Selling Yourself

[The Weasel]

A couple points hit home with me in the No Work Anywhere thread, and that was about getting out there, pounding on doors, selling oneself, and generally working on getting a foot in the door. It can be tough especially if it's been a bit of a slow year or for people out of school or lower on the experience ladder. I think I've been more lucky than skilled when it came to finding new employment over the years, and never really had to pound on a lot of doors.

Maybe we can help out some of the young kids, the up-and-comers, those going through a rough patch, etc with some tips on what to do (or not do), things that've helped in your past, perhaps an employer perspective, etc.

Post your thoughts in this thread...

[iflyforpie]

What has always worked for me is:

-Right place at the right time. And....
-Who I knew.

Looking back at my bouts of unemployment... I really wish I would have not spent so much effort pounding pavement and going on road trips. Each of those right place right time jobs were less than a 20 minute drive from my house.

I don't know... maybe I have the wrong mindset... but most of the events in my life have taught me that if you go with the flow vs swimming against or across the current, good things always come along.

[Troubleshot]

A good cover letter with zero spelling/grammar mistakes. Some of the best letters I have read are ones that sell you and paint a picture of what type of employee you will be. Learn the latest trends in resume writing but don't go over the top. If I see an e-mail with two attachments (one letter, one resume) I always read the letter. I may not hire you but at least I opened it and lets face it that is half the battle. Make sure you save file as "mike smith cover letter"...etc..

If you have your heart set on working at a particular employer you need some sort of "in", even if it is your "in" is your uncles, sisters, friend...you need this angle! You would be surprised what a e-mail or chat at the coffee machine can do to get a manager to look at your resume.

Subscribe to the website www.linkedin.com you can rapidly build a professional "friends" list and post your skills and training for all to see.

focus, focus, focus....do not waste time with companies you really have no intent on taking a job there. I see this a lot and when you are just kicking tires you will waste time and possibly anger hiring managers for wasting their time. Besides, local managers talk so keep that in mind.

Move skills, training, and related info for the job you are applying for to the top of your resume. For example, If you are applying at Porter Airlines and you have a Q400 endorsement/experience you better find a way to get that to the top of the page, as well as, in the first paragraph of your cover letter.

[brownbear]

Edited. I rather see advice on here than arguing of nothing. See posts below for advice.

[13820]

Good thread the Weasel!

But I have to agree with brownbear.

[freeAdventure]

Everyone SHOULD have to do this, life is a competition, there just aren't enough seats at the top. Everyone should learn to sell their abilities and skills to any company, if you are having trouble there could be a good reason why.

The industry can't absorb them all... good. Time to stop pretending that you are special when you aren't. Time to stop thinking the world owes you something. Guess what? It was all lies, your not smarter, better, special, deserving. Want to know why? you quit. At some point you decided that you had enough, enough study, enough toil, enough hardship so you started complaining about how outside forces screwed you. How you didn't get paid enough, how your boss was mean, how your plumber friend is making bank. you stopped pushing yourself, because it was comfortable.

Time for an important lesson, by far most people who are in any industry fail. There are too many people, so what will you do to stand apart. If this is your dream what will you sacrifice? What will you do to be better than everyone else? Will you raise the bar for those around you? Will you be afraid of taking risks? Will you challenge yourself everyday to be better than the day before? There is zero excuse to not spend every waking moment becoming better. Once you embrace the struggle and learn to love the hardships you will be on the road to success.

I guess you could always quit, fall back under the bar and move to a less competitive field, life is hard right, you shouldn't have to work hard, take risks, get knocked down, stepped on. It's... uncomfortable. Mommy always said you were special, one day everyone else might see it too, you deserve... things.

“But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated. ” ― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

[Heliian]

You should not have to "sell yourself". That is the problem. A clean decent person with a piece of paper from the college should be guaranteed the the job. If that is not the case you need to expand the horizons and get out of dodge, meaning aviation.

The schools put out too many apprentices. The industry cannot absorb them all. But hey, don't panic. You have cross over skills. Go outside the industry in a mechanical trade and move on.

The reality of aviation is it pays the shits. Every trade is better. Spend 20 years as an AME and you can fix anything, but get paid less than a plumber with 5 years time.

Students need to examine the actual futures of jobs. Don't believe the fucking colleges. I love airplanes and aviation but would not recommend it to anyone. Move on.

You had a bad experience, so what. Do you seriously think that all the other occupations in the world have a 100% employment rate after college? Don't believe the internet either. All of the AME's that I know are quite successful and if you put your time in, you'll get paid. This is an age old debate and if you don't like it then leave and stop complaining.

On another thread about this, some guy chimed in about how being in the construction biz instead of aviation made him lots of money and shiney toys, pictures were included. Ok, good for you, but how many of the millions of construction workers end up like that?

Just do what you feel is right and try it for yourself, make your own decisions.

[brownbear]

Ive looked at hundreds of resumes. And trying to see who you would hire is really hard. They all look the same.

Edited for advice only. As a filter on interviews I used to ask candidates to tell me about my company. If they are keen they would know everything about us.

Tell about jobs you've had in your cover letter. Even if it was a movie rental place. When you get a stack of kids saying they went to BCIT like the other 100 you got in that year, you need to stand out. Don't say you are a hard worker or other crap like loyal. Don't describe yourself with adjectives at all.

I would want to hear about how you traveled or how you worked the late shift at 7/11 for a year and how you grew up doing mechanical stuff. Too many city kids who did nothing like auto shop in high school or did not have a part time job all of sudden think AME school sounds cool. I liked kids who liked to tinker.

Mentioned above grammar is important, so is a proper letter format. Have someone help after you draft it. Put your resume into PDF format if it's emailed. Also going to the hangar helps the DOM/PRM know who you are. I hired a few like that.


Lots of industries hire AMES like the C-train in Calgary, Millwrights etc. So our training does cross over. So if you get no hits try a mechanical trade of some sorts.

[Heliian]

It is what it is

Ah, the great defeatist chant.

There is more to aviation than the airlines. There is ag, MRO, helicopters, business av, float ops, etc. There are also opportunities around the globe, if you like to travel.

I know that the cost of living has gone up but the sad reality is that most careers have not followed suit either, everyone is in debt these days, control your spending.

Again, a lot of complaints are coming from people who expect top dollar straight out of the gate and aren't willing to put the time in.

Everyone SHOULD have to do this, life is a competition

That is correct sir.

[brownbear]

For advice.

If you have been inactive since college for a long period of time, like a year, your chances of being hired are becoming nil to nothing. As a manager if I looked at a resume and it was the same as the other kid leaving school this semester and you graduated a year prior I would not pick you. It would give me flags that you are not a good candidate. Even thought it might have just been timing. I would rather pick a fresh grad.

SO if you find yourself in that predicament invest in some extra course to fill the time that are relevant. Like a welding course at a community college, or an auto course etc. Try to work in a mechanical job while searching for a job. And again pound doors and bring gifts. DOMS remember the donuts. Don't bring scotch or wine, that is for chief pilots from kiss ass pilots lol...