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.
Yeah, Utah's right.
I spent 4 years in the military working on Hornet avionics, graduated college in the military, and used the GI Bill to pay for its 60% of flight school. I had many awards and service achievement I was proud of and was eager to boast when I entered the “real world”. Only one damn company in 12 years asked about my military background and that was a DoD contractor. Go figure. Even then, they only wanted to know what my rate (MOS) was and did I have an honorable discharge for the purpose of holding a clearance.
I went to flight school after the service while my wife worked. I then put her through college while I flew on the side and worked as an engineer. I just now returned to full-time aviation as an official “second career”. It took me 15 years to get here. I am happy to be flying and learned quite a bit from the pilots on this forum before selecting my place of employment.
Be respectful of everyone and never assume that being an ex-serviceperson is going to put you ahead of the line. Being dedicated to flying and respectful of your fellow pilots will get you where you need to be and you’ll make some friends at the same time.
Jay