Airport job

[adam_jorgensen]

I know this is sorta off topic and doesen't really have to do with flying, but In your earily years, has anybody ever wanted an airport job really badly? This is anything from being a ramp rat, to just cleaning and stuff around the airport. Have you ever wanted a certain job so much that its all you think about day and night? Well, that is me right now. I want to work at our airport more than anything. Its almost a post dream for me to actually work for an airport. I have been trying to get a job at our airport for almost a year busting my butt trying and I never get any kind of responses or indications that I will get one. I always apply in person usually to the main manager and I always follow up on applications if I don't get any replies heck, sometimes I will show up there time to time just to make myself look good and up my chances of getting hired. I might as well wear a tuxedo and put on a magic show just for when dropping off a resume for the amount of work I do to try to get this airport job. I always go through a song and dance for nothing. Not a day goes by that when the phone rings, I hope its the airport calling to say I atleast have an interview, but it never is them. The last airport job I tried to go for I followed up on 8 times and never got any replies or any interview. The latest one I have just applied for, my hopes are so high of getting this one. I volunteer at our aviation museum which is right by our airport. Just a little bit down from the museum, there's this small airline that operates out of the airport (which is a major airport.) I want to work on the ramp there. Somebody who also volunteers at the museum works at the airline I am hoping to get in with. I have gotten to know him quite well as well as some other people at this airline and they said that they would put in a good word for me and they even said they were hiring and were looking for extra guys. I have a small network there, are getting my privates pilots license, volunteering at an aviation museum which is next door to it, love airplanes and aviation, what more could they want? My hopes are so high because of hearing that they were hiring but what I really hate is when it always looks promising that you will get hired, then it just blows over. That has happened to me so many times that I will always get this thought when I apply for a job.

I'm going to send the manager a christmas card with a letter inside expressing my interest for his company. How does this sound?

I applied last week there, have already followed up on it by leaving a message which I hope to get a response and have at least 2 guys I know there who are going to put in a good word for me and I still haven't gotten any reply from the manager yet. I can't get even as far as getting an interview with the jobs I apply for these days. I apply and they never call. They say their looking for people and they still don't call you. Its just a bunch of BS they use because they know it is what you want to hear. The guy I know who works there is really positive that I will get in and makes it sound like I will for sure get in but if that were true, that would have happened by now. I'm sick of never getting the job I want and always have to break an arm and a leg trying to get it only to be shot down. Following up 8 times on the last airport job I tried didn't work, how could this?

Am I being to obsessive of this? I want it so bad that it is all I have been thinking about all week. I don't know why I want an airport job so badly but it always feels like I will never get one and that their impossible to get. I guess because I want to be a pilot and I just love being around the airport with all the planes and such. My options are limited because I'm under 18. When I turn 18 of course, more doors will open up but I will probably get more of the same stuff. Does anybody here know how that feels? To want a job so badly that you go all out of your way to make your self look good to the employer, even network with the company and still not get hired? On the other hand, has anybody gone through allot of something like this, but finally got the job they have been hoping for day and night? How long did it take for them to get back to you?

 

[LR25]

I got my first job at the airport by hanging out untill they put me on the payroll, I was 16 at the time.

I got to be friends with all the lineman, helped them fuel airplanes, move airplanes, wash airplanes, whatever, I was there. Like I said, I helped out so much, they started paying me.

Your situation may be different, I was only 16 and I was also a student pilot.

Meet and talk to as many people as you can, it will payoff. These people that just hangout at the airport are called "Airport Bums", do your best to become one of these people.

Your best bet is going to be at the local municipal airport, the one with some taildraggers out there, maybe some student and instructor activity, flying clubs, Cival Air Patrol, anything to try to become a part of.

Good luck, be persistent.

 

[Dan CFI/CFII]

I'll second that. As a certified airport bum (and now I've got a few certificated which makes me a super bum), that is how the game is played.

We just hired a guy to wash airplanes this winter. He does such a good job, that I look forward to teaching in one of the planes he recently washed over a dirtier one.

Just hang in there, no need to get impatient. Behind every job opening there is usually a middle-aged manager who can't justify hiring another line-guy because it would change the this to that ratio, or somesuch thing I don't get at all. This guy holds your key, and all you need to do is wait until it becomes obvious that the lack of having you as an employee is a reason for a low number in the profits column...

Dan

 

[ACWild]

When I was a kid, I used to think the rampers had the coolest job driving their tugs with all the baggage cars attached like a train. It still looks fun. I swear those guys race each other and play bumper tugs. Where else do all those dents come from?
As fun as it looks, I'm not leaving my day (and night) job.

 

[adam_jorgensen]

Heres the thing, what if I get into trouble showing up there all the time? The guy I know who works there said that some people were suprised to see me there. Mostly just other employees, but not the manager. I just hope that they don't think I'm sorta spy or something and think I'm some sorta snoop creep. Now I'm worried that my chances of getting this job are less because of the fact that I was showing up there unexpected all the time. This is what I get for trying to network. Accused of doing something wrong. I meant no harm at all. Today, I'm giving the manager a christmas card with a letter just saying to him how interested I am in working there. I really hope this will get his attention.

