Women in aviation Conference 2014
 

Guys and Gals:

So I had been planning to attend the WIA conference in Orlando next month, that is, until I managed to break my ankle at my brother's bachelor party:-( (insert jokes here!). Additionally, I discovered that instead of standing in long lines to speak to recruiters, you'll now have to get in line for a fast pass, which will then allow you to schedule a specific time to speak to a recruiter.

So what do y'all think? Is it counterproductive for me to still attend the conference to speak to recruiters (for the majors)? Am going to be on crutches for another 6 weeks. Do you think it shows initiative for me to show up on crutches?:-)

Am a fairly new regional captain, looking to take the next step, and really don't want to pass up the opportunity to get some face-to-face time with so many recruiters. Looking for serious reactions and advice.

Silky

p.s. Broke my ankle playing paintball:-)

I say go...
 

Silky,

Mil guy here getting to retire and sitting on fence going to the conference. Personally I would go since there is no other venue in the near future that will have the number of vendors there. I would change the story to: was volunteering at the local soup kitchen when all of sudden you heard sirens and rushed to the seen of the car accident. You saved several people to include a small dog. When one of the children you saved wanted her stuffed animal you rushed back to the burning car to save the stuffed animal and slipped on an oil patch. The good news is that you were able to crawl to the car and get the stuffed animal and make the young child happy.

Bottom line. It is hard to pass up the opportunity to talk to so many recruiters. I would get a wheel chair though since the lines could be long throughout the day.

cheers,

mugsy

I"ve got no dog in this hunt; but if'n it were me, I'd go.

I broke my ankle this summer, no fun, but take a handful of advil before you go and ice it up for :30 min at least the morning of.

Ice and ibuprofen go a long way.

Just keep off the pain meds, recruiters probably would not appreciate the dried drool on your chin! ;-)

What's this all about? So if I read the info correctly on the website, you won't get a chance to talk to any of the majors unless you have a Fast Pass and in order to get a Fast Pass you have to be a member of WIA.

Just curious for the men who attend: are you actually supporting and a proponent for women in aviation or are you just using them to get face time/interview at a major? Sounds like a slap in the face for WIA if a man uses them only to get face time/interview at a legacy and then never go to another WIA event again.

The same happens at OBAP, as there are many men and women from every race and gender that attend the Job Fair portion of the conference and I can assure you that the organization encourages it. It increases revenue and that's a no brainer.

-2263

Say I were to dress up as a woman, Mrs Doubtfire style, then when its my turn to talk to the recruiters do a superman and reveal my suit and short hair. Would that be considered showing initiative and the ability to adapt to the situation at hand, or would it be frowned upon?

Just kidding. I would still go. Might even work in your favor if you still showed despite being uncomfortable. Good luck.

1. you shouldn't have worn the extra tall heels at your brother's bachelor party.
2. who asks his sister to come to his bachelor's party?
3. recruiters will recognize the guy with the crutches "oh, that's Silky!"
4. "Don't want to pass up the opportunity".....then don't. Come on down.
5. is it counterproductive? Compared to what? Sitting at home watching TV?
6. will it show initiative? Yes. Will that matter? IDK.
7. Free advice. Worth every dollar you spent on it.

Where did everyone read this about the fast pass thing? I didnt see that but I haven't been on the website in a while.

2014 Annual International WAI Conference - Get Yourself A WAI Fast Pass

Get Yourself A WAI Fast Pass

If you're heading to the Conference looking for a job, be sure to read these changes. In fact, so many people came to the Conference looking for jobs last year, we came up with a great new way to help WAI members connect with the potential employers.

First, you're going to want to check out The Daily onsite for a schedule of hiring information seminars presented by the different airlines participating. In these 30-40 minute seminars they'll share basic application procedures for their company, discuss current positions available and the requirements for those jobs, and answer some frequently asked questions.

Because the strategy has worked so well for Disney, we're also instituting a "fast pass" system of our own. To get some face time with these companies, you'll need to check in at the Veracruz South Registration Counter and get your fast pass. The pass will give you a specific date and time to go to the company's booth in the exhibit hall or designated room for a 15 minute face-to-face meeting. But be sure you check in early-there will be a limited number of fast passes available for each company each day. These passes are only available to WAI members.

Hopefully this new system will be better for everyone and give job seekers a more meaningful experience at the conference!

Hiring Information Seminar Schedule:

Thursday, March 6 - Seminars updated February 18, 2014 PDF

Friday, March 7 - Seminars updated February 18, 2014 PDF

Saturday, March 8 - Seminars updated February 18, 2014 PDF

Fast Pass Check-in Desk Schedule:


Thursday, March 6
9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Friday, March 7
10:45 am to 12:00 pm and 1:45 pm to 4:00 pm

Saturday, March 8
10:45 am to 2:00 pm

There are a limited number of fast passes available per company and per person each day. Conference registration and WAI membership DO NOT guarantee receipt of a fast pass. We cannot promise or guarantee hiring interviews or face-to-face meetings but are working to schedule as many of these opportunities as possible for the convenience of our members.

Fast Pass Schedule:

Fast Pass Schedule updated February 18, 2014 PDF

So If your not a member or don't get a fast pass, you can't talk with the airlines?

Welcome to the real world.
Airlines DONT hire the most qualified pilots, this shouldn't be a shocker to you or anyone. The entire process is a game and laughable at time. Why not use the flawed system to your advantage?

I went to the conference in 2012 with a broken leg and was on crutches, long day but learned a ton from the airline recruiters.

