Entering Business Aviation, Part Iv: Crafting A Resume
|
Writing a résumé can be one of the most daunting parts of any job search. Quite frankly, it is one of the most important elements in helping you finding work. A good résumé can ease doors open while a poorly written one will certainly shut these very same doors. In aviation, there are certain things that must be included in a résumé to help you get noticed: getting noticed is, of course, the first step in securing an interview which may lead to employment.
There is no "one-size fits all" résumé that will guarantee success. In my many years of reviewing pilot and, later, flight attendant résumés I have seen submitted anything from multipage treatises to two paragraph summations. As a private flight attendant, your résumé should fall somewhere in between: a one page copy is the preferred length in this industry.
The top part of your résumé must include the following:
1. Your name
2. Your complete address: house or apartment number, street, city, state, zip and country if applying internationally.
3. Your home phone number.
4. Your cell phone or secondary number such as a fax machine.
5. Your email address.
This information should be centered for easy reading and your copy should be on white or off white paper. No fancy fonts, no loud colors, nothing to make it stand out. Why? More than likely it will be trashed if it is not visually appealing. Trust me: in business aviation, which is generally a very conservative field, the flamboyant self promoter is often ignored.
What follows next is open to debate. Some human resources people insist that you need an Objective on your résumé while others do not. If you do include an Objective, please write a strong and positive statement of your career and job objective, concentrating on your strengths and how you can add value to a potential employer. When creating your objective, use clear and concise language. One of the advantages of including an Objective is that it tends to set the tone for the entire page. Leaving one out is sometimes preferable if you are applying for different positions. Always state in the Objective what you can contribute to the company and not what you want to get out of the company.
After you write your Objective, you should follow up with your work history. Please, if you have been working for many years, you might want to consider limiting your information to the last ten years. A résumé is not your job history, rather it is a summation of who you are and what you bring to the table. Save the nitty gritty details for the application form. This is particularly important if you are over 40: do not kid yourself by thinking that age discrimination does not occur. You want to get the interview and then work on getting the job during the interview. In some situations you will not even get the interview if someone finds out that you are 49. Is this legal? Usually, no. Is it provable? You probably will never find out.
After including your work history, you will need to list your training. If you completed FACTS, Alteon, FlightSafety, etc. then spell it out. Include training locations, dates, and a brief synopsis of the training. For example, "emergency egress training, emergency medical procedures, food safety and culinary arts, wine service, etc." Do not write several paragraphs but do include some information about what was accomplished during your training. Taking other types of training related to the field can and should be mentioned as well including: food service, wine courses, language training, etc. The training section could easily be titled "Education" and include college degrees and other post high school training as well.
References: Please do not include references on your résumé! If you feel the need to mention references, please conclude your résumé with something like this: References furnished upon request. That's it. Nothing fancy. If you do mention that references will be included at a later time please make sure that you have at least three, be prepared to present them upon request, and make sure your references know that you are using them as references.
Hobbies: Hmmm.... I am not sure why some people feel the need to include details on how they spend their free time. Perhaps they are trying to tell the person reading the résumé that they are a well rounded person. In my opinion, save those details for your interview.
Other personal information: In most states giving out one's marital status, age, height and weight is illegal. If you are applying for work overseas the company or agency may want this information in addition to a full length picture of yourself and a headshot. I have heard objections from some about this particular practice. Remember: the U.S. Bill of Rights stops at our borders. If you want to work internationally, you must respect local laws and customs. Your opinion will probably not shape what they want; if you do not like it then do not apply.
College and universities are key institutions where many get their first try at crafting a résumé. I like what the University at Buffalo School of Management has to say about writing a résumé:
Do:
* Do try to fit your résumé on one page
* Do leave an appropriate amount of margin space (1/2 ? 1 inch is good, no less than ź inch)
* Do use positive action verbs to highlight your skills
* Do use the present tense for current activities and the past tense for previous experiences
* Do place important items in the most prominent areas of your résumé
* Do proofread your résumé for spelling, punctuation, grammatical, and typographical errors
* Do make sure your résumé is neatly typed and letter perfect
* Do be honest and accurate in the facts you give on your résumé
* Do be Positive!
Do Not:
* Do not write RÉSUMÉ on top of the page
* Do not use "I," "Me," or any abbreviations!
* Do not date the résumé, attach advertisements, or list salary requirements
* Do not leave out volunteer or other experiences where you have demonstrated relevant skills
* Do not give any false information
* Do not include reasons for changing jobs
Have others proofread your copy and do not be offended by their suggestions or comments. Consider all comments and suggestions for change; if you are rigid about your résumé you may be too rigid for this industry. Remember, there is no "one-size fits all" résumé; your copy, however, should accurately reflect what you are all about and what you can do for the company.