 

[na265]

Adam you have great drive and a great attitude. Kepp working at it, you will get there. A retired Delta Capt once told me if avaition was easy, everyone would do it. We have all faced simular situations in our careers. Just don't give up. It is worth it, I can't imagine doing anything else.

 

[Timebuilder]

I like what LR25 said. Since you say that you think you may be misunderstood in your appearances at the airport, you need to remember that things have changed in terms of airport security. The larger the airport, the more paranoid (perhaps justifyably so) they become.

Maybe you need to dial back the enthusiasm a little, and present a friiendly demeanor. This works just as well with girls as it does with potential employers.

At what kind of an airport are you trying to get hired?

 

[adam_jorgensen]

Its a small airline but it operates outside of our international airport. You have the main terminal where all the big jets and the passangers go if lets say, you are going to somewhere far away, and you have several other smaller terminals where small airlines go which usually just fly in the area. We have something like 7 aprons, so thats like 7 smaller airports that all operate out of the same aerodrome (meaning they use the same tower, runways, taxiways, etc.) There just not in the same building. Its just a small airline that mostly just flies up north to reserves to pick up natives and they deleiver cargo as well. The aerodrome is called Winnipeg International Airport and anybody who works on their property all have the same ID.

 

[de727ups]

ramp job

I got a job pumping gas at a small airport (Wenatchee, WA) when I was 17. It was great for me, since I loved planes, and the job carried a lot of responsibility. Part of what got me in the door was that I was taking flying lessons there, so I was around all the time and knew the right people.

Adam, you gotta keep bugging them but at the same time don't be annoying. It could just be an age thing. It's hard being held back by your age but that's just the way life it sometimes....have a little paitence, will ya....

Maybe you could get a job pumping gas at the flight school you are going to take lessons at...or start taking lessons to give yourself a reputation.

 

[Timebuilder]

Adam, I don't know much about Winnipeg, since I never landed there. I would assume that it is a large, busy airport (Class B?) from your description, and that security is a major concern everywhere on the field. Maybe your age is the issue here. Is there a nearby field where you can get some experience sooner?

Have you decided to think in terms of which school will help you achieve your goals?

One more thing: time is on your side. Enjoy that, while you still can.

 

[velvetjo]

Adam, there's a young lad at our drop zone that pays for his flight lessons by packing parachutes. He just showed up and hung out, too young to jump but enthusiastic. The riggers eventually taught him how to pack on rainy days, and he's been at it since then (under their supervision). Good luck,

Lance

 

[adam_jorgensen]

The place where I want to work, they hire guys under 18 all the time. They have a few under 18 there right now. Its the only airport job you can have under 18 is there. I don't think its an age issue. It would be for the higher airlines like Air Canada where being 18 is the absolute youngest you can be. I think its either a class C or class D airport I'm not sure.

Now about bugging people, how do you bug with out becoming annoying? And by hanging out there, what do I do when I do that? Today, I dropped by there for a couple of minuets to drop off the christmas card with the letter to the manager but he wasent there. So I gave it to somebody at the front desk and they siad they would give it to him. I just told them that I'm trying to make myself look really interested and just did a little introducing of myself. But do you have to be there for like hours to be considered "hanging out?" I think that I would be coming off as annoying, especially since I don't know more than half the people there very well. I'm afraid to keep showing up there. Their gonna wonder why I keep showing up unexpected and catching them off suprise.

 

[adam_jorgensen]

Dropped off the letter with the Christmas card for the manager today. All I have to do know is wait (again ) What should I do if I still get no response? I have done everything. It has been a few hours since I dropped it off for him and I still havent gotten a response.

 

[Timebuilder]

A few hours, and you want a response? Come on, now.

First, anyone who sends Christmas cards knows that you don't always get a response to a social card, and rarely get a response to a business card. Your card is a business Christmas card.

As a young man, I often got the best respsonse to job inquiries from the WOMEN who were in charge. Not that I was especially handsome (no Tom Selleck here) but I found that women who are at least ten years older than myself took a personal, dare I say "sisterly" interest in me, and made positive comments to the oblivious MEN who were in charge in a given situation. This means that you can proboably charm those women at the desk with your young-man innocent charm, and they might facilitate your getting hired.

How to not be a pain in the butt, but show interest? Go to the bookstore, or Amazon, and ask for Dale Carnegie's How to Make Friends and Influence People, written back in the 50's. It is a classic of human interaction.

Good luck.

 

[Dan CFI/CFII]

Adam, no you don't need to be there for hours. I get paid to hang around the airport (and cut my fingers to shreds and then stick them in the solvent tank...). You just want to get paid to hang around the airport all day.

