Cover Letters

[Beechlover]

Just wondering how many have actually done one to get a flying job, and if it really makes a difference. Thanks

[Cessnaflyer]

It's seemed to help me.

Some people don't like it because it is one more page to look through to get to the meat of what they are looking for and that is the resume.

[blee256]

Why wouldn't you? Its about being professional. Any other career field would you even think of turning in a resume without a cover letter?

[Sprint100]

Even though I haven't applied for pilot positions a brief cover explaining why I want the position helps the GM or HR person not consider the fact I'm in a well paying career and want to do grunt line work for $9 an hour. That with an explanation of my skills gets me many callbacks on line positions.

P.S. - I haven't taken a line position yet since they always want me to be full-time and not the part-time I request. I say that I want part-time in the app or resume but they don't even bother remembering that part.

[E6BAV8R]

Every resume I have sent out has a cover letter.

[BajtheJino]

On the other hand, in the freight world, I have been hired at every job I've applied for without a cover letter. Go figure. For people flying I guess I would send a cover letter. But after the joys of freight who in their right mind wants to haul a bunch of people around!?

[Beechlover]

Thanks guys. Did one up last night. I'll take it to the interview with me tomorrow. Wish me luck!

[JEP]

Originally Posted by Beechlover

Thanks guys. Did one up last night. I'll take it to the interview with me tomorrow. Wish me luck!

...And where are we interviewing????

Congrats on the interview.

[Reigleite]

Originally Posted by Sprint100

P.S. - I haven't taken a line position yet since they always want me to be full-time and not the part-time I request. I say that I want part-time in the app or resume but they don't even bother remembering that part.

I have a friend that is a hiring manager for an IT client. All that they look at are the meat and 'taters of the whole package. Her stance is why do I want to read a cheesy letter about how you are .NET compliant blah, blah, blah. I can see that in the resume. Now, for the reason that I quoted; nobody reads a resume/cover letter. The only thing that they do is find what they are looking for. Hence, the reason that they didn't know he wanted part-time was that fact that they are just looking at qualifications. You could hand write your times on a napkin and fax it to a regional airline of your choice and they'll probably call you. Hmmm...I wonder if a napkin will go through a fax machine...

[GlenWimpy]

Yes you should have a cover letter. DON"T do it yourself! Have an Aviation professional prepare your Resume and Cover letter. Don't be cheap with your professional flying career. You spent 50K learning to fly , another 100 dollars want matter to your pocket book but it could make the difference on being chosen for an interview.

[moxiepilot]

Originally Posted by Reigleite

The only thing that they do is find what they are looking for.

Well, that's the purpose of a cover letter.

It's not to state what your goals and objectives are, its about what you can do for their company and make them the most money.

[E6BAV8R]

Originally Posted by moxiepilot

Well, that's the purpose of a cover letter.

It's not to state what your goals and objectives are, its about what you can do for their company and make them the most money.

Exactly. If they don't want to read a cover letter they can just skip the page.

[Sprint100]

I always liked cover letters because when I review a resume it helps to get a glimpse of how articulate they are. I think it is funny that some people think a 10 second glimpse at a cover letter is wasting time. Do they think they are on the "Rapid Fire" segment of resume reviewing or do they think they are above that? Geesh, if there was a cover letter I didn't want to read I just flipped the page and that only takes less than 2 seconds.

Bottomline is that a cover letter can never hurt.

[blee256]

Originally Posted by GlenWimpy

Yes you should have a cover letter. DON"T do it yourself! Have an Aviation professional prepare your Resume and Cover letter. Don't be cheap with your professional flying career. You spent 50K learning to fly , another 100 dollars want matter to your pocket book but it could make the difference on being chosen for an interview.

WHAT?!? I DO NOT recommend wasting your money on this service. at least not for this industry. Do it yourself, I did it, and I would say more that 95% of the airline pilots on this board did too. If you need help get help from your friends at jetcareers. And use that hundred dollars to take them to lunch, and the rest to celebrate your new job.

Good luck