Career Tips

Are you intrigued by the thought of flying for a living? If so, you'll need three things to achieve your goal: proficiency, constant networking, and persistence--but not necessarily in that order.

Proficiency encompasses overall aviation education, flying skills, and currency. Expand your knowledge by talking to other aviation professionals as well as by reading more advanced publications that deal with the business of flying: Professional Pilot, Business and Commercial Aviation, Air Transport World, Aviation Week & Space Technology, Air Line Pilot, and various other aviation trade journals.

Flying skills and currency go hand in hand. Reserve some portion of each flight to perfect your techniques. Challenge yourself to tighter parameters. Hold that computed heading to within 3 degrees, limit altitude excursions to plus or minus 50 feet, and practice precise cross-country piloting skills. Plan your flight using all available information, preparing a good flight log that accounts for forecast weather and winds, and compute the fuel burn requirements down to the exact gallon. These professional habits are invaluable to safe flying and will keep you focused on your goal.

We discussed our second essential, networking, in the January issue ("Career Tips: The Networking Factor," January 2008 AOPA Flight Training). Many aviation job opportunities begin with nonaviation contacts. Don't pass up any opportunity to network, from attending a local charity event to volunteering your time at civic or social functions. Many first flying jobs have come from unlikely sources. Keep your contacts current and informed about you, your goals, and your progress.

Our third attribute, persistence, is your key to success. Your networking results will be useless without good follow-up, and your proficiency will diminish if you don't keep at it systematically. Persistence has been the key for many new copilots, who not only just happened to be in the right place at the right time but also demonstrated their personable qualities through repeated contacts with those who ultimately hired them.

Finally, give your three-pronged attack real substance by making sure you look and act like the professional you aspire to be. Make sure you are well dressed, well spoken, prompt, considerate, friendly, and well prepared for whatever your current endeavor may be. Set your goal and then, through your proficiency, networking, and persistence, make it happen.

Capt. Karen Kahn is the author of Flight Guide for Success: Tips and Tactics for the Aspiring Airline Pilot and a career counselor. A Master CFI and 30-year airline pilot, she flies the Boeing 757/767 for a major U.S. carrier.