Courtesy Counts

 

Think chivalry (read: courtesy) is dead?  Convinced that Facebook postings are your own personal right to freedom of speech?  Figure your VM message is your own business and why bother to clean out a full mailbox?  Do you rarely return emails and like to communicate with potential business contacts through your Facebook page?  If this is your modus operandi for navigating the workplace jungle, think again.

So why is it so important to understand the ancient art of courtesy?  Who cares whether you do or don’t answer your email using Facebook or clean up your VM messages so someone can leave you a business message?  If you are networking, job hunting or planning to move up to a better position within your own company, these are just a few of the common speed bumps that can crash your best laid plans of getting a job with a company that may not think or act a hip as you do.

Although technology has moved forward with leaps and bounds, some things haven’t changed, nor moved forward with that kind of speed in today’s work world.  You’ll find that many employers may act like 21^st century companies, but when it comes to the basics, they’re about as reactionary as your grandmother’s book of etiquette tips.  (Matter of fact, if I was job hunting now, I’d read that book and heed the tips that were invented long before the digital age.)

Communications in the best of times can be difficult to master and the gap between your generation and that of your future employer can easily kill any opportunity your qualifications may have afforded you.  Your task is to communicate in THEIR language, not expect them to communicate in yours.  Remember who’s paying the bills (or who you hope will be paying you a decent salary) and realize that even though you may be much more sophisticated in your ability to communicate, you need to match their means and methods to be sure they receive your  message.

Timeliness is also crucial.  Their office may be closed when you a get a VM inviting you for an interview.  The time they suggested may not work for you.  Whatever their message, acknowledging its receipt promptly via the same method as they sent it ensures they understand your interest in their offer.  If they suggested an inconvenient time, give them several alternatives to let them know of your availability.   Being immediately available isn’t absolutely necessary.  Responding to their query as soon as possible is. 

Here are some major errors you’ll want to avoid:

1. Full VM boxes infuriate companies who depend on leaving messages and assume they will be checked regularly.
2. Not returning calls/emails tells them you don’t care enough to work in their world.
3. Cutsie signature files, VM messages or non-standard email replies label you a round-file player (read: toss that resume or application in the trash since the applicant doesn’t meet our business standards or s/he would take the time to sound professional).
4. Casual workplace habits like gum-chewing, bad-mouthing, poor posture, and lack of proper hygiene are not conducive to long-term hiring.
5. Dress habits are very important. Too formal is much better than too casual.  Their definition of Casual Friday and yours may be miles apart.
6. Speech habits are a top priority.  You need to sound like you can do the job and leave the overly-familiar, swearing, cool or hip language for your private friend-to-friend conversations.
7. Facebook is a billboard to the world. Post anything you don’t want your future employer to know and you’re toast…even in a right to privacy state.  That employer may well have offices in a freedom of information state and will obtain the information one way or the other.
8. Declaring you’re not computer literate is employment suicide. Become fluent in their language (computer, VM, email or whatever) to show them you’re willing to learn whatever you need to in order to not just survive, but thrive in their environment.

A few more words about voice mail since it’s a crucial business and employment tool.  It’s extremely important to have yours activated with a clear, concise message.  It’s amazing how many mobile phones have no VM set up leaving the caller unable to leave a message and totally frustrating a potential employer.  Your message is a window to their new employee; make it a welcoming, professional one tells them you can function well in their world:  “Hello, this is Sam Jones. Please leave your name, number and message at the tone. I’ll return your call as soon as possible.”  Boring?  Probably, but it’s important to confirm that your caller has reached you (not misdialed another number) so they’ll leave you that message you’ve been waiting to receive. (You do want that interview, don’t you?) After you’ve recorded it, listen to your message as well as have a business friend listen to it to determine that it has the proper tone and content.   

When you leave a message for a potential employer, be sure to state your name clearly (spell it if there’s any possibility of confusion) and leave your phone number, speaking slowly.  I’ve spent too many hours listening to VM messages 4 and 5 times trying to understand the person’s name and decipher their phone number.  Often I’ll return the call, and ask for a name that I’ve mimicked because I have no idea who I’m calling, so the parrot-technique is my last resort.  Sometimes I just have to ‘fess up and ask to speak to whoever called my number and left a message regarding pilot career counseling.

