I have airline experience working as a ramp agent and supervisor, FBO experience as a fueler and line service supervisor, and most recently maintenance experience with the USAF as a C-17 crew chief. However, this kind of work is not fulfilling to me. I’m not quite sure what work in the aviation industry would be fulfilling to me at this point. At 35 years old, I feel like I’m quickly running out of time to gain experiences to get me to where I want to be. I’ve been seriously considering earning an Airframe & Powerplant certificate with the goal of becoming an Aviation Safety Inspector for the FAA, but again I’m not sure if this will be enough to land that job. Any suggestions or questions for me are greatly appreciated!!
Answers
Dear Andrew,
Just to be clear, this reply is strictly my personal opinion and not that of the FAA.
All of the Advisors before me have excellent recommendations about first deciding which direction you want to take and then determining how to get there.
As an Aviation Safety Inspector- Aircraft Dispatch (ASI-AD), I can provide you with a lot of information about the ASI position (hiring, training, benefits, promotion potential, etc.) In the meantime, you can stop worrying about quickly running out of time at the ripe young age of age 35—I only started with the FAA at age 60.
The ASI-Airworthiness (ASI-AW) position includes the two specialties of Maintenance and Avionics. All of the specialties are further designated as Air Carrier or General Aviation.
To be considered qualified or highly qualified in the hiring process, experience can be just as- or even more important than your Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) certificate. The overall experience that you have is excellent, but even with the A&P, you may find that you need additional “specialized experience” to be hired. This will not prevent you from applying for every job announcement—I just don’t want you to get discouraged if you are not hired with your first application.
As an example, you can find a job announcement for Aviation Safety Inspector – General Aviation Maintenance at https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/438777800/. Once you get to the website, you can read the specialized experience, training, and certification requirements, followed by the evaluation criteria, knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs). On the right side of the page, click on “How to Apply” then scroll down that right column and click on the hyperlink to View Application Questionnaire. This will give you an idea of the application process.
The series number for all Aviation Safety Inspectors is 1825. You can use “1825” as your search criteria to see all of the open ASI job announcements at www.usajobs.gov.
Regardless of which career path you choose, I wish you all the best and thank you for your Service!
Sincerely,
Bob Jurasek
Hello Sergeant Plock! It is not easy identifying your talents as your ego often gets in the way. But, if you will take a few moments and take this (free) talent assessment "test," you may get some insight into your personal assets and limitations.
As a lifelong recruiter and vocational counselor, I can tell you that playing to your talents is much more rewarding than playing to your experience. You can always learn what you have to, but if you are forced to learn about something you do not like, it'll be a rough road!
Final thought before I give you the web address of the assessment . . . . get the book, "What Color Is Your Parachute?" by Bolles. It has two great sections in there on resume writing and vocation selection.
Lastly, if you would like to dialogue with me about interpreting your assessment results, please contact me at hlstevens@att.net.
Andrew,
It sounds like you need to do some occupational research in your field of interest.
This and Linkedin are great resources; target people who are doing what you want to do or working in your area of interest to find out if the career is what you think it is going to be.
Consider working with a career counselor, if not through here then EDD locally to help you focus.
You want to be clear before you start any program that it will offer you what you want.
Good luck,
Hello Andrew. I have two practical suggestions that will help you uncover what may give you more fulfillment and job opportunities in your industry. First, buy the book "StrengthsFinder" by Tom Rath (see Amazon). This astounding book will open your eyes to your unique core competencies which will help you describe to potential employer what your strengths are and what type of job will give you fulfillment. Takes no more than 30 minutes to take the test and get the results. Second, after getting your results back, arrange an "informational" interview with people in your target industry. Setting these interviews takes some work to identify interview candidates and a little courage to call people who are not direct acquaintances. However, you may have friends or contacts in the industry, or you can use sites like LinkedIn to find people who are. Interviews can be over email, phone, or in person. Once a candidate is identified, let them know your objective...understand opportunities in the industry...not asking for employment. If you use phone or face to face, limit your time to 30 minutes. Keep true to the limit. If more time is needed, ask for an additional appointment. Do not take a resume to the interview...send it in follow up note to the person along with a thank you for his/her time. Contact me directly if want more tips and advice on this path,
Check out AVJOBS website which describes many positions.
Here is an example :
Many tech-ops jobs you are referring to are not sourced in US, including those of Federal Gov't. If you are bent on that career path, you might decide if living in South America or Indonesia is right for you.
Alternately, you might consider a totally different career venue, such as Information Technology. Top earners in IT gross over $200k annually (Cyber Security engineers come to mind).
Andrew, please review Bob's advice above. Look specifically at the qualifications for the specific ASI job you'd like to pursue, then work towards meeting those requirements.
Good luck, I've been where you are, and know it's hard to know exactly how to get into a specific job. If you have any more questions, please let me know.
Ric
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