Awesome thread! Great fun for me to read!

Soon will be the time to start phone calls and visits (it's December now). A face to face is worth a thousand hours of requested time, you'd be suprised how many calls and letters promising facetime never happen... show up! That's step one.

Step Two: Don't give up, leave with a smile and call back in a few weeks. Then wait a month and call again. I was hired by an operator that turned me down at the start of the hiring season. They washed out several (more experienced) pilots in groundschool, and I happened to call as the CP was looking at the ceiling, trying to decide how to fill his open seats.

Step Three: Keep an open mind and leave your ego at the door. You will only be able to pick up the tricks and skills necessary of the new kind of flying (or new area you'll be flying) if you keep your mouth closed and ears open. Grampa said there's a reason we have two ears and one mouth. Use accordingly.

Step Four: Have fun! This is mostly a seasonal job, so know where you'll be going after the season ends. Perfect time to do some IFR flying! Ferry some planes, do something totally different! If you're like me, it's when you open up the toolbox and start working on the airplanes you've flown all summer long, ready them for next season. Made more as an A&P than an ATP.

Good luck,

Ronin