Finally, if you’re a serious job seeker, repeat your phone number again, at the end of your message, allowing the listener an easy way to return your call without having to listen to the whole message again.

The bottom line is “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” which was as valid in ancient times as it is now.  You need to learn to live in your employer’s world, not vice versa. This doesn’t mean you have to live a celibate life, but just realize that you’re judged by your public persona and courtesy is crucial to becoming a success full team player and long –term employee.

 

 

Women Pilots: Why so few?

Celebrating 35 years as a commercial airline captain opened many memories and thoughts about being one of the first women to reach this goal. This led to my thinking about why are there so few young women today who are as passionate as I was to have such a career? Doing a bit of research, I recently read that “fewer than 500 women are flying as captains with major airlines worldwide.” They went on to say that fewer than 4 percent of jet-qualified pilots in the world are women. (I’m the first to agree that even these numbers don’t accurately reflect the category “flying as captains with major airlines worldwide” since many are flying as first officers, and I have no stats on how many non-US women ATP-equivalent pilots are out there.) Since I was amazed by these numbers, I began to query fellow pilots as to their thoughts on why so few women choose to go into professional aviation as well as did a bit of digging on my own. My first concern came when I came across a set of women pilot stats while cleaning out my files, dated 1987. The approximate number of women pilots with ATP ratings (which I assume is how they still determine numbers of women jet-qualified pilots) at the end of 1986 was only 3 percent, showing a mere 1% gain over the next 25+ years. So, assuming the number is still very small, I began to ask questions of pilots I flew with to get their input on why we still have so very few women interested in pilot careers. It quickly became apparent to me that there are many reasons which could account for the lack of female aviators and there’s no viable way to discover which may be real vs. those that are imagined. From my perspective, there are probably 7 categories for consideration: 1. Upbringing: How were they were raised and were they encouraged to consider various careers? Did she socialize only with other little girls or did she integrate well into a male oriented/dominated upbringing? 2. Influence/Encouragement: Did she have parents or close adult friends who encouraged her to become involved in non-traditional career paths? 3. Technical Skills: Did she have a natural bent toward things technical and/or enjoy how things work to help with the high technical skills/training needed to survive in the aviation world? 4. Passion to travel: Did she possess a wanderlust or passion for the apparently nomadic lifestyle pilots lead and did she find constant travel exciting and enriching? 5. Survival skills: Were strong survival skills a part of her personality allowing her to pursue a non-traditional career with little regard for possible harassment or discrimination? 6. Mentorship: Did she have access to the how-to information needed or at least a mentor to assist and encourage her program? 7. Funding: a most basic need for our expensive and extensive training. There are so many issues that can complicate the completion of what’s a rather long career path. Getting interested in the field is just the beginning. Enjoying the long road to a well-paid job is quite another. You need some real passion and desire to stay the course and arrive at the destination eager to continue. If you have any ideas on the subject, I’d like to hear from you. Next time we’ll talk about what it takes to survive the trials of a pilot job once you decide that this lifestyle IS for you.

Preparation, preparation, preparation

Preparation is the most crucial ingredient of being successful in aviation. Be your goal passing a check ride or landing that first flying job, preparation is fundamental to your ability to succeed. Indeed, from flight instructors to hiring managers, I’ve heard their laments that students and job applicants alike are arriving at their training or appointed interview sessions woefully unprepared. Why is good preparation so important? Your goal, as a student or job applicant, is to find someone to help you succeed in aviation. Those pilots, instructors, and hiring managers who subscribe to the “pay it forward” theory are looking to help those who have demonstrated that they are prepared, highly value their foothold in aviation and will work hard to move upwards. For me, as a general aviation pilot, Master CFI, and Airline Captain, preparation provides me with the confidence I need to safely and effectively get the job done, be a sim session or live airline flight. So whether you’re enroute to your goal or at the pinnacle of your career, remember that preparation is the key to your continued success. Here are some simple steps I take to ensure I am well prepared: • Review all material to be covered as well as consult any other resources to give you the big picture • Practice “chair flying” all maneuvers to be covered • Write down your questions as you review the material • Preview subsequent material to help you understand current subjects What are your concerns when it comes to preparation? • How do you make sure you are well-prepared for each lesson? • What are your three biggest hurtles to being well prepared? • Does anyone have a story about flying and being prepared (or not?) • What resources do you use to help you prepare for your flying? I’d like to hear from you and hope you’ll write me at captainkarenkahn@cox.net .

