I randomly got that text on my way home about two weeks ago.
It was from an operator I cold approached. Emailed them a couple times, followed up on the initial contact back in October. Never met anyone there.
A lot of people claim applying online is pointless.
Well, I have to disagree because as you may know, this isn’t the first job opportunity I got solely through emailing and applying online. I just counted, it’s the 9th.
It’s only a “waste of time” if you don’t do it properly.
Now the thing is, everybody looooves talking about their "wins" but few really let others in on what they did.
And although it’s annoying, I think that's fair. Why would you risk jinxing it, right?
But I do want to try and shed some light here on how to apply online. I’ll just [redact] the sensitive information.
I’m not saying this is “the” way. I’m just showing you what has worked for me.
So, let’s break down the thought process behind the last "follow up" email I sent, that led to the text.
This is the same framework I used to write the email that got me 5 skydive pilot job opportunities last year. As you can see, still works!
My #1 rule is keeping the tone as human as possible. I’m sure 99% of unsolicited applications that companies get are super corpo, and being able to sound professional isn’t that much of a feat anymore with AI.
The next big thing is demonstrating genuine interest. Anyone can say they’re passionate about this or that, so some sort of evidence helps. The more specific, the better. I sprinkle relevant details everywhere.
The email itself just follows a logical structure: why I’m reaching out, about myself, why them and why me.
A popular question about follow up emails is “how often”, and the answer I like is “whenever you have something meaningful to follow up with.” In this case, that was: company expansion + end of skydiving season.
When I tell them about myself, in an effort to follow rule #1 and #2, I go beyond just my hours. This is where I say why I'm interested about the job.
To come up with good stuff for the “why them” and “why me” sections, it’s really just research. You might wonder why I seem to like flexing how underweight I am. Research.
That’s pretty much all there is to it, and what I can share without doxxing them!
With that being said though, I figured I’d throw in more of those cold emails that worked inside the Pilot Job Hub. One for each of the big 4 industries that hire low-time pilots: skydiving, survey, pipeline and banner towing.
And I’m also adding a new list of “big 4” operators that have requirements between 300 and 600 hours. So you don’t have to wait for job alerts, but can go ahead and try your hand at cold emails :))
(this is brand new)
As a reminder, I’m monitoring all the pilot job platforms for the survey and pipeline hiring cycle. If you need someone to help you not miss any upcoming opportunity:
I’d like to explain something about the community and its purpose real quick.
The point is NOT to "poach" jobs from other platforms, absolutely not. This is why I don’t hide wherever I got the job from, and give credit where it’s due.
The entire point is to have someone curate the internet, to help you only invest time & effort in jobs that are likely to hire you, by hand-picking them,
NOT just spam you with every single job "allegedly" hiring out there (which is what a lot of these job boards do)
Last week inside the community, I mentioned how there are low-time jobs that I wouldn't bother applying for even if they are listed as hiring. And the reason for that is because once you have a general understanding of how hiring works at some companies, you know what’s realistic or not
For the sake of conversation, let’s use Skylens. If you don’t have Aztec hours or are not an A&P, I promise you you’ll be wasting your time applying.
It doesn’t mean applying online doesn’t work. They will be hiring 14 pilots this season, online. You just don’t have what they want if they don’t pick you.
And I’m not saying this to discourage you or anything like that. I’m just trying to be real.
Because if I didn't believe getting hired by applying online was possible, I would have never built this community.
It works, maybe just not the way you’d expect it to.
My ultimate goal is to have enough feedback on what’s good/bad about the current state of pilot job boards, so we can reach out to the people who run them and implement stuff that’s actually worth it for us pilots to pay for.
I’ve said it before, but I don’t think $20 a month for just a chance at getting a job is a good offer at all. It’s even worse when the job being advertised isn’t even hiring.
Which is why I’m including video tutorials, and these other bonuses inside the Pilot Job Hub. Because I believe that’s what the current models lack.
I want pilots to invest their money in more than a lottery ticket.
I’m sure you do too, so why don’t you join us? :))
Coming soon are a deep dive on a survey company, what NOT to do once you get a job offer (almost made that mistake) and some updates on who has been hiring in Q2 + what to expect in Q3.
Talk soon,
— Ivan