Pilot Resume Mistakes to Avoid

DON'Ts....

• Listing your Social Security number (not safe, and not required when initially sending in a resume)
• Including personal data like marital status, height, hobbies, etc
• Citing "availability" unless it's nonstandard (military, or more than a month away)
• Using wordy job descriptions when one sentence will do
• Listing every airplane you've ever flown (only list those that add value to your resume)
• Forgeting to include an email address
• Neglecting to mention a furlough (helps explain a gap in your job history)
• Including irrelevant pilot hour breakdowns for given airline (unless a stated "minimum")
• Not using contrast in the resume (bold headlines, different sized fonts, white space between sections, etc)
• Printing out the resume on normal paper (heavy weight resume paper can be purchased at Staples, Target, etc)
• Using any resume paper color other than white or off-white
• Not catching spelling and grammatical errors
• Lying-- only to later get caught, and fired
• Stating the reason you left a company (that's explained in an interview)
• Using personal pronouns like I, me, and my
• Creating a resume more than one page long, unless your career is very long and cannot be condensed to one page
• Listing your high school
• Including a photo
• Creating one blanket resume covering every single airline you're applying to
• Including copies or your licenses, medical, and transcripts (that's what the interview is for)
• Having any stains or marks on your resume

A thoughtful review of your resume could make the difference between getting an interview or not. It's your first chance to make a good impression to the airline, so take a few extra minutes to make sure your resume looks professional.

-Team APC