Ep. 289 Paperwork Perfection: The Checklist to Organize Your Pilot Documents for Success
Ready 4 Pushback
Nik Fialka
4.8 • 716 Ratings
🗓️ 16 October 2025
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When the interview invite finally lands in your inbox, excitement quickly turns into stress: “What documents do I actually need to bring?” In this episode, Nik Fialka walks you step-by-step through the essential paperwork you’ll need to secure your dream airline job. From licenses and logbooks to transcripts, background checks, and even the dreaded FCC permit, Nik breaks it all down so you can show up fully prepared and stress-free.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Why your pilot certificates, type ratings, and medical need to be neatly organized.
The logbook mistakes that can cost you a job—and how to make yours stand out.
How to handle education transcripts, sealed records, and training documents.
Tips for navigating background checks, military service paperwork, and driver history.
Pro interview prep hacks: checklists, accordion folders, backups, and labeling.
Key Takeaways:
Start early—some documents can take weeks or months to acquire.
Always bring originals plus extra copies.
Organize your paperwork so the interviewers can quickly find what they need.
Never underestimate the value of attention to detail—it can make or break your chances.
Protect your logbooks like gold, and always keep a digital/printed backup.
Show up to your airline interview with confidence—because when your documents are squared away, the only thing left to prove is how ready you are for pushback.
CONNECT WITH US
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SPONSOR
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, pilot, welcome back to Ready for Pushback. I'm Nick Fialca. Today, let's talk all about documents for your interview. |
| 0:11.8 | It all started as a spark. Maybe it was the sound of jets racing across the sky. |
| 0:19.2 | Or the feeling of your heart racing as you watch Crop Duster flying low and slow. |
| 0:24.6 | Even then, you knew you were meant to fly. |
| 0:28.6 | For pilots, it's more than just a job. |
| 0:31.6 | It's a calling. |
| 0:33.6 | The early mornings, the long hours, the relentless training, you didn't do it for the money. |
| 0:40.3 | You did it for that moment. |
| 0:42.3 | That moment when the wheels lift off and the earth falls away beneath you. |
| 0:46.3 | But flying is just the beginning. |
| 0:48.3 | The journey to your dream job takes more than just skill in the sky. |
| 0:52.3 | It takes strategy on the ground and a lifetime of learning. |
| 0:57.0 | Most pilots don't understand what career opportunities are available in the world of aviation. |
| 1:03.0 | Learn how to go from good to great, from flight school to regional to major, and from hopeful to hired. |
| 1:16.0 | Whether you're sharpening your skills, building your resume, or preparing for that big interview, |
| 1:18.7 | this is where pilots come to level up. |
| 1:20.9 | Let's get ready for pushback. |
| 1:24.4 | Here's your host and my dad, Nick Fialca. |
| 1:33.8 | When you get invited to interview for a job, one of the things they're going to ask you for is everything. |
| 1:39.9 | And by everything, I mean the documents that are important for that job. |
| 1:48.0 | And there are so, so many different documents. And it is super duper important to make sure you have exactly what they're asking for, exactly the right way of display, and being very, very particular |
| 1:57.2 | about what you're doing. And so today, I thought it would be really cool if we talked |
... |
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