Make the Call

At BizJetJobs.com as a Member Support Specialist, I speak with a lot of pilots in the middle of a career change. After doing this job for a number of years, I've begun to see patterns in the behavior that leads to success. While many of our members have good results simply applying to jobs via our Website, nothing is better than a good story from a member who had to step outside the box to land their dream job. This happened just recently, and I thought it was good to share since it is a tactic we've seen work in the past. This summer Kevin, a younger member with limited corporate experience, found himself pretty deep into the postings on the Pilot Job board (a place far too few pilots go) when he saw a posting for the perfect opportunity in his aircraft. Since the job posting was 5 months old, he assumed he had missed this particular job. But since he wanted the job badly, he figured he would call anyway. He dialed their number, which he found in the flight department directory, and was connected with Sharon, the flight dispatcher.

"I know you were looking for a Falcon pilot a few months ago, but I wanted to see if anything new has shown up since," he told Sharon. "or if you anticipate any similar positions in the future." "I'm sorry Kevin, I don't know much about the position," she told him. "As far as I know, all our positions are filled." "Ok, no problem," said Kevin. "I've always wanted to work at XYZ Company, any have heard good things from pilot friends. Have you worked with them for a while?" From there, Kevin told me that he and Sharon had a brief but friendly conversation about how she found out about the job, where she lived and how it fit well with her family's schedule. She even mentioned her kids and proximity to schools - all because of Kevin's persona on the phone. He admired her choice of employment, which made her feel comfortable. Less than a month later, Kevin was on the BizJetJobs.com and saw a new job posting at XYZ Company. Even though the posting said "no phone calls please," he already had Sharon's name and contact information. He was able to reach out to her directly on a personal basis to ask if she could help get him an interview. Kevin did get the interview. Sharon said she would pass his name along, and that simple referral likely gave Kevin's prospective employer a good feeling about him. The thought process may have gone something like this: "Sharon's a good person and a great part of the team. If Kevin gets along with her, let's at least give him a chance." The employer may have assumed Kevin and Sharon knew each other better than they did. A personal connection like this - it doesn't even have to be a deep one! - can be a real benefit and set you apart from other applicants. Good rapport with a member of a prospective employer's team is a positive signal to you as well. If your "dream employer" has great people with great things to say working for them on their team, it's signal that your perception of them matches the reality of working there. So make the call! Pursuing information you find, even in a simple manner, can be the first step toward landing the perfect job. Need assistance in your job search? Contact us directly by phone or email.