Changing Careers

07 January 2014 Pat-Smith Job Search

Changing CareersChanging Careers

A career choice is based on a thorough understanding of your needs and wants, and the requirements of the aviation labor market.

At mid-life, you have the advantage of being able to draw on many years of real-world experiences to select a career that:

  • Lets you use the skills you enjoy most.
  • Pays enough to support your lifestyle.
  • Is in demand.

Why do you need to change your career?
Recognize what you don't like about your present career. Name specific sources of discontent. Some possible reasons are given below. Perhaps you can think of others that are relevant to your situation.

  • You have skills you enjoy using, but your present job doesn't allow you to use them.
  • Your current job doesn't give you the monetary benefits that your work deserves.
  • You want to find a job that pays what you believe the job is worth.
  • You want to find work that is its own reward, that is satisfying and meaningful and that has intrinsic value, regardless of earnings.
  • You want a change of pace, to slow down and to have more time for yourself, your family and the community.
  • You're ready for a new challenge.
  • You want the chance to grow and learn in a direction that your present situation won't permit.
  • You want to enhance your image and prestige.
  • You don't like your present schedule, the hours, the shifts, the overtime or the lack of flexibility.
  • You're unemployed and you want to broaden your job search and explore new fields.
  • You're employed, but things at work are not as much fun anymore. Perhaps the company has changed hands or you have a new boss who doesn't support your career growth.
  • You feel you're ready for a change of environment and maybe a new career too.

Before you make drastic career changes:
Stop and consider:
Can you come up with creative ways to solve your problems without changing careers? For instance, would you be content to transfer to a different department, division or even a different company where you would have the same job in the same field?
Is your discontent related to:

  •  The job itself?
  • The company environment?
  • Yourself?

Shortage of qualified applicants cited in recent survey

14 June 2012 Avjobs-Crew Statistics

Now is the time to apply like never before.

Although Avjobs.com applicants are applying for jobs available in the Avjobs Applicant System, other applicants appear to be taking the day off?

A recent survey from the Manpower Group cited that almost 49% of employers in North America are reporting difficulty in filling positions due to the lack of available talent. According to Manpower, "This figure represents the highest proportion of employers reporting difficulty since the start of the economic downturn in 2008 and a 4% increase over last year's survey"  For a complete copy of the survey, click here.

Job Search Tips
Of course we can give you all kinds of tips on how to get your next job or make a career change, but in the end its all up to you. If you don't take action, you'll never experience change. You need to take the first step.

First and foremost, you need to apply for jobs. Finding the jobs and getting your paperwork together is half the battle. That's where Avjobs comes in. The Avjobs Applicant System will automatically prepare your resume to professional aviation standards, and is packed with thousands of jobs that need to be filled "yesterday." That's right, "YESTERDAY!"

It is a common misconception that all jobs are filled in 30-45 days. The fact is, most jobs go unfilled for more than 180 days due to the lack of qualified applicants. Recruiting qualified applicants is a much more complex problem than most applicants think. Applicants stop applying, because they ASSUME the position is filled, and the position goes unfilled for an even longer period of time. In most cases, the older a posting is, the fewer applicants will apply for it.

Employers post and manage their own jobs in our system. When their postings get filled, they remove them. Avjobs provides the framework to make the recruiters' job easier. If the posting is still in the system, it is there for a reason. You should apply for every position that you are qualified for and interested in.

Before developing our Applicant System, we sent a questionnaire to over 7000 participating Avjobs Employers. The request to remove the "Date Posted" field from job postings was unanimous. The average time to fill a vacant position (among responders) before using the Avjobs.com Employer System was 204 days. Some even reported that they had the same position open for up to 2 years.

Additional Tips

Meet the Parents

13 February 2012 Avjobs-Crew General

Meet the ParentsEmployers are seeing more frequent parental involvement in the adult child’s job hunt and continued involvement after hire. Some employers are encouraging family members to learn more about the company and the job, while other employers discourage parental involvement. The question is: what is best for you and your career?

Three Traits for Success in Employment and Life

25 January 2012 Avjobs-Crew General

Career Counselors have identified three traits that successful people possess. These three traits influence not only our potential for success and happiness in our work, but also our general attitude toward life.

Positive Thoughts
What we think determines what we do. Many thoughts go through our minds as we attempt to meet our employment goals or to overcome life's problems. People who are successful in meeting their goals or overcoming problems tend to think differently than do people who are not satisfied.

