Private Pilot Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Private Pilot resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Aspiring pilots have two options when it comes to becoming a private pilot: get certified through an instructor-led course at a flight school, or study independently to prepare for the FAA exam. Whichever route you choose, you’ll need a solid resume to help you land your dream job as a private pilot. Here are some tips and an example resume to help you write yours.
How to Write a Private Pilot Resume
Here’s how to write a private pilot resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are the most important part of your resume because they’re the first thing recruiters will see. And if they’re not compelling, you could be passed over for someone else who has taken the time to craft them.
So rather than just listing your responsibilities, you should use bullet points to tell a story about your work. For example, rather than saying you “flew planes,” you could say you “flew Cessna Citation X aircraft for commercial airline passengers on daily flights between New York and Boston.”
The second bullet point paints a much clearer picture of what your job entailed and also provides some specific details about the type of plane you flew and the cities you flew between.
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you submit your resume for a private pilot job, it’s likely that it will be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. These programs look for certain terms related to the job, like “navigation” and “pilot training” in order to determine whether your skills are a match for the job opening. If your resume doesn’t have enough of the right keywords, the ATS might discard your application before a recruiter ever sees it.
To increase your chances of getting an interview, use this list of common private pilot keywords to add them into your resume:
- Aviation
- Piloting
- Flight Training
- Aircraft Maintenance
- Flight Safety
- Commercial Aviation
- Airlines
- Aviation Safety
- Instrument Rated Pilot
- Maintenance & Repair
- Airports
- Business Aviation
- Helicopters
- Airline Transport Pilot
- General Aviation
- Aircraft Systems
- Crew Resource Management
- Corporate Aviation
- Private Piloting
- Cockpit
- Helicopter Piloting
- Aircraft Piloting
- Aeronautics
- Instrument Rating
- CFI
- Flight Planning
- Simulators
- CFII
- Meteorology
- Avionics
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As a private pilot, you need to be proficient in the use of various software programs and systems to help you plan and execute your flights. This might include flight planning software, GPS systems, and weather forecast tools. Additionally, you need to be familiar with the aircraft you will be flying, including its systems and controls.
Some of the programs and systems that private pilots are typically expected to be proficient in include: flight planning software, GPS systems, weather forecast tools, and aircraft systems and controls.