CVs, Cover Letters, Applications and Dreams

All good stuff!
Yesterday night I have written, tuned, fine-tuned and three hundred times prove read my first cover letter that went out together with my CV to first potential employer and today during lunchtime I have found out that Cathay Pacific is accepting applications in to their Cadet Program. So as soon as I got home, filling of seven or eight stage form on their website started. Two hours and box of ice cream later - everything done, checked, rechecked and submitted.
Obviously I have not received any answer yet but I am very positive about this dream job hunt! Just for fact that there are companies willing to take people with limited flying experience like me! ;)

Talking about dreaming and dream job - long before I have started this blog and job hunt I was asking myself - what would be my dream flying job? I mean dream job of dream jobs?

In fact it did not take me long to come up with answer

Idea of flying DHC-6 Twinotter for BAS brings endless smile on my face.

as well as C208 Caravan

or PC-6

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I love flying and it does not matter if it is flying tatty 1966 Cherokee from left hand seat or being pax on brand new A380 to Dubai, I enjoy every second of it.

Today I am working in IT and I am lucky to work from bmi hangar at East Midlands but I know that in near future I will reach my dream.

btw: there is one particular item that all three "dreamplanes" share...

Life after training

First two CVs are out in the wild world. One through excolleague to Asia and this one is not expected to bring job but to create two more contacts that can lead to one. The other CV by hand of good friend from flying club will not have to travel so far and will stay in UK.
Again chances of bringing me a job are small but it might bring occasional RHS experience in single crew operated King Air and experience is what counts, especially riding two PT6 turbines
Now I might be in my "aviators puberty" but PT6 is important experience to me. I love flying, and I mean any kind of flying, but if there is one type of flying I would pick as a number one it would be flying Twin Otter or Caravan from and to remote strips around the globe. And PT6 is what powers these cool machines, so another experience that might help. And if not at least I know I will enjoy it more than anything else.

Plan for this weekend was to deliver another CV by hand to place with potential riding PT6 but freezing fog over Stansted made it impossible. On the plus side these guys are flying VFR only so they were not there today anyway so lets hope for better weather next weekend :) so spare time should help to fine tune my CV and to start thinking about different types of motivation letters before I'll start emailing my CV out to potential employers.

Pilot shortage, airlines, and unemployed pilots...

This was one and only thing that always annoyed me when reading pprune. Everyone was moaning that there are no jobs and only people who will get one are either experienced FOs or P2F guys who were lucky enough to get on to LH seat of Ryanair, Easyjet or similar gigs one or two years ago.
Hang on there is a word outside of UK and outside of Europe!

Well, this is the attitude I am starting my job search :)
So I need decent CV, box of email addresses where to send it, two boxes of contacts in aviation industry to put my CV on right desk at right time, few miracles and loads of time.
CV is bit of moving beast but quick search on internet gives me an idea how pilots CV should look like.
"Scalpel please" and my well looked after professional CV is torn apart and than stitched again with some numbers from LogTen Pro.
Now this is the first time I am using my contact list - working in bmi airline proves to be useful and few fellow pilots are being "tasked" to review and comment on my first CV draft.

Did you know there are 87 AOC holders including 19 big boys in UK only (and excluding choppers)
Well it is true and whole list including contacts is now in my dropbox ready to go.
Bestaviatin.net, pilotcareersusa.com, flightwork.com and other similar websites proves to be good source of information about opportunities away from home as well as before mentioned pprune if you can read between the lines :)
So my list of operators is growing but who else can help?

One good thing on company going bust or closing down is that your colleagues and friends start looking for new job all around the world in same type of industry you worked together - well, most of them.
So LinkedIn comes handy as well and I am exploring different paths for my CV to get on different desks in different companies.
Some of them are dead ends but some of them provides me with hope at least.

Now the miracles - well I don't believe in miracles so I'll succeed or die trying!

Who, Where, What, Why...

OKi, FrankO-in-the-sky blog should really be named FrankO-will-be-in-the-sky because I am just newly qualified CPL/MEP/IR pilot with just over three hundred hours in my log book starting my search for first flying job.

Anyway, I have Who I am? Well, everyone knows me as Frank, guy from Czech Republic, who came to UK in summer 2004 for six days holiday and for some unknown reason did not return home.

The fact is, I always liked aeroplanes, airports, and the buzz around small club airfields, but it took some twenty years of my life before I launched in to air for the first time under the fabric canopy of paraglider.
Than this un explained move to UK happened and I have landed my first job in aviation working for FLS Aerospace aircraft maintenance facility at Stansted Airport (later bought by SR Technics)

As it happens when you working in environment like this, you will meet people whit same bug in the blood like you have and it did not take long before I was on my first trip to Andrewsfield (EGSL)to find out what is involved to convert from paraglider on to mighty C152. 15 February 2009, 485 days after first flying lesson with instructor Paul Slater I have passed my PPL in G-BNID

Three more flights in C152 and than I have joined G-ATTV PA28 Cherokee 140 group at Andrewsfield allowing me to explore beauty of Essex flatlands and land at strips across east England, from my favourite Waybourne airstrip to Lands End in Cornwall. As much as I enjoyed toddling around England and north France, I also enjoyed updating my logbook and watching total hours to approach magical 150 hours allowing me to start my CPL.

Partially expected but still surprise was closure of SR Technics UK announced on beginning of January 2009 and it push me to start my ATPLs.

I have joined CATS Luton in February 2010 and started my CPL practical training in July same year.

Small "cash recovery" training break (not flying break) between September 2010 till spring 2011 (understand working for bmi airline at East Midlands Airport in IT) allowed me to wizz through MEP rating course on DA42 Twinstar and jump on to IR training that finally finished 8 January 2012.

So, here I am on beginning of new year 2012, flying Cherokee for fun and Twinstar to keep my IR up to scratch with determination to break in and get my first flying job.