How many resumes have you sent out?

[scubabri]

for all you guys under 1000 hours looking for a job, how many resumes have you sent out? I just sent out about 70, and the "sorry, no openings" are starting to come in

sigh

 

[bobbysamd]

Resume spamming

You have to send out 100 resumes at a minimum. You're not trying hard enough if you send less than that.

There is no shortage of places to which you can send resumes. Nowadays, with the internet, it's easy to locate those places. Use your imagination to find other places. I found great places in pilot magazines. For example, I never knew that Mesa Airlines had a flight school until I saw it advertised in a pilot magazine. MAPD was advertising for students, so I concluded that it might need instructors. I sent MAPD a resume and was hired there eventually.

In addition, you should be grabbing a sheaf of resumes and hand-delivering them to all airports within driving distance.

Sometimes, you have to send the same places resumes several times before you hear anything. A good excuse for sending resumes again is if you add ratings, build time, etc. Then, you say that you are updating.

Yes, you will get rejection letters, if you're lucky. You'll probably hear nothing at all from most places. It sucks. I know. It is said that a mass resume campaign yields, at best, a 3% response rate. It may seem like a big waste of time and resources, but it's also like playing the lottery. That one resume you thought would be a waste of time to send might result in a phone call.

Good luck with your job search.

 

[scubabri]

Ok, I've sent out resumes to all of the flight schools I could find contact information for.

154 to California, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, Alaska, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Wyoming and Montana

sigh... you would think that at least one of them needs a flight instructor.

b

 

[bobbysamd]

List of flight schools

Here's a list of some more schools. Start typing and printing!

Good luck with your efforts. Something will pop.

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

Bobby's right

Heck, send 200! I sent a resume to every place I could find that I was remotely qualified for and a few that I wasn't. It's a good thing I did, because when 9-11 went down, I was on the list of folks who "showed interest before 9-11". It's interesting that one of the resumes I sent out on a whim was to my current employer and I couldn't be happier. Good luck.

 

[bobbysamd]

Job hunting

Thanks, Hugh.

For that matter, why limit yourself to instructing only? I know you have not, based on your other threads, but, just the same, you have 700 hours and your Commercial certificate. You should cast your net wide. Apply to 135 operations. Corporations, etc. You never know what you might land. If it were me, I would not apply to the commuters at this time. Just too many ahead of you with the quals they want. I would start with them when hiring gets better, which it will. The exception would be if you have someone who can hand-carry a resume to H.R., accompanied by that person's LOR.

Finding pilot work is an exceedingly frustrating endeavor. Take it from someone who really does know. You have to do it. No one is going to come to you. You have to let them know that you're ready, willing, and available.

Once more, best of luck with your job search.

 

[scubabri]

I am. In fact I did get a flight instructing job in California, but not as a result of sending resumes out. So far all of the resumes i've gotten responses from are negative.

So, I'm packing up my 4 boxes of stuff, my clothes and heading out from Florida monday morning 2864 miles... long drive.

I'm hoping this is a good start to building some more hours. I've averaged 20 hours a month for the last 6 months, and although I know its more than a lot of people, that's no consolation. I'm 37 years old, times-a-wasting

And you are probably wondering why I am ditching the King Air delivery thing and the chance for right seat in a Citation. The answer, when you know more than the guy flying the plane, you just don't feel safe. Time to move on, again.


b

 

[pilotpair]

Tha last mass resume mailing I did was a few years ago. I sent out 350 resumes and had a 8% positive response. It was twice what I had expected.

Just keep sending them until you get a "do not send anymore" response.

Glen

 

[tittyjet]

Go to this website and order either this book, or the CD. It is THE premiere listing of all certificated airines, charter operators, manufacturers, and parts suppliers in the world. It contains fleet size, type(s) of a/c flown, types of a/c on order, engines on lease, etc., as well as names addresses, and phone numbers of officers, managers and department heads It is published by the same people who publish Aviation Week & Space Technology. No one who is serious about selling a product, service, or themselves to the world's aviation industry would be caught dead without it:

http://www.aviationweek.com/subscrip/wad/index.htm

Trust me on this one; as someone who was an executive in sales for the world's largest aviation insurance broker, I know what I'm talking about.

