Originally Posted by
Utah
If you think being in the military will give you an edge over civilian applicants, think again. After four years active duty with leadership experince, communication MOS, top secret clearance, and all that other stuff (Distinguished Honor Grad from a couple courses) , nobody really cared. Most of the people that will be interviewing you will never have had any military experince and could care less. Even better in places like the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia there can be an anti military mindset. I held 4-5 jobs before SkyWest, went on another half dozen interviews, and SkyWest was the only one to discuss my military experience in the interview.
Miltary pilots being interviewed by ex miltary pilots are the ones that have the advantage.
My previous discussion was about civilian employment in general, and you're obviously familiar with that process. With most employers, the fact that you were a 20-year senior NCO means little...they consider you the same as anyone else entering workforce out of college, except they might wonder how well you'll fit in.
Airlines are different...even if they don't discuss your military background, they will almost always take it into account. One of their objectives is to weed out those hairy-assed wild-men who are too individualistic to consistently follow the rules...but if you have an honorable discharge, they will consider that ticket punched.
There are a very few regional interviewers who have a civilian flying background but were rejected by the military at some point. They may hold a grudge. These guys might take it out on a C-130 pilot, but I doubt they would have any issue with a non-pilot ex-military type.