— Part of “Mentorship Reflections” Project
➤ Keypoints
🔹 An aircraft mechanic who briefed pilots before every flight for 5 years— That’s 1000+ high-stake technical discussions!
→ Outstanding technical communication skills
🔹 Skills you use daily might be your biggest competitive edge — Start counting there.
➤ Conversation with Mentee
The mentee was an aircraft mechanic for 5 years. He plans to transition to engineering after completing his aerospace degree. He was a good communicator and listener — Our exchange flowed naturally with the right level of detail.
Then, he casually mentioned something that caught my attention:
💡 For 5 years as the airline’s mechanic, he conducted pre-flight briefings for pilots and flight crews before every flight in his shift.
✦ Me: “Wait… before (that big airline’s) every flight?”
✦ Mentee: “Yes, for 5 years.”
… That means 1000+ technical briefings with pilots, other mechanics, and flight crew leaders.
Wow!
➤ Discovered Strengths
Those many briefings this person has conducted have helped him develop:
✅ Effective communication
Those intensive sessions were great training for him to become an effective communicator. He knows how to explain technical content with clear, understandable word choice.
✅ Good grasp of technical communication granularity
Pilots, mechanics, and flight attendants speak different “technical languages” — He had to tailor his message to each group, picking the right set of relevant information and communication style.
✅ Working under pressure
He ensured critical information being well-understood by pilots. Also, within the tight pressure of line-maintenance in airports (several hours – Max. 1 day).
This isn’t just a routine task — it’s a high-level engineering skill. This is a very valuable evidence of his communication skills, which I recommended him to emphasize while applying for jobs.
➤ Suitable Environment
After confirming that he enjoys technical communication with customers, he was happy to explore the path of customer support engineer or in-service engineers for aerospace systems.
His versatile communication strength and mechanic background is a big asset to bridge customers (maintenance) and design office.
➤ Takeaways
This mentee reminded me:
We often overlook what we’ve done so often that it feels normal. But sometimes, what feels “normal” is actually a rare, valuable strength.
Maybe we can start counting the things that we do every day.
It could be one of our strongest edges.
- See Your Strengths is a sub-series in the Mentorship Reflections writing project, aiming to shed light on how everyone can bring strong impact – to the right table.
- (Natural Strength + Passion + Paths You Enjoy) * Everyone = Happy World
- Mentoring slots are open. Reach out via LinkedIn message 👍