View your current situation as a sales job: plan your work and work your plan. Go to Office Depot and get the latest edition of ACT! contact management software. Use this valuable tool to keep up with your contacts and your progress. If you were working for me and told me you had contacted 70 prospective clients, I would say, "that was before you went to lunch, right?"

Go rent the movie Wall Street and watch how Bud Fox hounds and hounds the secretary until he gets the meeting with Gordon Gekko then, take the effort he put in, multiply it by fifty, take that number and cube it, and you might be working hard enough in your new found sales job to make the ultimate sale -- yourself to a prospective employer. But whatever, you do , don't fly for free.

Best of luck,
titty
(a.k.a. the sales manager)

 

[135Jobs]

Try www.135jobs.com - it has all 135, 121 and other companies with wealth of information about them.

 

[BoDEAN]

Go to this website and order either this book, or the CD. It is THE premiere listing of all certificated airines, charter operators, manufacturers, and parts suppliers in the world. It contains fleet size, type(s) of a/c flown, types of a/c on order, engines on lease, etc., as well as names addresses, and phone numbers of officers, managers and department heads It is published by the same people who publish Aviation Week & Space Technology. No one who is serious about selling a product, service, or themselves to the world's aviation industry would be caught dead without it:

Print Version
only $265.00 (regular cover price $490: save $225!)
One-year subscription, 2 editions
Please add shipping & handling:
US/CAN - $19.95 All Other - $29.95

CD-ROM Version
only $795 (regularly $995)
Includes 1-year print subscription, 2 editions.

Internet Version
only $595 (regularly $695)
Includes 1-year print subscription, 2 editions.


Kind of expensive?

 

[BoDEAN]

Try www.135jobs.com - it has all 135, 121 and other companies with wealth of information about them.

Is this a pay to use site?
How do we approach this site? List the places in say, Ohio, and look for aircraft we can/qualified to fly, and send them a resume?

 

[Ty Webb]

First of all, welcome to the club. As someone once said to me, "You are where we once were. Some day, you will be were we are now, but not now". (Shudder).

Second, try http://raa.org/members/AirlineDirectory.htm

It is free, it has many 135 and 121 operators, and lists their fleet info and contact numbers. Edumacate yourself about which aircraft need a SIC . . . . since you are a ways from meeting Part 135 IFR PIC minimums . . . .

Third, what the sales dude said is right. Invest in a good contact management software program, like ACT!. Make a database (or actually, databases- for 135, corporate, and airline). Make a form cover letter for each, since 135, corporate and airline cover leters are different. Then, start sending them in, with follow-up phone calls and resume updates. Work it, dude.

Even when I was a 135 jet captain with a good job, I still sent out 10-20 resumes a month . . . . . no one is going to hand you anything, and you need to keep irons in the fire, in case your job goes away, or to find the neext step up.

Hate to tell you this, but the first few jobs you get will probably suck after the thrill wears off, so you will keep on sending resumes and applications for years . . . . and then, hopefully, you won;t have to send out anymore, but you never know. Just ask a TWA guy . . . . or a Pan Am guy, or an Eastern guy, or a Braniff guy . . . . . .

Good luck.

Good luck.

 

[135Jobs]

Is this a pay to use site?
How do we approach this site? List the places in say, Ohio, and look for aircraft we can/qualified to fly, and send them a resume?

For Ohio, select "Address" and put in "OH" or "OHIO" to the left of the Search button. Also, you can click on "Great Lakes" region and that will narrow down the geographic area. Hit the green-blue Search button and it will give you company names, FAR parts the company is certificated under, and aircraft types they fly.

Now, for narrowing down on aircraft types, click on "Advanced Search". Say, you are looking for LearJet operators. You should put in "LR-" next to "Aircraft Type:". For Lear 60, put in LR-60. Aircraft Type is a link and shows you all types that you could put in.