Backseat iPilot Tests iEFB

Recently I had a chance to do some back-seat flying…as a passenger enroute to pick up my airplane after its annual inspection. The hour’s flight to Madera, CA gave me a good opportunity to play with my new iPad2 and the iEFB App for the iPad v 4.1. www.flightguide.com

Since I’m a basic “fly direct” person (that’s all I ever do with my older Trimble GPS), I was interested to see how easily I could modify a basic flight plan which had been previously entered in the program’s memory. Although I may enter a flight plan to give me that “line on the chart” (which I see as a basic security blanket, left over from my Private Pilot cross country days) I usually end up asking my nav equipment, whatever it may be (an old King KNS80 RNAV that came with my airplane when I bought it in 1994, to a Trimble TNL2000 VFR only GPS which I still have) to take me from point A to B.

If I get off course, due to winds, traffic or weather, I’d like to proceed from my present position direct to Point B. So this was my goal in testing the new iEFB (v. 4.1) from Flight Guide. After some practice (I’ll admit I printed out the instruction guide and kept it handy as my backseat journey progressed) I found the “go there from here” to be easier as I got used to pressing my finger on the appropriate spot, adding that fix (be it navaid, fix, airport or just a lat/long) and changing my course (that lovely magenta line) to go there, poste haste.

What really delighted me was a feature I’ve always wanted, ever since I became a CFII and tried to demystify the IFR world for VFR pilots. Reading an IFR approach chart is one skill, but being able to visualize where those fixes actually are, where that intersection is with reference to the ground beneath you (assuming a VFR day) was, I thought, the key, to helping an IFR student make sense of the cloudy world of airways, fixes, radials, courses, terminal routes, intersections, etc.

Now the iEFB chart overlay feature, which allows you to display an IFR chart directly on top of a current sectional is truly amazing. The semi-transparency of the chart allows you to clearly see the terrain beneath those fixes and suddenly, that IFR chart takes on a real-world understanding!

This “back seat” flight in a 1972 V34B Bonanza was piloted by an experienced IFR pilot with a new Private Pilot (who was working on her instrument rating) in the right seat. Both of them were as excited as I was to see the display of the two chart regimes, IFR and VFR, combined to give one excellent picture of where we were and where we were going…and it was geo-referenced, to boot!

The experienced IFR PIC was delighted to see a combined presentation that saved him from jumping back and forth from Sectionals to Approach charts, while the eyes of the new pilot lit up with understanding as she “saw” the fixes come to life on a sectional chart. It gave new meaning to the “plan ahead” warnings issued by all instructors who fear their student’s tunnel vision will completely overcome their situational awareness.

Now, with iEFB chart overlays, you can have instant positional awareness and plan/fly accordingly. Shuffling pages/charts becomes a thing of the past as you “see” your IFR approach plate on the seamless sectional and immediately sequence your IFR duties according to what you see as you watch your airplane progress toward your destination. Way cool, IMHO!

Reflecting Upon Women's History Month

Since this is National Women’s History Month, I think it’s only appropriate for me to look back over my many (now 33+) interesting, exciting, challenging and rewarding years of flying commercially (not to mention the previous 9 years it took to accumulate enough flying time to get hired at a major airline).

Yes, “we’ve come along way, baby,” as the saying goes and it’s interesting to note some of the yardsticks that remind me of just how far we’ve come. I won’t have time to describe all the major accomplishments of women in various fields, including space, science, medicine, sports and technology, just to name a few, but what I notice is the natural acceptance of women in what is really a gender-neutral field. In the past I used to quip to myself, when an occasional passenger would give me a shocked look as he (or she!) deplaned, “Why should you care who’s flying this bird? When you find an airplane that can tell you the sex of the person who’s flying it, I’ll stop!” These days, most everyone is in the “thumbs up” mode when they learn a woman is at the controls. They know that our skills are equal to or (many cases) better than our male counterparts, due to the constant scrutiny we get from our peers, regulators and the public. All female crews are not uncommon, although I rarely have the opportunity to fly with another woman.

