Jeanne Zembur ⋅ Princeton, NJ Dow Jones & Company/Past Army Reserve Officer ⋅ 27 years experience

Hi Christoper, in addition to targeting your resume and cover letter, one way to build your network and share your expertise is to join a Linkedin group specific to your skillset and industry. I would take a few minutes and join whichever Aviation groups are relevant to your primary skills, then start contributing to discussions and answering questions. I've seen many a job posted through these groups, plus you'll build industry connections who could help you in your search. That will also help you get a feel for the current challenges facing the industry, and you can then frame your experience in such a way as to being equipped to help your prospective employer face those challenges. Good luck!
Jeanne

Paul Greco ⋅ Blue Bell, PA General Electric ⋅ 35 years experience

Christopher,

Does your resume adequately define your skills (i.e. the specific things you can do or were trained to do). Does it indicate "potential fit" into the jobs you've applied for. Do you personalize a resume with a cover letter? That is important and gives you an opportunity to define "fit." Research your target companies and try to articulate what you could do for them based on your skills and knowledge of their company and the particular job you are applying for. I think resumes today are less about past jobs and past experiences and more about how you create an image of "fit" and potential accomplishments that you envision for your target company. The best sales people anticipate and create needs that a customer may not have realized or contemplated. Selling yourself to a company requires a little bit of this same thought process. Hope this helps as you review and edit your resume.

Andrea Konski ⋅ Cherry Hill, NJ Farmers Insurance ⋅ 2 years experience

Hello-
Each position will be different on whether or not a cover letter is needed, or reformatting of your resume is needed. Make sure you're reading the full job description, pick out some key words or phrases and re-word your experience to reflect those same words or phrases.

Another item I cannot stress enough to candidates is FOLLOW UP! After you submit a resume/cover letter, wait 2 days and then follow up. As a recruiter, I get busy, pulled into interviews, meetings, phone calls, etc. I do not always have time to check my "follow up" folder daily, which sometimes results in a couple of passing days before I get to reach out (sometimes a week or two goes by!). Once you've spoken to that recruiter or hiring manager, write a thank you letter. Nothing long or complicated, just a simple "Thank you for taking the time our of your busy day to speak with me." If you think regular mail is going to be too slow (if they're looking to hire immediately), then shoot an email over. This shows you truly want the position, are responsible, and you feel you're a good fit.

If you follow up and don't hear back, wait another couple days and follow up again! Unless someone tells you a time frame of when you'll hear back, don't be shy - BE PERSISTENT. You want that job, you feel you're the right person for that job, so show them!

I'm always willing to review the resume/cover letter you're submitting, but I highly doubt that's the problem. Best of luck to you!

E Y ⋅ Cerritos, CA ⋅ 8 years experience

Dear Mr. Derstine, I agree with the previous advisors' comments and recommendation. My addition to their comments are as follows: 1) Have a few of your family/friends review your resume and a sample cover letter you have sent to an employer 2) if possible send us your resume and cover letter. This will be an excellent start to refining your resume to reflect your expertise as an aircraft mechanic and demonstrate your value to your future employer. I always look at writing resume as a design cycle. That is, it should go through multiple versions before finally settling on the final form. Good luck!!

John Donaho ⋅ Missouri City, TX JCD Consulting ⋅ 40 years experience

Hi Christopher. Welcome to today's job market. It seems that communication to applicants is a lost art these days. It is very frustrating to receive no feedback on your resumes.

First off, I'd be happy to look at your resume. Often it is not the resume. Did you include a cover letter? That is a must in this environment. How are you determining your search targets? A shotgun approach will not work as well for you as building a network and then having that group of people work with you to find potential openings. Networking can take many forms, but do reach out to friends and family at a minimum. Make sure they have copies of your resume. I have never gotten a job by sending a resume answering an ad. It has always been by knowing someone who knows someone else.

You are in a highly technical field. It appears that aviation is a growth industry despite the economy. I think the key for you will be using your contacts in the field, and making sure that your resume reflects your professionalism.

John

Judy Tomlinson ⋅ Richardson, TX Energy Future Holdings ⋅ 30 years experience

If you haven't found someone to help you, I would be happy to take a look. Send your resume in Word format to: tomlinsonjk@aol.com. I don't charge for my services...it is a privilege to help.

Ash Harmon ⋅ Irmo, SC U.S. Navy, Petty Officer Third Class ⋅ 8 years served

Remember that most companies are using software to scan the resumes and it can easily and has easily kicked out qualified people. I have issues with it because I am not a professional resume writer. I am a master of my craft. I have resorted to contacting someone at the company directly and asking them to personally review my resume. if they have problems with that then it is a company I would probably not want to work with anyway.

Robin Schlinger ⋅ Atlanta, GA Robin's Resumes ⋅ 15 years experience

As a professional resume writer and coach for more than a decade - I have seen changes in the world of applying for jobs over the past few years. Many cover letters are not read these days - so just relying on the cover letter for gaining a company's attention is not enough.

These days, for large companies, resumes are "read" by Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) for most jobs - and for the Aviation field, probably most. If you are applying for civilian aviation jobs, your resume must include all the required keywords and phrases - along with being in the right format to be sure the information is read correctly. This can be a daunting task.

Your resume must clear the ATS system at some point in the hiring process to be hired by these companies due to company policies and government-mandated Equal Employment Opportunity tracking.

That said, even if your resume passes the ATS - you next MUST network for the job. If you do not network, the resume from the networked person will be the one the hiring manager first interviews and hires.

In addition, since you must have the same (or essentially the same) experience as required (or desired) in an announcement to be hired for the job - if you network FIRST before a job is posted, the announcement can be written for you to obtain a very high score for the announcement and pass the ATS.

You may want someone who has a lot of recent experience with ATS systems to look at your resume to be sure you are applying for the right jobs online (and if not networking to find those jobs) and that your resume is "ATS friendly" for that job. Also if you are applying for several jobs, be sure to tweak your resume each time to include the keywords and your ACCOMPLISHMENTS to show why YOU are the person for the job - to differentiate yourself from the hundreds of other qualified folks applying for the job.

Christopher Derstine ⋅ Telford, PA U.S. Air Force, Staff Sergeant ⋅ 8 years served

Thank you all for your many suggestions and tips they have been very informative. I do agree with those of you that have said I may need to increase my network and try to land a job with connections instead of through job openings. Most of the openings I have been applying to have been to big companies that send out automated emails thanking me for my interest, leaving me no way to contact a recruiter when I hear nothing after that email. Some don't even provide a section for a cover letter on the application process. Seems I may need to rely on my contacts (which are unfortunately limited).