In today’s world, being a pilot is easier than it was 20 years ago. With social media and all the job recruitment agencies out there, you can keep up to date with ‘what’s going on’ and, if for one reason or another you lose your job, there are thousands of agencies to help you find your next challenge.

These agencies fish for specific professionals for clients (companies that need specialized manpower). And like any other businesses, the bottom line is how to make money. The almighty profit.

Nowadays, recruiting is big business. Most recruitment agencies or companies specialize in specific job descriptions. Predominantly, human resources and talent acquisition agencies are big leaders in this kind of recruitment. If, like so many others in the aviation world, you lost your job or have been furloughed, you have probably registered your résumé with a recruitment agency. 

I would recommend that you do your due diligence when choosing who to depend on for your next career move. A number of factors will determine how long it will take to find a job with a recruitment agency, including budget, marketing strategies, connections to aviation companies, and the recruitment staff. Personally, I would look at the company’s track record. How active have they been since the end (almost) of the pandemic and are they staffed by people who know the business? Are they really aviation recruitment specialists or are they from another profession entirely and have simply decided on a new career?

Why is this so important? Well, if you want to hire a pilot, you need to have a pilot or an experienced aviation recruiter who knows what to look for. A brain surgeon recruitment company won’t have pilots on staff to recruit brain surgeons, will it? 

I know some aviation recruitment agencies that don’t have any pilots on staff. Can you imagine? You are the director of flight operations and need to hire pilots for your fleet of Airbus. You want to do business with a recruitment company that has at least one experienced pilot on staff with a history of flying similar or equivalent aircraft. That knowledge is so important and will be the difference between night and day when he or she selects the right candidate from their pool of pilots.

It’s not rocket science, but it is vitally important if you have lost your job and are barely surviving while waiting for your next opportunity. Your recruitment agency is your lifeline to the job market and they should be working for you. It is all about attracting aviation companies who are actively looking for candidates, and having the right recruitment staff to select the right people for the job opening. It’s no guarantee but it’s good to know that your résumé or application is in safe hands.

At AeroTime, we care about our candidates. They give us the responsibility to search and find the right position. We are ethically committed to our candidates and are dedicated to them. We have over half a century of experienced aviation professionals on staff who care.

Be safe everyone and happy landings