Originally Posted by akpilot7
You make a good point. You are referring to the "good old boy network" approach at hiring. The problem is that you can't fight that with quotas, affirmative action, active hiring, etc. Here is what happens when you hire a 1000 hour woman (or minority) over the 5000 hour white guy. It ****es off the other white guys who as you pointed out are justified in their anger. This makes them give that new hire no respect, and makes them push even harder to get "their own" in the door. It just makes for a lot of hostility and in-fighting. If you want to have this whole problem go away, simply hire on qualifications, skills, knowledge, etc. Do away with the referral program. If it doesn't matter that a "buddy" walked in your resume, the problem is solved. All resumes should be reviewed in the order received, and sorted according to qualifications. I am sure that wouldn't be hard for the HR department to implement. Problem solved.......Now on to world peace.
Well, I didnt say white guys would be justifiably upset I said understandably upset and there's a huge difference. In theory what you propose would be a huge step in putting everyone on equal footing but the reality is that it still wouldnt happen and if would be difficult for an HR company to enforce. The reason is that pilots are not hired simply off of hours. There is an interview process where the company tries to get a feel for the guy and make sure they're not hiring some moron with 5000 hrs. Unfortunately this is very subjective. How well you relate to the interviewer or how well
they think you would fit in begins to be a factor and then you're right back to square one. It becomes an even bigger issue in other careers where its not so easy to rack and stack people's qualifications and it becomes even more subjective. The reality is that in every industry a lot of people get hired because of some connection. I know several white men who have a job that they would have never gotten if they hadnt been buddies with the right person (and i one case the son). These guys are going about their business without anyone being ****ed or looking at them as if they took some more qualified persons spot (even though they did). I guarantee you if stacked all the hours for new hires at major carrier that you would find more white males hired with 2-3000 hours (or low time) while other white males with 5000+ (who had no contact) are sitting at home waiting on a phone call....
Affirmative action, quotas, and minorities are easy targets because we can see them easily and they are written laws and policies. However, far more jobs are given those white males who have a unwritten inside track than the small percentage given to minorites...if you dont believe me look at the flight decks. So if you're ****ed that your 5k hours isnt getting you a job its understandable to be upset with quotas but share that anger against the hundreds of other white guys who got ahead of you too b/c dad played golf with the chief pilot....