Yes, this is pay to use. For free, you can get names of places and more... Members get addresses, phone numbers, incident and accident record of the operator and lots more - exactly the information you want to know if you were to get on with the company. Just look under "Sample Certificate Page".

Thanks for looking

 

[tittyjet]

I never said the World Aviation Directory would be inexpensive, but when you get a couple of solid job leads by using it, I don't think you'll be bitching.

 

[labbats]

Tittyjet just gave me the worst flashback to my old medical sales job! Please don't say "let's compare apples to apples" or anyting like that or I'll probably freak out.

Seriously though, that's just good advice. I recently called the FAA for some questions I had about students and got to talking to the guy about my future and what I wanted to do. He said he checks guys out for 121 all the time, and a lot have only 600 hours or so. His idea was the "dartboard theory". You just keep throwing darts (resumes), until one hits the bullseye. It might be quite a few tossed, but you'll never get the bullseye without throwing some darts. Sounds dumb, but it did inspire me, and I'm going to follow his advice once I get some multi time under my belt.

Regards,

Lab

 

[labbats]

[/B][/QUOTE]

Trust me on this one; as someone who was an executive in sales for the world's largest aviation insurance broker, I know what I'm talking about.

plan your work and work your plan.

If you were working for me and told me you had contacted 70 prospective clients, I would say, "that was before you went to lunch, right?"

Go rent the movie Wall Street and watch how Bud Fox hounds and hounds the secretary until he gets the meeting with Gordon Gekko then, take the effort he put in, multiply it by fifty, take that number and cube it, and you might be working hard enough in your new found sales job to make the ultimate sale -- yourself to a prospective employer.

All sales managers are in love with Gordon Gecko and Bud Fox. It's the names, they sound so cool-guy. Tommy Boy is another favorite to quote.

I remember my old cronies and I, on our quarterly sales meetings, we'd all fly to Madison and get wasted and quote our boss. At meetings, one of us would cough every time he used a sales quote like "apples to apples" or "work your plan and plan your work". Sometimes it sounded like we all had some sick days coming up.

I do miss those guys though, sales guys are the most fun bunch of guys ever once they hit the town. Especially a party town like Madison. But pilots aren't slouches either.

 

[BoDEAN]

Cover Letter w/ Fax?

If someone tells you to fax them a resume, do you send a cover letter also via fax?

 

[bobbysamd]

Cover letters

If someone tells you to fax them a resume, do you send a cover letter also via fax?

Absolutely. Always send a cover letter with your resume, just as if you were mailing it.

Cover letters are very important. A cover letter orients the H.R. morons as to why you are applying for the job and provides a thumbnail sketch as to how and why you meet their quals and what you can contribute to their company. Don't give cover letters short shrift. On the other hand, don't ramble on in your cover letter. For one thing, the people who should read such cover letters do not, and those that do have neither the time or the inclination to read a page blackened with prose. Keep your cover letter to the point.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your efforts.

 

[tittyjet]

Hey Labbat, try this one on for size:

I think we need to think outside the box here a little, guys; what we need is a paradigm shift. I've seen way too many of you spending too much time in the office lately -- if you're in the office, you're not doing your job; there are no suspects in here!!! Focusing a little more on our hit ratio, the net result will be that we will all realize our full potential for Q 3 and 4. When we get out of here, I really want us to hit the ground running. Don't waste your time with technical buyers, get in front of the econimic buyers so that we can get a few to go in our favor -- that'll really turn the tide, and we'll all reap the rewards when bonuses go out at the end of the year. Stay on message all of the time that you're in their face, whether that be on the golf course, in their office, at lunch, or in a titty bar. Relate it all back to the product because, after all, that's why you get that paycheck at the end of every month. Trust me -- you don't want to get caught with your pants down on this one; it's getting late in the second half, and we need to put some points on the board, so let's lay those ears back and get to work.

Remember, when you work hard, you can play even harder. Oh, and don't forget to have those activity reports to me by the close of business on the 6th.


Pretty fair for someone who's way out of practice, huh??

 

[labbats]

Scary...

