CV Writing - The Biggest Nightmare!

Let's get this straight, a cv that served you well in New Zealand, will not serve you well here. You may not have to edit much, but please do not email a cv to operators that hasn't taken into consideration the Australian licence system. It's not too complicated I promise, and there is no 'Right or Wrong' way here with CV's, I'm just going to talk to you about what tends to be well received by operators in my personal experience. This is not a tutorial, this is just advice and tips. Firstly, if you're not going to drop your CV in by hand make sure it's a PDF when you email it. If you don't format it to PDF who knows what it's going to come out like on the other side! I once worked at a company that didn't have Microsoft Word as they operated Macs for the office computer, when we clicked to open the CV's the words were scrambled everywhere in Note! Unfortunately about 70% of CV's were word format which made it really hard to both read them and keep them on file. So always format before you send!

Let's talk about the personal statement/objective. I find people here struggle the most, they either end up talking about what they already have done - which is then talked about again in the job summary - or they make out they dream about flying something - it's fine to dream about something, however don't let employers know that as they know before they hire you that you are using them as a stepping stone, which you are, they just don't need to know that! For instance, you can surely dream about offering the caravan, but they don't need to know that, as they know as soon as you have the hours you will be looking at moving on!

Instead, state what your skills and thrills are - relevant to the role you are applying for, and state why you are looking to move on from your current role.

Thirdly, get specific about your hours. Don't just tell me your total time, tell me your command, tail wheel, night, IF etc. I personally round my hours to the nearest whole number, decimals can just look a bit messy. Here is how my hours summary looks on my cv. Make sure you tailor this to who you are applying for - if they don't operate any tail draggers you can leave this off.

I've selected specific summaries to include in my CV, depending on what I'm applying for I may add some more but this is my base. Next is type ratings, for entry level aviation jobs you are probably going to want to include your types flown (you don't have to and some will argue this point, but when your starting out it's important that operators know you're capable of handling say a C206, when I say capable I don't mean time on type, but any other similar aircraft could be helpful) but you don't want to call them 'type ratings' on your CV. To get around this, I use 'Aircraft Summary' on my CV, I have attached an image below again. I don't break down each specific type either, I only put hours next to aircraft that I have significant time on and what companies operate. I.E. the Piper lance and Cessna series, essentially I focus on my 'complex aircraft'

Note. After writing and posting this image, I realise I have far too many on here! Again look at the companies you are applying for work at and tailor this summary to them, for instance, if the company flies C210's and Cherokee 6's, I can probably leave off my Alpha 160A, Victa Airtourer and 7GCAA time! However if you're limited on your aircraft variety feel free to list them.

Next is the endorsements. This is where you convey the endorsements from your licence. I.E. the MPPC and RU, also any other privileges of your licence. Some quick notes - the instructing system here is in grades, Grade 1, 2 and 3 which are ALMOST equivalent to Category A, B and C, respectively. Don't put up you can fly, VOR's, ILS's etc, instead put up 2D and 3D plus GNSS. I put up that I have a current Dangerous Goods, and I recommend you do so too if your just coming fresh from NZ and you have one (Just make sure it's a CASA one), also if you do have an ASIC put that in too with an expiry - chances are you probably won't have one till you arrive and employers know that so it will look good especially coming from NZ if employers know you have one. Do not put that you have a Basic Gas Turbine Pass - it's not a thing over here. Do not put that you have a MEIR, put down IPC (Instrument proficiency check) - I recommend you put how many renewals you have if you have started to do renewals. Other things I recommend not to include are - low flying hours (low flying is more used for mustering over here), D cat instructor rating and frozen ATPL's.

I like to list my previous 3/4 jobs on my CV - this can be your opportunity to expand on who you are as a person and let them know you have additional skills, especially when you are new to the industry!

Place the time frame you worked there - don't get too specific with the dates - list your position and list the company clearly. Summarise your duties clearly, now's a good time to your additional skills if you're just starting out in the industry, be it graphic design or experience with machinery it all helps. This can be especially helpful if you haven't cracked your first job in the industry yet.

Lastly, keep your CV short, 1 - 2 pages max, don't overwind your personal statement - that's what a cover page is for, also don't introduce anything new on the second page if your CV is two pages, I personally use 2 pages and the second page just has my references on it. Make sure your referees know they are your referees! So many people put their flight instructor down and don't even tell them! It's also not a bad idea to let them know when you have applied for a job so they can anticipate a phone call and can sound prepared. Also do place the referees link to you - for instance if they were your instructor, tell them that! Don't put "Joe Blogs" a phone number and nothing else! Tell me how Joe know's you, also make sure you put the country code +64 instead of the 0 at the start of the phone number if you are applying for roles outside of NZ and it's even better if you can provide an email! Also don't forget to ask for feedback on your CV, it's an ever developing sales pitch of yourself! Lastly, spellcheck! Nothing looks more unprofessional than a CV with spelling errors, it's lazy and people notice.

Gab