Originally Posted by
BarrySeal
Well, I would say that indeed "Jet PIC" is better for "resume purposes." But it seems more and more the majors are evaluating other things, such as leadership roles, education, safety officer, chief pilot, etc roles. Also volunteer work.
I would say you need to do both. A great leader, trainer, volunteer with low flight time will probably never get called. A pilot with lots of flight time but no extra-curricular bullets will be at a disadvantage and may never get called.
Originally Posted by
BarrySeal
So I would say "it depends." A non-degree holder with Jet PIC probably scores lower in the resume mystery machine than a degree guy with Turboprop PIC.
Yes. DAL will hire low-time RJ FO's on rare occasion. But not without a degree. Also that's a real brass ring grab, so don't plan your career on that kind of luck (unless you have an uncle on the BoD or something).
Originally Posted by
BarrySeal
Also, turboprop PIC- are these day VFR trips for a private Part 91 owner to take his wealthy daughter to college and back ? Or Part 121 Q400's in ice and snow ?
Regionals cannot afford to care right now. Majors will absolutely be looking for professional turbine experience, either military or as similar as possible to jet 121 operations.
135 and even more so 91 experience are less desirable to the top-tier majors who can be picky. They don't want to hire a great pilot who turns out to hate the 121 lifestyle and quits.
135 training is not necessarily as consistent as 121 training (which is relatively but not perfectly consistent).
Part 91 training means the pilot is the customer at Flight Safety. Typically a much lower-pressure training environment. Similar with foreign airline pilots who may spend up to six months or more getting a type rating, while US majors cram that same "training" into six weeks.
Originally Posted by
BarrySeal
I would say it is also "how you articulate it" on your resume/etc.
A glance at the AA and especially SWA forums show numerous "I have 5000 jet PIC, no call" types of posts.
Yes, the resume needs to be good, but you also need to work the network, job fairs, meet 'n greets, etc. In this environment you MUST have extra-curricular resume bullets of some sort or a well-connected friend on the inside. It's a game, many folks are playing it hard right now and they are the ones who will get called.
Also... when you meet folks in person you'll want to be physically fit, very well groomed, and very well attired. First impressions go a long way, even if they don't officially or consciously discriminate against overweight slobs.
A top major job is a lifestyle and economic game-changer, so you're up against some serious competition. Don't take that lightly. Lot of guys are asking what's wrong with me? Probably nothing, but there are a lot of other folks who are trying harder and have more meat on the resume. Who do you THINK they're going to call?