Matt manages the Aviation Employment Board a job resource center for aviators: http://www.aviationemploymentboard.com In addition, he manages the very successful Corporate Flight Attendant Community at http://www.cabinmanagers.com and http://www.corporateflyer.net
|
|
|
Point To Point Vs Spoke And Hub? Air Taxi
Boeing it is said took a big gamble in predicting the future of air travel. Instead of going bigger like Airbus and building an aircraft like the A380, the biggest airliner ever built; The Boeing Company decided to go for a more efficient smaller aircraft with better materials and better range. It worked and sales are really going strong for Boeing. The economists in the commercial aviation business were watching the trends and they agreed.So what is the future of passenger air travel; Airborne Taxi? Point to point, Scrub the spoke and wheel? Is it real or more PR for hopes of revitalizing the aviation sector in the United States? Does it matter, the new deal is point to point which we have seen coming for about five years now. Actually t...(related: Aviation)
Sex In A Cessna, Part Ii
Sex in a Cessna or any light plane can be exhilarating and since your flight instructor never trained you how to do this you will need to read all of this several part series of articles, we do not want you screwing things up so to speak. In part one, we explained the need for a practice area and separation between other aircraft, staying out of flight path of other aircraft and setting the aircraft up in level flight.Remember to be well away from restricted areas such a...(related: Aviation)
Entering Business Aviation, Part Ii: Pay Rates For Flight Attendants
Pay. You know that aviation pays better than commercial, in most cases a lot better, but you aren't sure what the going rate is for a corporate flight attendant. It might surprise you to learn that pay rates vary widely depending on the type of account, your location, your responsibilities, experience, and more.Over the...(related: Aviation)
Mexico To Manufacture Aircraft
It appears Mexico with its 120 million population is considering getting into the lucrative aviation manufacturing sector. Of course this will mean that the...(related: Aviation)
Cactus Fly-in, Casa Grande Az
Every year in Arizona is the Cactus Fly-in which is one of the largest events in the city of Casa Grande AZ air show and fly-in, which is always well attended and a huge success. The event seems to be growing every year, much busier this year than last year even though general aviation has suffered due to 9-11. It is events like this that help us promote our general aviation business sector in the United States.http://www.cactusflyin.orgThe weather was great this year, not too hot and no rain. We are seeing a recovery in general aviation after many companies, especially FBO at smaller airports were forced out of business. Sure many of these services will be replaced, but the all in one type aviation services business will be tough, airport flight schools may opt out of other type services and concentrat...(related: Aviation)
A380 Bathrooms
Bathroom seat with a view; That's right! The all-new A-380 is trying to make air-travel fun again, with a bathroom with a view. But Airbus is not the only commercial aircraft company, which has their shit together. Boeing is also planning as a standard feature on its 787 airliners to have a window in the laboratories. Will this get more air travelers out of their SUVs and into airliners for those 350 plus mile journeys? Some industry analysts think it just might be the ticket the market sector needs.The Airbus A-380, which will be the lar...(related: Aviation)
Cheap Airline Tickets! With Internet Access, The Skies The Limit For Great Deals
With easy access to the Internet, the convenience of finding cheap airline tickets is just a few clicks away. As more airline inventory becomes available directly to the public through the World Wide Web, cheap flights are being purchased in record numbers, and nearly everyone hunting for fantastic low cost airline tickets are finding better deals online, than offered at their local travel agency!If you happen to be wondering why your local travel agency seems to have a hard time competing with all the cheap tickets offered by online travel suppliers, well its a matter of volume. The airlines pass on great savings to the Internet based suppliers and in turn they forward these savings on to you for not going through a trav...(related: Aviation)
Airline Security; Stewardesses The Last Line Of Defense!
Introduction:It might come as a chock to many people, including the Stewardesses, but the fact remains that in today's Airline Industry, the Stewardess is the last line of defense!In the 11th of September terrorist attacks, on the WTC and Pentagon, the first victims were the Stewardesses. Savagely attacked by the terrorist on their way to the cockpit's and tortured to pressure pilots, to comply with the terrorists demands.More mundane, but daily occurrences in the International Airline Industry, is unruly passengers. Who endangers the safety of co-passengers and the aircraft due to mental disturbances, alcohol consumption, stress or disregard for airline regulations, such as remaining seated during takeoff and landing etc. or s...(related: Aviation)
India Air Traffic Issues To Come
As India increases its economic growth the population is taking to the air in travel and more and more are flying. Commercial Aviation traffic has increased ten fold in te last five years and is expected to do so again. India will need to set up the latest in air traffic control to handle the crowed skies. Additionally India's private aircraft markets are increasing too along with a brand new general aviation manufacturing sector.Many of India's smaller ai...(related: Aviation)
site-map - Copyright © 2007 | Contact Webmaster | All Rights Reserved | Free Articles and Information | Aviation