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First officer resume examples from 2026

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Land interviews using Zippia's AI-powered resume builder.

Updated March 26, 2025
6 min read
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How to write a first officer resume

Craft a resume summary statement

Put a resume summary on the top of your resume to highlight your accomplishments. A resume summary sums up your experience and skills, making it easy for hiring managers to understand your qualifications at a glance. Here are some tips to write a strong, impressive resume summary:

Step 1: Mention your current job title or the role you're pursuing.

Step 2: Include your years of experience in first officer-related roles. Consider adding relevant company and industry experience as relevant to the job listing.

Step 3: Highlight your greatest accomplishments. Here is your chance to make sure your biggest wins aren't buried in your resume.

Step 4: Again, keep it short. Your goal is to summarize your experience and highlight your accomplishments, not write a paragraph.

Hiring managers spend under a minute reviewing resumes on average. This means your summary needs to demonstrate your value quickly and show why you are the perfect fit for the first officer position.

Please upload your resume so Zippia’s job hunt AI can draft a summary statement for you.

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List the right project manager skills

Use your Skills section to show you have the knowledge and technical ability to do the job. Here is how to make the most of your skills section and make sure you have the right keywords:

  1. Start with the job listing. Frequently, the keywords looked for by recruiters will be listed. Be careful to include all skills in the job listing you have experience with.
  2. Consider all the software and tools you use on a daily basis. When in doubt, list them!
  3. Make sure you use accurate and up to date terms for all the skills listed.
These five steps should give you a strong elevator pitch and land you some first officer interviews.

Here are example skills to include in your “Area of Expertise” on a first officer resume:

  • FAA
  • CFR
  • ATP
  • PIC
  • Pilot-In-Command
  • Flight Operations
  • Federal Aviation
  • Passenger Service
  • Aircraft Maintenance
  • Caribbean
  • Airline Operations
  • Aircraft Systems
  • Crew Resource Management
  • Cargo Operations
  • Second-In-Command
  • Flight Planning
  • FMS
  • Passenger Operations
  • Passenger Safety
  • Series Aircraft
  • Flight Management
  • Efis
  • Beech
  • Air Traffic Control
  • Embraer
  • GPS
  • Radio Communications
  • International Flights
  • Federal Regulations
  • Charter Operations

Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.

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How to structure your work experience

Next you should include your work experience. Structure your work experience section by listing your most recent experience first, followed by earlier roles in reverse chronological order.

Start with your job title, company name, city, and state on the left. Align dates in month and year format on the right-hand side.

Include only recent, relevant jobs. Avoid including work experience over 20 years to avoid ageism.

Beneath each job, you should have bullet points to emphasize why you're the perfect fit for the first officer.

How to write first officer experience bullet points

Your resume is your chance to show your biggest accomplishments. Don't just list your job responsibilities, instead take the opportunity to show why you're really good at what you do. Here is how you do that:

  • Start with strong action verbs like managed, spearheaded, created, etc. Your goal is to show what you did and verbs will help demonstrate your contributions.
  • Use numbers to quantify your achievements. Did you save time with a new report? Increase revenue? How large was the team you managed?
  • Keep it concise. You're highlighting your achievements. Consider if all details you are sharing are relevant, or can be written more efficiently.

Here are great bullet points from first officer resumes:

Work history example #1

Pilot

US Air Force Insurance Fund

  • Performed extensive aircrew instruction and evaluation in actual aircraft, simulators and classroom to ensure the fighter wing's operational readiness.
  • Awarded Top Gun status and highest scorer of the Squadron.
  • Coordinated weekly and monthly maintenance and flying schedules for 55th Operations / Logistics Group planners.
  • Ensured consistent communication was received between insurance adjusters and clients through constant follow up and daily documentation into all systems.
  • Developed airline operations procedures to meet FAA regulatory requirements.

Work history example #2

First Officer

RadioShack

  • Received Masters with Maurices MBA training program.
  • Opened Maurices Woodburn location as first assistant manager.
  • Analyzed sales records, processed payroll, and created the schedule for all employees.
  • Promoted to manager position to open new store, network and recruit, train and supervise 10+ sales associates.
  • Experienced at building positive customer relationships to increase business.

Work history example #3

First Officer

Mesa Airlines

  • FAA-certified Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) with CRJ Type Rating.
  • Performed preflight inspections, examined aircraft logbook, obtained clearances, calculated weight/balance and prepared load manifests.

Work history example #4

First Officer

Hornblower

  • Handled the Scheduling, Training, Payroll and Personnel Systems of the restaurant.
  • Promoted a positive atmosphere and went above and beyond to ensure each customer received exceptional food and service.
  • Developed and updated time schedules, processing hours for payroll, recording daily sales and related reports.
  • Operated flights in accordance with FAA and company operations effectively and efficiently.
  • Received ATP with single pilot type rating.

Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.

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Add an education section to your resume

Employers are looking for a few things when looking at the Education section of your resume:
  • The highest degree you have achieved.
  • TWhere you attended school, and the dates (Although if you graduated some time ago, leave the date off to avoid ageism)
  • TField of study
  • TAny honors, relevant coursework, achievements, or pertinent activities

Here are some examples of good education entries for resumes:

Certificate in liberal arts

Des Moines, Des Moines, IA

2011 - 2012

Highlight your first officer certifications on your resume

Certifications are a great way to showcase special expertise or niche skills. Some jobs even require certifications to be hired.

To list, use the full name of the certification and the organization that issued it, along with the date of achievement.

If you have any of these certifications, be sure to include them on your first officer resume:

  1. Certified Aviation Manager (CAM)

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