This year’s Florida Aviation Business Association’s (FABA) annual conference in Orlando addressed the lack of qualified aviation professionals in the industry. Speakers such as Kathy Knowles, CPO of Intuitive Strategies and former HR director at Banyan Air, offered solutions on how to tackle the issue.

Knowles, who has more than 25 years of experience in corporate aviation, leads a series of online education programs that explore different techniques on how to navigate changes in leadership in the workplace.  At the FABA Conference, she held two workshops on the lack of qualified aviation professionals and leadership practices.

During the first workshop, Knowles presented solutions including developing aviation career programs, searching for applicants in non-traditional ways, announcing job openings through social media, and using videos and webinars to make hiring companies stand out to applicants searching for jobs. In her other workshop, Knowles discussed leadership techniques that can be used for bridging age gaps in the workplace, developing communication throughout companies, and creating responsible teams.

When it comes to interviewing applicants, Knowles gave some advice, saying “that it really is more about storytelling. You want to ask behavior-based questions that get the candidate talking about examples of past work that help to assess whether they can do the job.”