Best Foot Foward

For a period of a year and a half early on in my time instructing I worked for an upstart flight school based east of Edmonton. I had been working as an instructor for 6 months at the school where I had done all of my training when the opportunity to help create and work for a new flight school presented itself. One of the more senior flight instructors, who was leaving to work for the new school, had recommended me to the fellow who was starting the school.

While there was an allure to helping build a flight school from the ground up and gaining contacts that could help me later on in my career, I was reluctant to leave the school that had given me my first job, and moreover, leave my students. I weighed the options, not knowing which path to take. As I was debating whether to stick with the old familiar, or jump to the new unknown, a period of just over 6 weeks passed where the flight instructors at the old school were not paid because our accountant was on holidays. After confronting the owner of the school, and being told that he could not pay us until the accountant returned, I made my decision to leave the old school and accept the position at the new one.

For the first few months at the new school, there was more than enough to keep the three of us busy; we worked on the syllabus, wrote the groundschool, held open houses and organised advertising. With the bulk of the groundwork completed and two shiny planes sitting on the ramp, there was little to do but wait for the flood of students to walk through the doors. And wait we did. After a period of just over 5 months the school had acquired a few students and we were averaging around 5 hours in the air a month each. To pass the idle time between our sparse bookings, the instructor who I had worked with at the old school and I would dream out loud about airplanes, airlines, and the paths our careers would take after instructing. Sitting in the office on a rainy afternoon waiting for the weather to improve, this instructor told me about contacts he had made and the possibility of him getting a job as a copilot on a King Air. We talked about what the transition to a King Air would be like, and how great it would be flying IFR in a turbo-prop. After sitting in silence for a few moments, both of us consumed with the thought of flying a turbine powered airplane, this instructor leaned back in his chair and imparted his advice as to how I could someday get to that point; "Be nice to everyone you meet in this industry, because you never know who will get you your next job"

While I had a great respect for this instructor, I didn't agree with his advice. Although aviation is a small industry, and who you meet along the way can have a huge influence on the path your career takes further down the line, I don't believe in being nice to people simply because they may be able to help you out in the future. I have met a number of people who adhere to this line of thinking and I have found that more often than not, they come off as insincere at best.

I have been thinking about my former co-worker and his advice lately as I read through airline interview guides, and lists of airline interview questions. Reading these books has offered some insight into the mind of the airline interviewer, although some of the advice they offer I find superficial. For example, if the written advice is to be strictly followed, one should wear a solid-colored tie, a dark suit, and be sure to cut your hair no more than two days prior to the interview. If at some point I am fortunate enough to find myself in an airline interview, I will dress professionally, and ensure that my hair does not look as though I just rolled from my bed, though I refuse to believe that cutting my hair inside two days from an interview and wearing a tie that isn't striped will impact whether or not I will be offered a position. If it is my week old haircut and striped tie that prevent me from getting the position, that is probably for the better.

Although those who create a facade in order to get a job or make a contact will undoubtedly have their successes, I will continue to hold on to my belief that there is no substitute for hard work, common sense and being genuine. Whether or not this will result in landing a coveted airline position is anyone's guess, and beside the point.

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." ~e.e. cummings