Just make a quick stop, talk to the manager and see if anything has changed, I wouldn't be stopping by any more than twice a week if I were you.

Some of the guys that really work at hanging out at the airport wierd me out. Even though they're coming up on thier fourth hour in an Arrow, they'll tell you all you ever wanted to know about flying. don't be one of those guys. Realize your "place" in the aviation world.

Are you sure there isn't a smaller airport around someplace? Preferably someplace that also gives flying lessons? Working at a large airport is fine, but you won't get much in the way of meeting people in about the same "place" as you.

Hope that helps answer a few of your questions.

Dan

PS-you can't be an airport bum if the airport doesn't have a couple old couches with Trade-a-Plane on the coffee table...

 

[LR25]

Dan is correct. From the way you are describing the place, you might want to find a smaller airport with an FBO. coffee machine, some old/young guys hanging out doing some hanger flying, and a Trade A Plane. A place where they sell more avgas than jet-a.

 

[adam_jorgensen]

I guess, but I hope this is ok, that I like being around the bigger airports. Their just more interesting. I go to the local flying club enough to fly and its a little far away. I just like being around big airports watching big planes coming in and out, and just being part of the big, important place. The kind of airport as nothing to do of why I'm not getting any call yet. I think their just not hiring right now, but I really hope that someone will quit or something and that an opening will come up very soon. I came in just too late. I dropped off my resume a day before they hired people. If only I wanted to do this a month ago. A day after since I dropped off the christmas card with letter, still no response. I tell you, if this doesent work, then what will? I have tried almost everything to get the managers attention of my interest in working there except getting down on my knees and begging him for a job there. I almost think I have to get to that level. Should I try to get a hold of the manager after the new year or sooner?

 

[Timebuilder]

I dropped off my resume a day before they hired people. If only I wanted to do this a month ago. A day after since I dropped off the christmas card with letter, still no response. I tell you, if this doesent work, then what will?

As a former impatient young man, and a still sometimes impatient adult, I will try to counsel you without talking down to you. At least I'll try.

1) You dropped off a resume a day before they hired people. Many of us are still dropping off resumes ourselves. Patience.

2) If only you wanted to do this a month ago. If only I, and several thousand others, had taken more serious steps to advance this caree decades ago. Patience.

3) A day after you dropped off a card, and you have no response. You should not expect ANY response at this point. They have a business to run on a daily basis, and while it would be "nice" of someone at the business to acknowlege your interest, it is extremely unlikely that you will hear anything from them at all. You can say "hi" once every other week, but I'd let that be the MAXIMUM frequency that they should see you at a busy operation. I know you want to be where the "action is", but for now, you have to set your sights a little lower. As was said above, where the sale of 100LL outsells Jet A is a good place to start your career.

4) If this doesn't work? Well, start taking some of the advice that you have received here in these threads. This career represents a long investment of personal sacrifice made over time. Despite the ads that I mentioned in another thread, your likelihood of being in that small percentage of students that pay a huge sum for the right to earn minimum wage for several years, and actually get not only the interview, but also the JOB, is quite small given the currnet hiring market and projections for the near term. Prepare yourself for life as though you will never have a flying job, and enjoy flight training without depending on it for your life work. Then, when you are fortunate enough to get a job flying, it is a surprising and pleasant turn of events. Start small, and build from there.

I'd start with the small airport, for now. Get your private. See how you feel. Then raise your sights, incrementally.

 

[adam_jorgensen]

Your not thinking that I'm trying to get a flying job for this small airline? I only just want to work in the cargo area or as a cleaning person or something. They hire young people all the time like I said, they have a few there some as young as 16 and I'm 17. You don't have to be a business executive to get this kind of position. Its just a small rough airline. I think my chances of getting a job there would be better than at a flying club. And I think they just start above minimum wage too. Their just not hiring right now but I hope that will change.

 

[bobbysamd]

Patience

Without a doubt, I'm old enough to be your father. I'll try, though, to talk to you as a friend and perhaps future colleague.

I remember when I was young, and for many years thereafter, that I was impatient. I wanted something to happen now. Still do, sometimes. But, I've learned that the old adage that all things cometh to he who waiteth (while he worketh like hell while he waiteth) is true. Accordingly, I'd just make a friendly suggestion to chill out a little. Don't be so intense about this. I'd say the same thing about trying to get any job.

Just check back from time to time. Nothing is going to change in the next few days or the next few minutes. Go back after the holidays. At this time of year people are think more about end-of-year matters and the holidays than future hiring needs. Go back after New Year's. You need to be persistent, but not be in the boss' face every few days. You want to be a pain in the a$$, but not too much of a pain in the a$$. Otherwise, that's what he'll think you are.

I agree with Timebuilder's suggestion about getting the Dale Carnegie book. I have it and have read and re-read it. The chapter about showing interest in someone's interest is good. And, getting people to talk about themselves is also good.

Once again, good luck.