Newstick189

Hey all,

Few questions for those who have made the jump from regional to major. I am currently nearing some of the hiring minimums (2500TT/1000 turbine) for some of the big players out there. (DAL, UAL, AAL, Alaska, Hawaiian)

Is it worth it to start getting my resume polished up and start pursuing some job applications? I am highly motivated to get my name in the hat for all of these companies but I want to make sure I focus my energy on the right things. I'm not sure I'm even in the hiring ballpark yet.

Does anyone have any suggestions on services to help tune up my resume? I've seen some recommended interview prep services floating around - but I'm not nearly at that point yet.

Any words of wisdom?

All help is appreciated!

Newstick189

jcountry

Apply everywhere.

Update every couple of weeks (even if you are just updating the hours.)

I was pleased with the FAPA interview prep. They also put on a good many job fairs. A certain level of membership gets you resume review, priority at the fairs (the only way to not stand in each line for several hours,) plus video or in-person interview prep.

Job fairs are important. Get your resume to as many as possible. Some recruiters will tell folks “we don’t keep track of who shows up.” I think that is 100% BS. They definitely assign points for attending. They all do it. Don’t let their reverse psychology throw you off.

I have also heard good things about Emerald Coast.

Also, a good site for prep questions is aviationinterviews.

Jump all over it now!

I am always amazed by people I run across who have not started.

Everyone knows that airlines hire in cycles. Get in ASAP. Don’t fool around.

Newstick189

Thanks for the response!


Are there other providers for job fairs? It seems FAPA has quite a few regional job fairs coming up, but nothing for the majors. I'm sure that must be a once or twice a year type of deal for the big players.

sourdough44

I would get apps out then update on a regular basis. Jump through a few of the hoops to get the ‘points’ towards an interview.

Remember, there is no choice until you have a job offer, apply to all where you may want to work.

rickair7777

Yes, apply early to get credit for long-term interest.

Update apps monthly. Yes, that's a lot of work.

Get interview prep now, if you get a short-notice interview call you won't have time to do it.

If you're applying at places which have tech interviews, get in the books and stay in the books until hired. It's going to be hard to cover all the technical bases the night before the interview.

Get your logbook and background docs all sorted out. That includes NDR, current employer training records, and FBI records so you know what it's in there (many people are quite surprised, and not in a good way).

If you don't already, get a quality suit, good shoes, and x2 white shirts. Keep them in a bag so they don't get dusty. Wear the shoes around to break them in, you may have to do a lot of walking on interview day. By "quality" I mean at least one notch better than your basic men's wear-house unit, and tailored. There's a big diff between looking like you belong in a suit and looking awkward, and first impressions are huge.

Job fairs are good, but again more work. You should probably be pretty much "interview ready" before you attend a job fair, you don't want to stumble while talking to a recruiter... those conversations are part of the interview process.

Getting and staying ready for a major interview is hard work, but you don't really want to apply and *assume* they won't call you for a couple years. Retirements are increasing....

NMTXLine

Do you mind going into more depth on this?



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rickair7777

The FBI maintains a data base which is understood to contain records of convictions and arrests for serious crimes (including DUI I think). Since it is not an official "criminal record", but rather an informational database, it's contents are believed to never be expunged. Arrests will show regardless of conviction status. Convictions will probably never be deleted, even if it's expunged from state/local criminal records.

This is primarily for national security purposes and is NOT accessible by normal employers or the public. You can FOIA your own records, and should because mistakes get made (state/local governments send the info to the FBI).

Government employers (mil, LE, etc) can access it, and so can airlines and airports for SIDA purposes. I don't think airlines are supposed to use that info for other than SIDA clearance, but if they noticed a candidate had no convictions but multiple arrests for DUI, or something worse like sexual assault, that might influence their decision making.

dera

I thought TSA does SIDA clearance? You fill up a form where you say if you've ever been convicted, and the TSA does the background check. The results don't get sent to the airline, only a yay/nay.
I'm somewhat familiar with a case where the SIDA did not clear. The response did not specify what they found, just that they were unable to clear the applicant for a SIDA badge.

rickair7777

In the past airlines had access for sure, maybe that has changed. I agree that it doesn't seem exactly kosher that airlines would access that kind of info but TSA didn't exist a few years ago. The old copy I have of the SIDA application form from a previous domicile says the results of the check will be provided to both the employer and applicant.

I know of one case where a new hire finished IOE and then had to get a SIDA badge for his domicile. The airport issues those, but the airline had him fill out the paperwork. He had lied to the airline about his background, but he was at least smart enough not to lie to the Fed. But the airline admin noticed what he put on the form and he was fired.

dera

In the case I know of, he even lied on the form. It just came back saying sorry, not issued. But not specifying the reason why not.