more beat up it is, the more experienced you appear.

Most trips are entered for the whole trip on one line (multiple days) and identified with the pairing number (of course I have NO idea where I went--but it was a DC9/717 so it couldn't have gone too far from STL...). FE time is certainly logged that way. Who cares where you landed, the pressurization works the same in LAX as it does in ARN.

But the bottom line is: write it in, don't show up with a bunch of time sheets in a binder. TC

 

[Tanker Clown]

When all else fails, just kinda make up some stuff. Just try and get it to be approximate. They probably won't go back and check anyway.

I'd also talk to my buddies. Find some good "tell me about a time" stories." It might help to use some of those if they are better than yours.

A job interview is kinda like a first date. It's OK to stretch the truth...and even lie if you get in her pants. In this case, the pants are probably at a major that will furlough you within a year. So don't feel bad.

 

[wannabe22]

Thanks for all the help guys.

WB22

 

[av8tordude23]

I think its really important that you continue to log your time day by day, BC you never know if you'll get the F-letter in your file. In this career, you will be furlough at least once, and in some case 2x.

Using an electronic logbook is very convenient over the tedious pen-n-ink, imho.

 

[crudeoilpilot]

7 yrs ?

I just did 2 years worth from trip books to master. Holy s### about 15 hours of real work. Never again will I let it go that far.
I work with someone whose last entries are 1984. Of course he is not going to go anywhere else, but what eats me is he is always advising everyone on how to get your stuff done. I'm sure everbody knows one of these guys.

 

[petitepilot]

It took me 11 days working about 7 hrs a day to update 8 years. and you wouldn't believe the discrepancies. ALL screwed up. Took a lot more hours to figure that out on top of the 11 days.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

My paper logs look like heck between white out, tape, etc. Logbook pro looks 100 times better but I still find mistakes from time to time. Garbage in, garbage out.

 

[Fly High]

I still keep a paper copy as well as Logbook Pro. I am not 100% convinced that someday the computer version will not get all jacked up by some computer glitch and I won't have to recreate it from paper again. If ever invited to interview with a major, is the best idea to present the pretty/fancy Logbook Pro version and keep the beaten up paper version in my brief case in the event that it is needed?

 

[atlcrashpad]

why is it always the guy's "friend?"QUOTE]

Cause it wood be embareassin' if you say'd you'd dun it.......
Bouyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy........

 

[Varmint]

FWIW....I have been doing monthly totals in my logbook for the last 8-10 years and save 1 years worth of printed monthly rosters with the totals included that match the logbook in case I have to go elsewhere and interview. I had a Delta interviewer tell me that's the way he does it and my current employer had no issues with it during the interview. Much easier and cleaner....plus your not lugging 20 logbooks around with you.

 

[flyinboxes]

I feel better after reading this. I have an interview soon, after 20 years my logbooks (plural) are a mess. I cant imagine a true audit and the discrepancies that may be found. I was thinking about converting them all over to electronic but I fear it may make them worse. Any suggestions???

 

[Wankel7]

Stop thinking about it and do it!

You can pay the kind folks at Logbook Pro...but it sounds like you might need to sort the mess out yourself.

It took me a long time to get it all in the computer. And I use one line for one leg.

But it is an investment in your time.

These apps ask you to dissect your time in some crazy ways. That take for ever if you are still on paper. But it is a flash if you have it on the computer. So, each app you fill out you are getting your time back.

 

[Hamburger]

Sit Down and do the book. Assuming you've got a Company printout or pocket log of the specific details, you should be safe doing one month per line. Just be damn sure to triple check everything before you put it in and bring the printout/detailed book with you to the interview. One trip per line would probably look a little better. I saw a guy who actually did one LEG per line. He had six logbooks of lunacy.


I do recommend Logbook Pro or some other program. It took me a week of reserve to input 15 years worth of flying into it, but when it was done........No worries ever again. I can now bring my pen/ink logbook with all the signatures in it and one month of flying per line and back it up with a logbook pro super detailed printout of every leg........bulletproof.

Bottom line.
1.) It's your own damn fault for letting it go for so long.
2.) An absolutely pristine, perfect logbook has never been seen. Some whiteout, lines, etc are not going to sink you. On the flip side, a completely incoherent mess of not caring about making it right says a lot as well. Your logbook will be directly correlated to your ability to maintain SOP discipline. Nobody gets it perfect, but it is important to strive for perfection.
3.) This is your shot. Some things are a given. Showing up with a shady logbook...........might as well be wearing jeans.

Once your logbook is straight, the absolute best thing you can do is get yourself five or so good stories together from your life as an aviator and tailor them to be adaptable to several different "tell me about a time" questions. Practice them, get the kinks out. Practice smiling and eye contact. Never say anything negative about anything ever.

Good luck!

 

[Hamburger]

I feel better after reading this. I have an interview soon, after 20 years my logbooks (plural) are a mess. I cant imagine a true audit and the discrepancies that may be found. Any suggestions???

I feel your pain. I recommend sitting down and doing it if you're looking at an interview ever again.
It takes a LONG time, but when it's done, it's done forever.
The electronic version adds everything up correctly and will instantly split it down to whatever you need. One application says they need to know how much Night PIC you've got? Click. Done. One company says HELO time counts as PIC turbine but the next company doesn't? Click. Done.

Now that I've got it done, I just take 45 seconds at the end of a leg to input my times into my iphone, and they automatically upload into my electronic book.

I was thinking about converting them all over to electronic but I fear it may make them worse.

There will be discrepancies. So I've got a line in my paper book that says "adjustments for electronic recordkeeping" or some such. Some columns are right on. Some I needed to add a bit, some I subtracted a bit. Now the paper and electronic versions match perfectly.