 

[BoDEAN]

For Ohio, select "Address" and put in "OH" or "OHIO" to the left of the Search button. Also, you can click on "Great Lakes" region and that will narrow down the geographic area. Hit the green-blue Search button and it will give you company names, FAR parts the company is certificated under, and aircraft types they fly.

Now, for narrowing down on aircraft types, click on "Advanced Search". Say, you are looking for LearJet operators. You should put in "LR-" next to "Aircraft Type:". For Lear 60, put in LR-60. Aircraft Type is a link and shows you all types that you could put in.

Yes, this is pay to use. For free, you can get names of places and more... Members get addresses, phone numbers, incident and accident record of the operator and lots more - exactly the information you want to know if you were to get on with the company. Just look under "Sample Certificate Page".

Thanks for looking

What is this "paypal discount code?"

 

[135Jobs]

What is this "paypal discount code?"

There is "Discount Code".

Use "FLINFO" as discount code through Monday, August 25 and get the initial 3 months for $14.95

 

[rettofly]

Try www.135jobs.com - it has all 135, 121 and other companies with wealth of information about them.

Here's another link that might be useful:

http://162.58.35.241/acdatabase/acmain.htm

I haven't found a job off this, but I sure found a lot of places to send my resume. The problem with sending unsolicited resumes is that most of them end up in the round file, especially if you don't have a CP or DO name to put into the address. Nevertheless.. it's another entry point.

 

[Timebuilder]

I probably had 100 resumes out there easily.

Now that I am shifting gears, I am approaching 100 resumes/headshots/CD demo reels just since August 03. I will probably hit 200 by March 04.

Marketing...

 

[captxxx]

Shotgun Resumes

Best Advice: 1)

DON'T GET INTO AVIATION INDUSTRY!
2)If you have fly-start early 17-21, buy a used R.V. before getting your instrument or M.E. to trace around the country looking for work.
3) Have your Bachelor's degree( in something-Underwater Basketweaving ) or Military Aviation flight background(officer level) or A&P &/or CFI-AI/MEI; or have daddy or mommy funnel megabucks for at least 5 years or have a parent who is a airline pilot(with travel privileges)or corporate or charter pilot get you an IN.
4)Prepare for furloughs, unscrupulous and/or bankrupt operators; putting your family second; oddball hours; and getting treated like excrement by rampies, management, fbos, and almost everyone else inside the industry for unbelievablely little remuneration in dollars.
5) Walk resume in person(review to No. 2 about R.V.) you get roughly a 15% response with interview as opposed to shotgun faxes/mailings/email-3% response and roughly a 5% response with phone(COLD CALLS) and target the top 25 companies in areas you would not mind spending 3 to 5 years at...and when all else fails( including PRAYER )fails refer to No.1!

 

[EMBpilot]

I applied with 1157 compamies.
2 sent me their application paperwork.
1 (not one of them) called for the interview.

Hired Feb. 2003

Good luck to all

 

[bafanguy]

for all you guys under 1000 hours looking for a job, how many resumes have you sent out? I just sent out about 70, and the "sorry, no openings" are starting to come in

sigh

Scuba,

You actually got REPLIES !!!?? You're doing a lot better than I.

 

[saviboy]

Should we send applications via snail mail or email or fax?

 

[Tinstaafl]

In recent years I made a simple M$ Access database to track contact details, min. requirements for CA & FO, when first & most recently contacted & how, stages of application process from 'never contacted' to 'hired', comments, region, type of ops & class of aircraft etc. It can be sorted & filtered & in conjunction with Word I can export the appropriate bits to a mail merged personalised form letter & envelope address. Before that I used DOS Wordperfect 5.1 & mail merge to generate form letters & print envelopes from a WP database.

I've not bothered to count how many resumes I've sent over the years in Oz, Europe & now that I've moved here, have recently started on the US. I don't count the replies I received, just note whether the current pile has become thick enough to warrant starting a new one. I keep all replies as a way of determining who the latest contact person is etc. Most times no reply but those I received are valuable for the information one can glean from the letterhead & signature block.