Being one of the first female airline pilots, I have seen everything from “don’t touch any switches, just sit there” commands from narrow-minded captains, to a round of applause from my passengers when we landed safely after a turbulence-filled and weather delayed flight. I enjoy seeing women move up the seniority ladder in my profession and their surprise at knowing there was a time when airline management actually asked the women pilots NOT to make pubic address announcements on the airplane for fear of scaring the passengers! I certainly hope more women will accept the challenge and follow their passions, whatever their dream may be.
My book, Flight Guide for Success, outlines the keys to moving forward quickly along your chosen path. Your goal is to find someone who will guide you and help you make that journey a smooth one. Your challenge is to show them that you ARE worth helping and that you will put their assistance to good use. My numerous tips for networking, finding jobs, marketing yourself, resume-writing, completing job applications, and interviewing apply to anyone (not just pilots) wanting to be successful in their career.

Having achieved my own dream, my goal is to help other young (or young-spirited) people by giving them the essential tools necessary to succeed in any field. I see only blue skies for today’s women if they will learn to be proactive on their own behalf. To purchase a copy of my book, Flight Guide for Success, visit my website at www.captainkarenkahn.com/order. If you’d like an autographed or personalized copy, just let me know.

Receiving the 1st Annual WISE Woman Award

I was delighted and honored to read February’s edition of WISE magazine. For those who don’t know, I was a winner of the magazine’s first annual WISE Woman Awards which recognize inspirational women and their achievements. Reading through the WISE award recipients’ profiles was most impressive. Being one the recipients of this award, when they had such a large collection of good candidates to choose from, was a most rewarding experience. I appreciate having my own personal achievements equated in the same light as the achievements of the award recipients.

I found that the WISE awards provided an opportunity to showcase deserving women whose achievements can serve as motivational tools for all of us. The WISE Award was created to recognize women who are inspirational, tenacious in their pursuits and serve as role models for society. I’m proud to be a member of such a distinguished group. My heartfelt thanks you to all of you who voted and supported me in this endeavor.

To read my feature article, visit www.captainkarenkahn.com/news.

My Christmas in Antigua

It certainly wasn’t a white Christmas this year for me although is was bit chillier than I had planned. I have friends from high school who are working with a non-profit organization (www.semillasparafuturo.org) helping the villagers of Chocolá to become self-sufficient in their cacao, coffee and vegetable farming and it was my pleasure to visit them for a few days of R&R. I flew to Guatemala City, arriving late at night where upon I immediately had a chance to practice my high school Spanish with my driver, Ernesto, who drove me to Antigua, the former colonial capital of Guatemala.

During my 45 minute midnight drive, I learned my favorite new word: "bacho," which is pothole in Spanish. I was to find this word to be very helpful over the next week of traveling local roads both major and minor.

The city of Antigua has so many beautiful courtyards, churches and haciendas full of smiling locals happy to help the touristas. Their central plaza is a town gathering place and sitting there with a coffee from the soda fountain shoppe nearby was a constant source of entertainment as we watched the world go by. As you can see from some of my photos, I got involved in buying a few gifts for friends back home, practicing my bargaining techniques at the same time.

My stay at the Hotel Casa de Don Pedro was another treat (www.hotellacasadedonpedro.com). Benjamin and Cecilia Villegas are most hospitable and friendly and their lovely hacienda has comfortable rooms with lots of outdoor seating area to enjoy the lovely gardens and view of Fuego in the distance. If you want to learn more Spanish, talk with Benjamin and he can arrange a tutor for your stay or just converse with you and help you enjoy you stay even more.

If you have a few days to spare, I recommend at least 3 nights in Antigua for a wonderful experience that can include hiking, biking, exploring churches and marketplaces galore. It was wonderful to be able to experience the people and culture through the eyes of friends, new and old, in such a beautiful country with so much history. I look forward to returning later this spring to work on my Spanish and watch Fuego spew more plumes of ash.

I highly recommend Guatemala to those looking to explore any of the many countries south of the border!

Below are just a few of my favorite photos from the trip.