Originally Posted by
Hueypilot
But pure numbers of flight time are not very good indicators of the quality of that flight time. You may have 10k hours in an RJ, but for the most part, what were you doing during that time? Probably spent a large amount of that time in the cruise portion of flight.
To go further, I hear this ALL the time from guys..."I have umpteen million hours of flight time but no one is calling me". Understand that at this point, they are still just interviewing what they (the majors) view as the most desirable candidates. Realize that with 10,000+ resumes stacked on their desks, they have to discriminate between everyone. Pilots who've flown the line and have thousands of hours are a dime a dozen. But there are others who have experience as check airmen, directors of operation, chiefs of safety and so on that separate them from the rest of the herd.
You need to find a way to stand out from the herd. Sitting around whining about why you have 10k hours flying jets with major airline logos on it isn't going to get you an interview. And unless you want to be a career RJ pilot, I'd find a way to get a more positive attitude, stat.
To add to this, a base chief pilot said, "We have 3000 applicants for 150 jobs, and 1000 of those applicants have 10,000 hours on RJs. What makes them stand out?"
Well, things like HueyPilot said, as well as volunteering for charitable organisations, plus going to job fairs, having a pilot take you in to meet a chief pilot (depending on the airline), etc.
The thing that struck me as odd, as a retired military fighter pilot, is having to pursue the job. BUT, airlines really have the pick of the litter right now, and I think they will for awhile with this many applicants. So, get out there and do what YOU can to make yourself more competitive!