Originally Posted by
chicwithwings
I wasn't able to attend... Can anyone who attended reply about how it went? Was it worth it? Waste of time? What was the most valuable thing you came away with?
This was my first time attending the WAI conference, and previously I had been to one job fair with fapa.aero. At first while signing up I balked at the $360 registration fee... after having attended the conference I think it was well worth it. Not necessarily for the job fair aspects, but because of the event as a whole.
The job fair stuff was all completed day 1 for me. There are various presentations by every airline that you can attend and get more info about the company and hiring process, and then there is the actual "meet the recruiters" portion. Since I registered for the three day, I was able to select three airlines and receive fast passes to meet them... that just means I had a scheduled time to meet them. All the companies that were using the fast pass system seemed to be sticking to the time, so my wait was pretty short. The only airline that didn't have any system or process down was United, so the wait for me was over an hour and a half and people with 4pm fast pass slots were in line in front of people with 2:30pm fast pass slots, since United didn't care to check anyones fast pass. All the airlines (I think) were meeting with people after the fast pass slots were done for the day. I know a few had standby lines so that if a fast pass candidate didn't show up and a recruiter was open they grabbed a standby and sent them in.
The rest of the conference is where I can see why it costs the amount it does. The first night was the opening reception... free food, free booze (compliments of Delta), and a live band. Lots of fun and people around. The second day there was a nice lunch provided, open seating so you get to meet lots of people sitting at your table, etc. I wasn't able to stay for the banquet on the last night so I gave away my tickets, but I am sure it was great.
All throughout the day there are presentations, lots of speakers, and of course the exhibit hall with all aspects of aviation represented. I am an Embry-Riddle Alumni so one night there were drinks and dinner provided by ERAU that I attended.
Over-all I had a great time and think it was worth the money. It is more than a job fair and I got to run into people that I hadn't seen in years and years. I would like to try and attend next year, even if I am not job hunting.