I'm sure that this debate is far from over. I think however that aside from several acquaintances that I would consider "rock stars" that have been passed over, my own story is an interesting examination of current hiring practices. My qualifications:
Full time SIM instructor
LCA with over 10k hours, Captain since 2003
CQ gound instructor and developer of training programs
SME and developer of CRM/TEM and human factors program
Developer and instructor in Leadership and Professionalism program
Decent guy with a good sense of humor and non maloderous
For many years, I,like many others coveted the Fedex grail. I had an app in since 2005 knowing that only legacies were getting hired back in the days of sponsors. After many years with no real hiring but nonetheless regular updates I decided to give it up.
Fast forward to early last year when a good friend was hired into the 777. He convinced me that I should try again. He and another friend felt that I could at least get my app looked at as they had been helping with some preparations for last year's open house. So early last year I updated my app and continued to update once per week. Had it proofed and was told that I was an uncommonly qualified candidate.
I put in my info to get an invite to the "first come first served" open house. I clicked "submit" within seconds of the site going live. The next day (2 days before the invitation emails went out), my friend was in the room with the nice lady who helps make the decisions on who gets a call. She had my app in her hand and mentioned to my friend that the university that I graduated from is not on their preferred list. I didn't get an invitation to the open house and obviously never got an interview.
In my years as a Captain and instructor I've seen good and bad pilots from both civilian and military backgrounds. I've never seen the school that they attended to have much of a bearing on anything. And that is of course just one of many silly things that they are using to separate out candidates.
I've made my peace and I'm not bitter. I have an amazing job making a lot of money and home most of the time, and with only 15 years to go, I'm quite satisfied. Its just always a gnawing sense of disappointment that I never even got a chance to talk to someone. Just seems like a barrier for a barrier's sake. No real rhyme or reason to it and great pilots left by the wayside.
I hope airlines take a look at this and someone changes it. I dont care if it's a computer or a human making the initial score but pilots should be given points for their pilot credentials, not what school they went to.