I am really nervous to post this, I hope it is recieved well and I don't come across as self-serving, I truly just want this information out there, that's all.

Dear all people not interested in working for Great Lakes: Unless you have something to add to this conversation, it's extremely frustrating and insulting to us who have put alot of ourselves into Great Lakes. We are very capable of pointing out the downfalls of coming to work here on our own and your "advice" comes across entirely the wrong way.

If you are interested, and want to know the sunny-side of working at "Ol Lakes Air" read below:
Disclaimer - The following information is coming from a spoiled Legacy-kid who wanted to find the best way to make it to his dream job, and to fly with his Dad before he retired. After 5 years and 5 months of hard work at Lakes, I have achieved that dream. I am 27 and according to many, I have hit the proverbial lottery in the airline game. I'm bound to be a little cheery when it comes to my recollection of things, but I also hope I come across as less-douchey and more-informational as to why one might consider GLA as a place of employment.

Great Lakes was described to me by a former Laker who said if I was ready to "fly my butt off" this was the best way to get the experience right out of college. People come here and fly approximately one year (sometimes less, sometimes more) until they upgrade to Captain. Upgrade is entirely about preparedness, there have been some who lack the maturity or leadership skills or need more time studying, that take 2-3 years to upgrade, but if you feel you have the ability, seniority will NOT hold one back at Great Lakes.

Seniority at Great Lakes is always moving, maybe it's the harsh working conditions, maybe it's because we're just scrappy pilots, but Lakers - in the worst of times - always find a good place to go work once they've achieved their goals with Lakes. For some that's simply, 1000 TPIC, for others, it's the airline experience to get hired at a larger regional. My goals were to get the 1000 TPIC and see if I could build any better resume, then go to another regional if I felt I was done here. Because of the rapid move up the seniority list, not only does upgrade come quickly, but reserve is minimal (usually 1-2 months, if at all at the Jr domiciles.) One can achieve weekends off or a schedule that meets their needs to varying degrees of success based on domicile.

After 2 years, 6 months at lakes, having been a Captain for about 1.5 yrs, I took the Union Vice Pres position. Many similar volunteer positions are not just available at Lakes, but are in desperate need of more leadership. I highly recommend getting involved in union meetings as they are a place to put ones energy to MUCH better use than these forums, no matter what company you work for. I enjoyed the people I worked with in our local, they all wanted to improve the company and it was some of the best times I've had working here.

After 3.5 years at Lakes, I applied and was offered Asst. Chief Pilot (yeah I'm that guy) and I also took on Line Check Airman duties shortly thereafter. This is something that is rarely talked about on the forums, but the career development one can achieve at Lakes is significantly better for the people who have the personality-type and want to take on roles in the training dept. or management. Unlike many other regional airlines, the opportunities are there because Instructor pilots, LCAs, and management pilots are looking for the next great flyng job too! Looking back, I'm sure I didn't always do things in the best way, I wish I had taken more management courses and learned more people-skills in college, that's for sure. But I still have many great friends, and I just hope that I didn't act like a douche to my fellow lakers while doing the job, if I did, I'm sorry and I owe you a beer.

Last August, my dream airline started accepting applications and I got an interview the following May. The guys who interviewed in the same group as me were all in their mid 30's, or 40's and to my knowledge there were only a handful of us interviewing who were in our 20's and we all had come from Great Lakes or had achieved Turbine PIC in some other way that was extremely lucky or challenging, or a combination both.

Lakes is a place that offers career advancement, for some that means a stepping stone before another stepping stone. For others, they go straight to a job that they can spend the rest of their career at. I have seen a great many success stories in my 5+ years here and one thing I will never do is regret coming to Lakes instead of waiting a few more months and going to a different regional. I had no idea at the time, but my haste in getting an airline job benefitted me immensely. I will miss the people here and I know that without a doubt Lakers are the best group to be a part of and if you don't have connections when you start your career, Lakers go everywhere in the industry and I have made many friends here that could help walk a resume in to darn-near any airline out there.

Be aware of what you may be getting into, the pay has been talked about, the training is very difficult. The day-to-day flying can be really fun, but also is grueling. To my knowledge, HR peeps that get to know our pilots are always impressed with our attitude, other pilots love the skills we build and the interview boards at many (not all) airlines look very favorably at the experience one gains here.

There, I've done what I always wanted to do on here. I hope you found it helpful but this is just one opinion, ask the right questions so you can make your own.
Best of luck to all hunting for jobs, I'm out.
*drops microphone, walks off like a rapper*