Originally Posted by NewGuy01

I’ve got a buddy who is a regional 121 PIC. He’s been to every meet and greet opportunity OBAP, PNW conf etc etc I also helped get him a meet and greet with the base CP. No call in a year +

I’m definitely in the “I have no idea how this works” camp.

Originally Posted by Reactivity

Been there, done all of that. Even had an internal recommendation from someone who was once featured in the "Why I love Alaska" section of the web site years ago.

In 2002, a single meeting with the Seattle base assistant chief pilot was enough to get me an interview. Not now.

I did all of that stuff for a while (starting in 2012), then stopped throwing money and time at them after a few years of absolutely no return on the investment. When I got the call for the meet & greet last year, I hadn't been to a single event in almost two full years. Figure that one out.

Honestly, though, the whole "job fair circuit" bugs me. Airlines expect you to drop a couple hundred dollars a couple of times a year to chase them around the country and stand in line for hours at the annual meeting of an organization in which you have no interest whatsoever so that you can get your face in front of them for ten minutes? Especially if you're working in part 135 like I was for a long time and you have no jumpseat capability, it's just nuts.

NWAC was easy because it's local to me and inexpensive, so I did that regularly for a while. A couple of times at NWAC, the first person I talked to took me to talk to a second recruiter. I figured I must be getting close, but still nothing. As noted, it wasn't until two years after I stopped doing anything beyond the annual-ish application that I finally got any attention at all from Alaska. That's why I say they call whom they call when the mood strikes them.

Originally Posted by coolyokeluke

I always get a little salty over the "has anyone been called who applied six weeks ago" type questions. I suppose it's jealousy, I was like a groupie for a decade (a wide selection of their job fair type things, volunteering, trying to get a check airman position, everything I could) before I got the call to interview. Good luck to all I hope it doesn't take any of you ten years of applications.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by PSFT

I think most of us have also been trying for years. It’s not like we applied 6 weeks ago for the first time and are wondering where the call is. But after doing jobs fairs, meet and greets, etc. for years, once the app opens you get hopeful.

Originally Posted by Reactivity

And I was the guy referenced in the parenthetical portion of your question. That was stated entirely in jest because, like clockwork, there will always be somebody asking here within a week of a hiring window if anybody has been called from the most recent hiring window.

Originally Posted by morerightrudder

Been trying for awhile as well, and just trying to make some sense of it. In the end, it's basically a lottery, and was just trying to get some sense on how the draw works.

Originally Posted by Reactivity

I think you have a handle on it. "Lottery" is a great description. There are lots of opinions about how the draw works, but there are plenty of counterexamples where "random" or "when the mood strikes" seems more accurate.

Originally Posted by HostileCombover

I can attest to this, having applied at every window for the past 6 years. Attended WAI this time around and got the interview call last month. There is no method to the madness...

Originally Posted by PSFT

Just curious, does AS call or email the invite for interview?