Mente’s Personnel Placement Program Sets New Benchmark for Aviation Recruitment

Mente Group’s new Aviation Personnel Placement Program, launching to coincide with NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas, NV next week, offers customers an alternative approach to the recruitment process provided by traditional human resources teams - by focusing on a candidate’s technical capabilities early in the application process.

Unlike most agencies, where the initial interviewers have no technical expertise, Mente ensures that a potential employee is interviewed by someone who has ‘real’ experience working in their role.  For example, an experienced pilot will interview candidates applying for a pilot position.  The same principle applies to engineers, dispatchers and flight attendants.

The interview process Mente provides is three-tiered. The first stage involves a detailed phone interview to gain information on a candidate’s background as well as their opinions on important technical issues, such as automation and crew resource management. Following this, the applicant undertakes a psychological assessment, which sets the stage for what kind of questions will be asked in the third and final stage: a face-to-face interview.

The program is headed up by Vice President of Consulting Christopher M. Broyhill, Ph.D., CAM, who joined Mente Group in June this year contributing 30 years in leadership positions in both military and business aviation.   Chris will work alongside Mente’s Don Hammer who has over 45 years of experience in business aviation as a technician, completions manager and operational auditor. 

Broyhill was inspired to use a scoring matrix throughout the process after experiencing a similar method used in the US Air Force. He explains: “When the Air Force were deciding who to promote, they couldn’t interview everyone, so they’d look through everyone’s personnel folders and score them on certain criteria to narrow down the candidates. We do the same throughout our recruitment process.”

The company has already completed two placements and is in the process of securing three more. In one case, Mente was tasked with finding a Gulfstream G500 Captain in Texas. After receiving 125 initial resumes, 20 applicants were invited to a phone interview, nine met with Mente in person, and just four were put in front of the client. Broyhill says the feedback from both customers and candidates has been positive.

Mente is successfully growing its suite of services and recruiting qualified professionals in specialist sectors to offer this vibrant industry sector a one stop in aviation consultancy.

Mente Group will be participating at NBAA in Las Vegas during October 10-12 and marketing three aircraft on the static.  Mente will show a Pilatus PC-12, Gulfstream G200 at SD11 and a Bombardier Challenger 300 at SD05.