There must be nothing more frustrating than for a recently qualified pilot to apply for a job with an airline only to be turned down. Frustrating also for the airline recruiter who needs a good flow of new pilots to keep up with their airline’s expansion plans.
So why didn’t you get that job?
According to Cambridge-based VA Airline Training, airlines are interviewing and recruiting pilots at a phenomenal rate but are rejecting a significant number of applicants. This is due to a lack of appropriate prior training, industry knowledge and core interpersonal skills not being appropriately demonstrated by the pilot during the selection process.
So VA has come up with a new three-day interactive Airline Career Training (ACT) to better prepare pilots for that crucial airline job. The new ACT course has been developed to compliment and follow-on from the enhanced EASA Airline Pilot Standards (APS) MCC training courses.
It covers a range of personal skills development including understanding airline industry economics, airline culture, sources of preparation information, making effective airline applications, achieving success in group exercises, interviews and airline simulator assessments.
“We have developed our new ACT course in direct response to focused discussions with our airline partners who, whilst they need the pilots, really do need graduates to be better prepared not only for recruitment and assessment but also to have a broader awareness of the role as an airline pilot in general,” said Anthony Petteford, director at VA.
VA ACT courses are delivered and facilitated by highly experienced flight crew recruitment professionals, Ruth Spalding and Natalie Mitchell, both of whom have held management roles in pilot recruitment with easyJet – the UK’s largest airline.
The VA ACT course is practical and interactive, It develops positive attitudes and skills through a blend of presentations, trainee interaction and practical tasks combined with regular critical review from both trainers and trainees.
Day three of the course is ‘scenario based’ and conducted in VA’s A320 or B737 simulators. Trainees will experience the opportunity to learn from and appraise the style and approaches adopted by current airline pilot assessors in the simulator and how to focus their skills to perform to the best of their ability.
Graduates from both the VA APS MCC and ACT courses are registered into the VA Airline Placement Pool for future recommendation by VA to airline employers.
