Australian Aviation - July 2018

JULY 2018 25

Putting a face to the name.

Pinstripe Solutions’ Kirsty

Ferguson.

C

areer hiccups occur for many
reasons and right at the moment,
some of those reasons are
presenting a little differently than
they have in the past.
For those of you on long hold
files for example, it probably feels
as if those reasons are not being
communicated effectively, and in turn
that naturally leads to frustration.
The aviation industry is indeed in flux
particularly with regard to recruitment
and that makes us all feel a little
unsure about what will happen next.
Some airline cadet candidates have
reported feeling disadvantaged with
the focus on gender equality as part of
the hiring criteria, while at the other
end of the scale, type-rated pilots with
thousands of hours have received the,
“your application has not progressed”
email.
I will say straight up that most
hiccups are manageable, but I also
want to assure you that I hear you.
Your concerns are real and valid.
While you cannot force an airline
to sort out their recruitment, training
or human resources challenges you
can control your attitude and your
plan. After all, the only person you can
control is you.
The issues or ‘new style hiccups’ are
compounded by the current climate of
airline growth and the high demand
for pilots and ancillary staff. Logical
thinking would have us believe that
some of these issues are less likely
to occur because growth is good, it
provides opportunities and industry
movement.
Agreed... in theory.
The reality? Growth has created a
whole bunch of new career challenges.
While most are not deal-breakers, your
attitude will have a great deal to do
with what occurs next in your career.
Irrespective of how you are being
affected by the current recruitment
climate, there are three things that you
do have control over and they will affect
the next phase of your flying career:
»Are you taking responsibility for your
actions or part in the outcome?
»Do you have the tenacity and
resilience to move forward?
»Do you have a failure or change
management plan?

First up, what does it mean when an

airline rejects you?

Well, it’s not personal, really it’s

not. I cannot stress that enough. I also

realise it feels very personal, this is your

career, your life. However, they don’t

know you so it can’t be.

Airlines have a set of key criteria

by which they assess and rate your

application and following that, during

the assessment day, they rate your

performance on the day. Again, I stress,

on the day.

Understanding those criteria is key

to preparing effectively and performing

well during the assessment day. There

are no guarantees but it goes a long way

to giving it your best shot.

A rejection post assessment day

pure and simply means, at this stage,

you have not met enough of the airline’s

criteria. That doesn’t mean that you

cannot meet them in future.

If you didn’t get a look-in with

your application and you meet or

exceed the requirements, then that

comes down to internal recruitment

objectives. These change regularly

within an airline. Read the airline’s

response/rejection notification

carefully, quite often it is not a flat out

‘no’. Trust me, if it is a ‘no’ there can be

ambiguity about it.

Regardless of the reason for the

result, any candidate should have a

Plan B firmly in place; you might call

it a ‘Failure or Change Management

Plan’. Plan Bs help regroup and regain

some of the control you lost with the

rejection. It might look something like

this:

»Ask for feedback from the airline

(some will provide this now).

»Debrief on the result with someone

you trust.

»Accept the areas you need to

improve on.

»Action those areas.

»Plan to reapply, research new

opportunities or progress within

your current role (if available).

What if you are stuck on a hold file?

As an industry, hold files are longer

than any of us can remember. We

are coming up on 12 months in some

cases. Feels as if your career is on

hold? Of course it does. Remember

that a hold file means you have been

successful. It also means that the

airline has a backlog of training spots

or a lack of resources in that area. We

all know the latter is a huge issue right

now for most carriers. Ensure you:

»Keep abreast of the airline’s plans.

»Communicate with them regularly

(ask for updates). You might not

always get the reply you want but it

cannot hurt to ask.

»Keep your eye on other

opportunities.

»Review your decision every three

months, ask yourself; ‘how long can

I afford to wait?’ or ‘how long do I

want to wait?’

So what about cadetship gender

quotas. A well-respected jet pilot who

has been mentoring cadet candidates

voiced with me concern about the

gender equality quotas disadvantaging

one sector or the other. His concerns

were valid. I countered by adding that

encouraging women into the industry is

one way of bolstering the pilot numbers

coming into aviation. It forms part of

the plan to eradicate the experience

shortage we currently have within pilot

ranks.

He also felt that some women

might get a yes, or more relaxed

consideration simply because of

gender in order to meet those targets.

I can understand that, it might

happen. However, airline recruitment

and training processes soon weed

out those who are not 100 per cent

committed and motivated.

There are also more cadet programs

opening in 2018-2019 than in the

previous four years, so there are more

opportunities. If you don’t succeed in

one then have a go at another one and

ensure you get the right preparation

to improve your chances. My mentor

pilot also talked about the cadets not

understanding the level of preparation

and maturity of approach required.

Cadets, your parents are not being

assessed. If this job is for you, and I

hope it is, I would like to talk far less

often to your parents. I’d like to talk to

you, go ahead pick up the phone. No

drone-parenting permitted.

Aviation is an interesting space to

be working in right now. It has its own

peculiar evolving challenges, but it is

never dull. While writing this article a

theme became clear – communication.

It is key to reassessing your career

hiccups, delays and frustrations.

Handling the hiccups

From interviews and hold files to training delays

PINSTRIPE

KIRSTY FERGUSON

‘The reality?

Growth has

created a

whole bunch

of new career

challenges.’