Job fairs are something that will always be an active debate. There are those who think they are worthless, then those who swear by them. Some airlines flag your resume for attending the fairs, some don't.

There are 4 consultants on our team who currently fly for various major airlines. To a man, they all have credited job fairs to helping them get their interview. A few of them at their various interviews had the same recruiters on the panel who they met at the fairs. Imagine how good you'd feel running into an interview panel member at your Delta interview who you met and formed a good relationship with at WIA or OBAP.

Job fairs are more than just waiting in line to speak with recruiters, they're a a good way to building personal relationships with fellow peers and higher-ups at different airlines. Many of these relationships turn into lasting friendships while at that particular airline and lead to landing leadership moves in the future (Check Airman, CP, Instructor, Training Dept, etc). We have a booth at WIA this week. It's a fantastic event and a wonderful 3 days of networking and interacting with everyone.

Aviation, as we all know, is a very small world. The airline industry, in specific, is even smaller. Sure, the occasional pilot who knows nobody, does nothing, sits around and waits will get an interview due to decent credentials. The majority of the time it's the "go-getters" and pilots who are networking their tail off that will eventually prevail. "It's not what you know but who you know" still has some meaning today, even though others with tell you differently.

I'll speak through shear numbers that the majority of our clients have been to job fairs of some kind. Take it for what it's worth but with over 12,000 active resumes on file at the various airlines, I'd being doing everything I possibly could to land an interview during the front of this hiring wave instead of "hoping" the airline of my choice comes and bangs my door down.

Centerline Consulting