Originally Posted by
Tigerpilot1995
Remember as well that not all recs are created equal. I had two very senior line pilots decline to put one in for me because of their history with UPS. They said they had stirred the pot too much in their careers and where afraid it would hurt me. I appreciated that. In the end I had two recs, a new hire and a 12 year captain. The captain is now 5/5 in getting people hired. My rec from him was talked about in my interview. I have a feeling that it looks good when guys continually put forward good applicants.
This could all be wrong though.
No, you are correct. Also, if HR asks this question "Do you know any pilots at UPS?" and you answer "Yes", you better have a rec. If not, the assumption is that you are not worth the 45 minutes on the internet filling out the form online. What do you think HR is thinking?
Also, reputation does matter, so does a professionally written LOR. Help out the person writing it by sending them a current resume, etc. I always share my rec with the person so they know what I said. It takes me 45min to 1 hour to do the rec. Running a good record though.
A new hire LOR is highly rated. Especially when hired by the current HR cadre. I always recommend to my mentored new hires to think carefully who they recommend. They are building there reputation with HR. Quality candidate gives one more credibility and helps future candidates.
All this is just my opinion. But I have talked to HR folks and tracked the numbers, etc.