The airline industry is no different than every other industry in corporate America or even our government in this department.

It's never been "what" you know, it's always been "who"you know. People out there can bury their heads in the sand and say they have more hours, more types, etc.

The people they are hiring at the front of this wave are the rare applicants...kids/friends of management, females, minorities, military retirees, APDs at their current regional airline, space shuttle time/Air Force One pilot time.

My list above is hardly all inclusive but a reality in the start of any hiring wave. The point is, applicants have to distinguish themselves from the other highly qualified candidates. Some of the items above are merely a function of a small supply/demand. Once those supplies of the few run out, they will go after the general population.

If you are in the general population and don't have someone calling your name out in the brotherhood of aviation thru networking, how does it make you look as a candidate? Do you want an employee who is engaged and involved with their peers or do u want wallflowers who could be a risk to their organization since no one may like flying with them or perhaps they take a lot of sick time or something similar. True both the wallflower and the engaged person might have the same flying skills/etc, but how do you know as a hiring manager?

Hiring at a big corporation is all a numbers game. If you can get some friends to help raise your number so u get an interview, that is part of the game. Unless you're in the HR department making the hiring decisions, better to grab a bat and step up to the plate than whine about the batting lineup about the team you want to try out for.

This is just a reality in life.