While there is an ongoing pilot shortage in the US, Middle Eastern Airlines are being inundated with qualified applications.

In a meeting with reporters at the Farnborough Airshow in England, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said the airline decided it would hire 700 new pilots, and got 20,000 applications within just a few months.

He emphasized that all the applications were from individuals who were “qualified and type-rated“, meaning the pilots already had the necessary training and certification to fly a specific aircraft.

“They have to go through very a stringent testing facility before we select because we are very, very picky,” Al Baker said.

According to the CEO, the applications came from all over the world, minus the US, and that Qatar’s operation has not been impacted by staffing issues.

Qatar is not the only airline receiving thousands of applications for its pilot roles. In May, Norway-based Norse Atlantic Airways received 3,000 applicants for its first 50 pilot job openings, all of which were qualified candidates.

A Norse spokesperson told Business Insider at the time that the number was higher than expected and that pilots’ desire to fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner had fueled the interest.

So, when a single pilot job vacancy receives thousands of qualified applications, how can you stand out and ensure you give yourself the best chance of landing your dream job?

Aside from being a qualified candidate and having a high level of experience, you obviously need to pass the psyhometric test and simulator session. These stages of the hiring process, however, are usually quite familiar operational tests, or at least closed quantitaive tests, which is why a lot of pilots find the hardest and most daunting stage to be the more open, qualitative, and subjective HR interview.

The interview is a rare moment in this process where, for 30-40 minutes, it has nothing to do with how technically skilled or experienced you are as a pilot, the only thing that matters is if you can effectively, professionally, and concisely communicate your experience, answer challening TMAT questions, and adequately describe how you act in certain situations.

This is the moment that you will either confidently stand out as an exceptional, memorable candidate, or you’ll suffer uncomfortable ‘interview turbulance’ and have a hard landing.

Both the quality of your answers and the way in which you communicate them, will influence the interviewers’ subjective experience and impression of you as a pilot, which ultimately determines one of two outcomes: either you get the best news ever that you’ve been invited to the simulator session, or that your process is simply over.

Nevertheless, depending on the airline you apply to, you may not always be up against thousands of other qualified pilots for the job.

Some airlines, such as a few in the USA, have not been so fortunate with their hiring pools, leading to a pilot shortage that is creating challenges for carriers and passengers.

Companies like American Airlines and United Airlines have been forced to ground about 100 regional aircraft each due to not having enough pilots to fly them, which had also led to route cuts.

Of course, the best jobs and the best companies always attract the best pilots and the most number of applications, but that only makes them all the more valuable and desireable.

My recommendation: Do not leave you interview preparation to the last minute, or simply ‘wing it’ and hope for the best. Being a fantastic pilot, does not mean you are a fantastic interviewee… yet! If the job is important to you, then it deserves the appropriate level of practice and preparation. Focus on what you can control and influence through training and practice, such as the quality of your answers, how effectively you communicate them, and how confident you feel going into the interview! Hire a coach to guide you and give you feedback, so you know what you are doing well, and what you can improve on, giving yourself the best possible chance of succeeding.

*Adapted from an article originally posted on Business Insider. 

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