Military Aviation Experience Isn’t Relevant! …Or is it?

Taking time to read job postings and talking to hiring managers you start to feel like your military aviation experience isn’t worth much. This becomes more noticeable when you’re faced with no callbacks or immediate rejections from your applications. When you do get called in for an interview you hear, “Your experience is impressive, but we’re just looking for someone with certain experience”. If they don’t tell you in the interview you may receive an email. Those rejection emails look a bit like, “We are currently moving forward with another candidate. We encourage you to check the website and continue to apply for future roles.” ## The Truth Sure, your experience in the industry as a whole is related. Yes, many of the fundamentals are the same as a standard across the industry. However, in the end, you didn’t have the 763 summers worth of experience in whatever that niche was. More than that a training deficit exists in your aviation education called “General Familiarization Courses” better known as “Gen Fams”. These requirements are all stacked against you, and finding ways of reconciling them is not cheap or easy. Unfortunately, what winds up happening is that Super Hornet, Chinook, P-3, and most other military airplane experience doesn’t hold much weight if you are trying to break into the business jet, passenger, or cargo plane world. ## Times are changing While the industry is suffering a behemoth talent drain, the shortage of experience offers a unique opportunity for mechanics in the field. More specifically, for transitioning military and veterans with little to no background in civil aviation. Licensed A&P Mechanics that gained knowledge during service, like yourself, are going to be one of their biggest assets. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t work that specific type of airplane or manufacturer in 145, 135, or 121 environments. ## Strut that experience Set yourself up for success and pitch what you know you have going for you. Remember, we have that: – Attention to detail – Internalized understanding of “the mission” – Ingrained integrity – Work ethic – Maintenance experience – Troubleshooting skills – Previous maintenance qualifications – Team mentality As an added bonus, hiring someone with prior aviation experience means less money and time spent on training. This can become extremely prominent when you’re compared to someone fresh out of school with zero work experience. ## Notice the trends If you haven’t noticed the labor pool shrinking, just take a look. Huge incentives are popping up all over the industry because many career mechanics are retiring and fewer people are choosing Aviation Maintenance. This trend isn’t specific to Aviation either. Her twin Aerospace, think fraternal, not identical, is suffering the same woes. How do I know this? Just look at the benefits that are being stacked in hiring and recruitment for folks like us. Companies are offering extra money for training, relocation allowances, cash bonuses (some as much as $10,000), raises within X amount of time, a higher rating of seniority for military experience, and more. ## What time is it? Our time! Make sure you are exercising intent while searching for your next opportunity. New opportunities open up every day. The least you could do for yourself is keep your master resume up to date so you’re ready when the right one does. Finally, connecting with other aviation professionals, hiring managers, directors of maintenance, and others is what’s going to kick your career afterburner on. Having an “in” can and will make all the difference.