The Other Side

A guy walked into work the other day, clutching a piece of paper and looking uneasy. It was a busy time, with the lounge crowded with customers and pilots so I went up to him and asked if he was looking for someone.

"The chief pilot."

"He's up on a flight, I'm Aviatrix, can I help you with something?"

"I'll wait for him, thank you."

I looked at him for a moment, then guessed correctly that the piece of paper was a resume, "Are you a pilot looking for work?" I asked him about his qualifications, where he was from, and so on. He didn't appear to be a complete moron, and we're pretty desperate for warm, licenced bodies right now, so I asked him to wait a moment. (Likely said "standby" as that's how I talk, but he's a pilot after all, and understood.) I went and found the person whose opinion matters more than the chief pilot's when it comes to hiring and firing at my company. I introduced them, then went up on my flight.

When I got back, ten minutes behind schedule, after a longish, tiring day, the chief pilot was sitting outside. Watching me park. Almost like he was waiting to speak to me. Eep. For being ten minutes late?

He was waiting for me, but I keep forgetting, ninety-nine percent of the time when my boss wants to speak to me, it's not to give me hell, but to give me more work. I had another quick flight to do for a customer, and then was needed to check out the newly hired pilot on company aircraft. In the dark.

And that is how I need to get a job. Piece of paper in hand, it doesn't matter how shiny your shoes, how recent your haircut or how snappily you can tell someone about yourself. If you have the qualifications they need and the airplanes are sitting empty, you're hired.