Have an "elevator pitch" ready. If it takes 15 minutes of telling your scripted life story that a recruitment firm coached you on, you're not doing it right. "Elevator" means about 3 minutes, max. Who you are, what you're after, make it "actionable" by either a followup question, something the recipient can do or embark on an action.
You're going to be asked about "negatives". Most people have them but it's a chance for the person you're talking to to validate your answers and build a little "fast trust". You failed a checkride, big flipping deal, who hasn't, but it's not necessary to freak out and act like the world just ended because you have to explain how you busted your CFI when a vast majority do. It's always "Cool, what did you learn and how did you move forward". It's not an admission of a 'black mark', it's really more of a method to enable the applicant to tell his story.
On that note, regardless of if it's your fault or not, own it, accept your role in it and talk about what you learned and how you moved forward.
If there is a fast pass system, don't try to bribe the volunteer with money in exchange for access to an area you need a pass for.
Desperation does not equal motivation, determination or ambition, it's desperation. Let someone finishing peeing (or pooping), let them wash their hands and wait for a less awkward opportunity.
Please do your homework. Remember, your resume is nothing more than a brochure, your performance is your cover letter, but the "legalese" is in your application. "Why haven't you called me?" when a recruiter hasn't seen your application is going to be met with a less than satisfying answer.
You can be Buzz Aldrin in real life, but if your application (always taking the most literal interpretation of the question being asked) makes you read like you're a drunken sailor sending a late night text on shore leave, you're going to have less than optimal satisfaction with your experience.
And, after all, please don't lie. My friend got really good at reading non-verbal communication because of the sheer amount of people he speaks to on an average day and he's got to decide whether (a) you're not being genuine with your answer (b) not reading you correctly or hopefully (c) needs to spend more time with you to develop a 'fast trust' with you so you give him the information he's looking for. We all want to put our best foot forward, but sometimes straight up honesty followed immediately by owning up and the corrective action taken afterward is the best policy.
For example:
Q: "Have you failed any checkrides"
A: "Well, one day I was taking my ATP checkride and the weather was really squirrely, blah blah blah"
versus
A: "Yes. I have. My ATP checkride"
Followup Q: "Tell me about it" (The question isn't supposed to serve as a "tell me how you screwed up" it's really more of a 'Yay, I get an opportunity to let an applicant tell me his story' AKA 'shake the snowglobe)
A: A SHORT synopsis, my corrective response, my lesson.
It may not specifically be your fault, but always own up to it, accept your role/responsibility and you've always learned something that has helped you with your present level of success.
More later. Mild ADD and all,
You're going to be asked about "negatives". Most people have them but it's a chance for the person you're talking to to validate your answers and build a little "fast trust". You failed a checkride, big flipping deal, who hasn't, but it's not necessary to freak out and act like the world just ended because you have to explain how you busted your CFI when a vast majority do. It's always "Cool, what did you learn and how did you move forward". It's not an admission of a 'black mark', it's really more of a method to enable the applicant to tell his story.
On that note, regardless of if it's your fault or not, own it, accept your role in it and talk about what you learned and how you moved forward.
If there is a fast pass system, don't try to bribe the volunteer with money in exchange for access to an area you need a pass for.
Desperation does not equal motivation, determination or ambition, it's desperation. Let someone finishing peeing (or pooping), let them wash their hands and wait for a less awkward opportunity.
Please do your homework. Remember, your resume is nothing more than a brochure, your performance is your cover letter, but the "legalese" is in your application. "Why haven't you called me?" when a recruiter hasn't seen your application is going to be met with a less than satisfying answer.
You can be Buzz Aldrin in real life, but if your application (always taking the most literal interpretation of the question being asked) makes you read like you're a drunken sailor sending a late night text on shore leave, you're going to have less than optimal satisfaction with your experience.
And, after all, please don't lie. My friend got really good at reading non-verbal communication because of the sheer amount of people he speaks to on an average day and he's got to decide whether (a) you're not being genuine with your answer (b) not reading you correctly or hopefully (c) needs to spend more time with you to develop a 'fast trust' with you so you give him the information he's looking for. We all want to put our best foot forward, but sometimes straight up honesty followed immediately by owning up and the corrective action taken afterward is the best policy.
For example:
Q: "Have you failed any checkrides"
A: "Well, one day I was taking my ATP checkride and the weather was really squirrely, blah blah blah"
versus
A: "Yes. I have. My ATP checkride"
Followup Q: "Tell me about it" (The question isn't supposed to serve as a "tell me how you screwed up" it's really more of a 'Yay, I get an opportunity to let an applicant tell me his story' AKA 'shake the snowglobe)
A: A SHORT synopsis, my corrective response, my lesson.
It may not specifically be your fault, but always own up to it, accept your role/responsibility and you've always learned something that has helped you with your present level of success.
More later. Mild ADD and all,
