Category: Job Seekers

In two recent blogs, my colleague, Jenny Showalter, and I turned our attention to “job-jumping” in aviation. Jenny’s blog, Look Before You Leap, urged pilots and others who are seeking greener pastures to exercise some caution before making a radical career move. And my blog, Hangar-Hopping, summarized some discussions I’ve had with a pilot who told me he regretted leaving his job at a corporate flight departments to fly for an airline. The topic of aviation workforce issues is highly relevant right now, and I continue to find it intriguing on […]

Imagine hearing: “I want to earn a million dollars a year flying a G650 with a tight-knit crew, travel to the most exotic destinations in the world, and work only on days that don’t conflict with my personal life.” Sounds like pretty good deal, doesn’t it? When considering your career, it’s easy to develop tunnel vision, and start to focus more on your dream career vs. embracing the reality of what you’re presently doing. This dilemma has been top-of-mind for me these days, especially since Sheryl Barden, API’s CEO, published a blog earlier […]

Say what you mean and mean what you say… We all know the adage, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it,” which is true more often than not. I would also assert that your words have more meaning than you realize. I was a college English major and imagined that, by this time in my life, I’d be teaching college courses for a living. The aviation industry grabbed me early on, however, and it didn’t let go. Despite the fact that I’m not a professor, I’ve retained my love of […]

Before heading to your next aviation conference, you might want to consider how you’ll recap the event with a trip report. A trip report is a communication document addressed to your aircraft owner, aviation reporting executive, director and/or members of your team. It’s meant to review why you attended, what you learned and who you met. It will likely also include your recommendations based on your learnings. You might even include tips to prepare for next year’s event.   The Importance of a Trip Report Why are trip reports important? For starters, your company is […]

This past August, I was invited to participate at NBAA’s second annual Workforce Summit held in Washington DC. The goal of the Summit was to discuss strategies that industry stakeholders can employ to help cope with the workforce shortages our industry is currently experiencing. While many excellent topics were addressed (as outlined in this NBAA article), the big takeaway for me was that the situation warrants a paradigm shift. Especially as it relates to the pilot and maintenance technician shortage—and the alarming decrease in the number of high school and college […]

We’ve all heard the phrase, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” And it applies to some recent conversations I’ve had with both pilots and maintenance professionals who are thinking of leaving for the lure of money and/or a better schedule. But is the grass really that much greener? I’m questioning whether these aspiring individuals are taking ample time to actually think about their personal and professional goals. Are they really ready to leave? Will the pros outweigh the cons? What are the long-term implications getting some immediate gratification? […]

Moving from the role of Director of Maintenance (DOM) to Director of Aviation (DOA) might be atypical for certain corporate flight departments. However, as recruiters and advisors to business aviation, here at Aviation Personnel International, we feel this career path deserves much more attention, especially for maintenance professionals who have a desire to lead. To learn more about taking the leap from DOM to DOA, we spoke with two aviation department leaders: Brian Gill, a Director of Operations, and Mike DelMastro, an Executive Director of Aviation services. Brian and Mike each run a […]

Lately, a lot of us are talking about aviation retention strategies—especially with the critical shortage of qualified talent. So, the question is: why should an aviation director take heed? For starters, most flight departments are already operating with a lean staff. But the biggest reason we should put the issue of retention strategies on the front burner is because of the significantly high cost of pilot turnover.   Gone in the Blink of an Eye One of the major problems with turnover is that the departure of a corporate pilot can leave your organization high […]

Do you think there’s a ceiling in business aviation? Meaning, if you’re a corporate pilot or maintenance technician, is there a limit to your career growth? Unless you’re waiting for your boss to retire, the answer is resoundingly “yes.” It just so happens to be the nature of the beast in our industry. Whenever I think of issues surrounding career advancement in business aviation, I often think back to a conversation I had years ago with Steve Ripley. (If you’re not familiar, he’s the Aviation Director for a large, Fortune 100 consumer product […]

In December 2017, I participated in NBAA’s Workforce Summit and was recently quoted in NBAA’s Jan/Feb issue of the Business Aviation Insider. In the article, “Expand Your Talent Base Through Diversity,” the author discusses the pilot shortage as well as how our American workforce demographics are changing. The article goes on to share how important it is that we in the business aviation industry put diversity front and center. Because we’re already so far behind the eight-ball. Since hiring for diversity is so top-of-mind for us at API, I’d like to highlight various […]