  • Successful people think they can
    Most successful people expect to succeed when they set a goal or face a problem
  • Unsuccessful people think they cant
    Most unsuccessful people expect to fail when they set a goal or face a problem
  • If you think you can, you can
    Think about the simple statement above. Successful people believe in themselves they think they can, therefore they can. Successful people make a whole-hearted commitment of effort necessary to overcome obstacles, thereby allowing them to succeed
  • If you think you cant, you cant
    Unsuccessful people often lack confidence in their ability to achieve goals or to face life's many challenges. Since they expect to fail, they don't make the commitment of effort necessary to tackle the barriers that block their paths to success. They either try half-heartedly or simply give up
The following statements compare the differences between successful and unsuccessful people:

Successful people:
  • Expect success
  • Think they can
  • Try whole heartedly
  • Make a commitment of effort
  • Keep trying
Unsuccessful people:
  • Expect failure
  • Think they cant
  • Try half heartedly
  • Do not make a commitment of effort
  • Give up
Henry Ford was the founder of the Ford Motor Company and the originator of the assembly line. He dropped out of school at 15. He failed in business five times before succeeding. He said: If you think you can, you can; if you think you cant, you cant; either way, your right!

Negative Thoughts
We all develop negative thoughts, untrue beliefs, about ourselves, our ability to overcome problems and our ability to attain goals such as employment. We must learn to challenge these untrue beliefs. If we mistakenly believe that a problem is permanent, we are unlikely to do anything to overcome it. If we mistakenly believe that we are powerless to face our problems, we are not motivated to act.

  • Our self-thoughts, beliefs, are the way we view ourselves and help us to determine our place in the world
  • We often use our beliefs to predict whether we will succeed or fail when faced with problems
  • Most of us develop beliefs about ourselves that aren't true.
Successful People:
  • Believe that their problems are temporary challenges
  • Believe tat they have control of their lives.
Unsuccessful People:
  • Believe that their problems are permanent
  • Believe that they are powerless in the face of their problems

Three Traits for Success

#1 Successful people take credit for their successes even small ones.

Successful people know that big successes often result from achieving many small successes. Successful people understand that all small successes or completed actions are important take credit from them. A big success is when we attain a goal or overcome a problem.

Taking credit for our actions or small successes helps us to understand that often the difference between success and failure is one small action. In approaching a problem or challenge, we don't always do everything right. By paying attention to the importance of each of our positive actions, we increase the likelihood of success.

Check Box- Review daily your big and small successes.
Check Box- Write them down each day.
Check Box- Save them so that you can go back later to see the various problems you've overcome and goals you've met.
Check Box- Help family and friends daily to take credit for their successes as well! By helping them, you'll help yourself to become even more successful.

#2 Successful people try harder if they fail the first time.

Successful people know the simple truth of Ben Franklins famous saying: If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again. By giving up, unsuccessful people guarantee that they wont change their lives; by doing nothing, they actually make their false beliefs that they are powerless to change their lives come true!

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no YES. Which no is going to stop you before you get to your yes? The 10th? The 24th? The 38th? There's a yes at the end of every job hunt. The key is to hang on long enough to find the right job for you. Don't quit before your yes.

#3 When successful people fail again, they re-evaluate their goal, examine all the reasons for failure and try again.

  • Sometimes we set the right goals, use the right plan/actions but don't try hard enough.
    Remember successful people try harder if they fail the first time
  • Sometimes we set the right goals, use the right plan/actions but are stopped by the unexpected.
    Even successful people have a bad day. Successful people understand that anyone can fail because of unexpected circumstances or bad luck. When successful people fail because of bad luck or the unexpected, they try again
  • Sometimes we set the right goals but we use the wrong plan/actions to achieve them.
    Trying harder wont help us if were doing the wrong things to try to solve our problems or to achieve our goals
  • Sometimes we set goals which are not realistic.
    Trying harder wont help us if we set goals which are unrealistic or impossible. A goal is a commitment of effort that you make to yourself. Successful people plan to succeed by setting realistic goals for themselves.

Check Box- Writing down your goal helps you to understand what it is you want to accomplish.
Check Box- Write the specific steps to be completed to attain your goal.
Check Box- Use I will statements when you write your goal and the steps toward achieving it.
Check Box- Always use dates to give yourself a deadline for reaching each step toward your goal.
Check Box- Discuss your goals and statements with a trusted friend and ask for feedback.
Check Box- Re-examine your goals daily and change then as you further clarify your objectives.

Airline Flight Attendant Career Overview

16 November 2011 Avjobs-Crew Career Overviews

In Flight - Flight Attendant  Airline Flight Attendant

General Information
A flight attendants first and foremost responsibility is the safety of the aircraft cabin and its passengers. Flight attendants must comply with Federal Aviation Regulations. FAR's require flight attendants to be on aircraft for the sole purpose of performing safety-related duties. However, duties also include a wide range of passenger service functions. Flight attendants must be prepared for the unexpected and able to change from their passenger service role to their critical safety role at a moments notice.

Position Description
The flight attendant is the most highly visible employee to passengers of an aircraft. Flight attendants spend more time with passengers than any other airline employee, and tend to a wide variety of needs and requests. The flight attendant must offer the most personalized service possible to each and every passenger for the duration of flights. more >>