Originally Posted by
letsfly
One more thought...as I talk to my buddies at different companies they all say "ya man when you are ready let me know and I'll get you in." My question is how much pull does a pilot actually have at a company in regards to helping a buddy get an interview? I guess it depends on how long they have been there? Who they know at the company? How would they even go about "helping me".
It's different at different companies. I've worked at a few places and Dog Breath's comments above are true for most places. ie most guys don't have that much pull, but any internal rec helps you. At some smaller places, a line guy can get you in pretty quick (135 companies, corporate, etc). At some larger carriers, internal recommendations move you to the "small stack" vs. the "large stack" of interviewees (ie will get to you quicker). At a few large places (most notably FedEx) a buddy is ESSENTIAL to get you an interview.
In my experience, I've gotten guys an interview pretty quickly. (ie a few months)..... and when I was interviewing, all the places that a buddy helped me--I got called pretty quickly. At places I didn't have a buddy, I was either called later or not called at all. (Hope this helps).