2013 Helicopter Maintenance Magazine Mechanic of the Year Award

“On my resume, I have an awards category. It has one entry. It is the highlight of my life. I’m not trying to impress you or make you overly jealous. I’m merely documenting. OK, so maybe I am gloating a bit. Here it is, exactly as it appears on my resume. “Awards: I won third place in the 100-yard dash in the fourth grade. I still carry around my green ribbon with me wherever I go. The ribbon is available for authenticity inspection upon request, and my fourth grade PE coach’s phone number can also be provided to corroborate the validity of my claim.” Jarod Kintz

I was looking for a good quote on the Internet to use as an introduction to my column this month when I found Mr. Kintz’ quote, and thought it was too funny to pass up. The blurb about his third-place award on his resume might not be appropriate for a professional resume, but I got a good laugh out of it nonetheless.

On the other hand, winning an industry award is something to be proud of — especially if you are competing against the best of the best and the award is judged by a team of helicopter maintenance professionals. That is why the Helicopter Maintenancemagazine team is proud to announce that we are now accepting nominations for our first annual 2013 Mechanic of the Year Award. As the industry’s premiere magazine for, by and about helicopter maintenance professionals, we are excited to introduce this new award that will recognize a helicopter maintenance professional. These are the eligibility requirements for our new award:

• The nominee must be currently employed in the helicopter industry as a helicopter maintenance professional and have at least three years’ working experience on helicopters.

• The award is NOT for directors of maintenance or other managers or employees of Helicopter Maintenancemagazine or the Helicopter Maintenancemagazine advisory board.

• The nominee may be an A&P mechanic, avionics technician who may or may not be an A&P mechanic, and any other non-managerial maintenance professional. Supervisors who actually perform maintenance are eligible.

• The nominee can work for a federal (non-military), state or city helicopter flight organization. This can be a publically-traded company or private enterprise.

If your nominee does not meet the conditions above, we are sorry, but they do not meet the eligibility requirements for this award. If your nominee does meet the conditions listed, here are some guidelines for nominating someone for the award:

The nominee will have a letter written by another individual to tell us why he or she should be considered for this award. The letter can be written in Microsoft Word or submitted as a PDF. The letter should be sent as an e-mail attachment to our editor at fpolak@helicoptermaintenancemagazine.com. The deadline for us to receive a nomination letter is Dec. 31, 2013. Suggested criteria used in judging the nominees are:

Professionalism

Communication skills

Mentoring

Innovation

Willingness to learn

Involvement with professional organizations/programs

Last but not least, we also require the following information on your nominee:

Name

Job title

Name of company currently employed with

Company address

Company telephone number

E-mail address

We would also like the same information on you, the nominator. This is in the event that we have some additional questions we would like to ask you about your nominee.

In all cases, the information you provide will not be given away or sold to any third parties for any reasons whatsoever.

The winner of the 2013 Helicopter Mechanic of the Year Award will be announced at the Helicopter Maintenance magazine booth at HAI Heli-Expo 2014, with a write up on the award winner appearing in our April/May 2014 issue.

Thank you and good luck!

P.S. Mr. Kintz — if you are a helicopter maintenance professional and would like to apply for the award, it might be a good opportunity to replace that worn-out green ribbon you carry around in your pocket.