Exactly. This is the reason Caucasian pilots should go to OBAP as well. AS, for one, always sends a team of CP/HR people to recruit at both WIA and OBAP.

From what I've been hearing you purchase a weekend membership or even a one day. Problem solved. Perfect way to support WIA for those that feel guilty about it. Military discount too.:D

So if you're not a member do you get to wait in line while the fast pass people get a specific date and time or is it that non members or those who don't get one of the 2600 passes (total for all three days) don't get any chance of speaking to a recruiter???

Ouch! Quit eating those lemons.

Sounds like what Timmy would do.

Are you suggesting that only a certain gender or race can support an event? Is one race or color better than another? Sorry this world is about us ALL being equal and excepted at ALL events. :rolleyes: Cats and dogs alike.

So those people buying non member one day passes are gonna be SOL?

What's Timmy up to?

I don't think he is back from his last lunar mission yet.:D

So a man can attend a women in aviation fair, just like a straight guy can go on a gay cruise, and a gun control advocate can join the NRA.
God bless America.

Just go to the event
 

Packrat is 100% correct. Just because it's an OBAP or WIA event, doesn't mean you should not attend, we've hired guys at Atlas recently, who attended both events.

Atlas will be at both WAI in Orlando March 6-8, and at the OBAP event March 20 in Las Vegas.

It would only be a "slap in the face" if the foundation of it was unfair preference to begin with. WIA is an outreach and networking platform and they do a great job with that. There are far more men in commercial aviation as pilots than women. That has nothing to do with discrimination and any claim to such, or any follow on claim or action of preference or "special minimums" based only on sex is disgusting and mocks the many talented hard working time building females that have legitimately made it to where they are. That said, there does need to be a disproportionate effort at the initial gateway phase. Ditto for every "minority" or whatever we're calling the term this week.

WIA organizing a job conference is absolutely fair game and what they should be doing. And yes anyone can and should participate.

And yes I am fully aware of the irony of what a firestorm a Men In Aviation and all other equivalents would bring, but that takes nothing away from trying to get demographics to take a look at professions they for whatever reason aren't as actively pursuing.

Go, support the effort and be a part of it. The more men that go the more we will all start to remove arbitrary preferences from the equation and start to view one another as equals.

Amen, Brother.

You want to know how you fix that flawed system? Stop recommending pilots. For example Delta recently hasn't hired a single pilot that didn't have an internal recommendation. Those with buddy-buddy recommendations and the more the better are getting the interviews.

Imagine for a moment that not a single Delta pilot made a recommendation for a newhire pilot candidate. Delta management would not know who to call and would therefore be forced to start calling the most qualified. When the predominant system is based on recommendations, you get calls for the most connected, not the most qualified. So if your complaint in aviation is we aren't hiring the most qualified pilots, then the fix is to stop recommending pilots to management. Let them pick the best of the best.

I went to the conference last year and I'm convinced that is why I received my Delta invite. I had one LOR for Delta, 2100 hours mostly F/A-18 and zero other connections to Delta period and thankfully was in the initial batch of interview invites that went out. Or, my invite was just the luck of the draw.

My advice is to loiter around, start conversations with the people around you, and network, network, network. If you're military, there's typically a flight suit social at one of the convention bars that I ended up at last year and it was packed with great people. I was wearing a suit but managed to strike up a conversation with a couple of the pilots (T-34 instructors) and they invited me to join their gathering. You may not make the connection that gets you an interview, but you're sure to have a good time nonetheless. They all know why you're there, they all have been in our shoes and they all respect the effort that prospective new-hires are putting in and some want to help in anyway they can.

In the end, attending the conference got me fired up and excited for the years ahead. Totally worth it. Granted my squadron gave me the keys to an F/A-18 with a student to get some cross country training along the way which eased the pain of getting to and from Nashville.

Last year, they made it clear men were very welcome. Took our money. And then grabbed all the women out of the long lines for the job fair and put them ahead of all the men. It was incredibly unclassy, IMO. The irony was comical. I only saw one woman refuse to jump the queue like that. I'd hire her.

I've come to a realization as I've aged and it has to do with the quality of an individual.

When you ask a plumber a car salesman how much experience he has, the standard reply is usually their age minus 15 or 20. So the average 55 year old plumber has 35 to 40 years of experience. With that much experience, you can only assume that a plumber who is 55 has to be superior to a plumber who is 35 who only has 15 to 20 years experience. Right?

In fact, I just had work done to my house that was done by a carpenter with many years of experience. Thankfully I rent, because ON PAPER, this guy had a boat load of experience but his work was terrible. His personality was even worse.

On paper, it is difficult to get a realistic impression on the quality of a pilot based solely on his numbers. And then there's the whole personality thing to consider.

Agree with all that. But for right here and right now, there's ENOUGH separating mil or reserve/guard pilots as well as civ pilots that have been treading water through the "dark decade" that are not only good people/good personalities AS WELL AS HIGHLY COMPETITIVE.

It's not like they just pull from WIA, they pull from the other job fairs as well. And other avenues or "silos" on top of that. All with great people showing up, great people with A LOT of qualifications. So more simply said, why not sift through them before somebody else grabs them up? It is what it is.............

And as far as ShyGuy's point goes, sure. How many of the males that go to WIA that DON'T contribute to WIA is a semi valid point. How many of the females that have been in WIA flat out stop contributing once they've gotten the job? Sorry, I've known more than a few. Just like former interns that were hired with way less than a competitive app that couldn't be bothered to help other former interns, just like a son and daughter at the UAL of old couldn't be bothered to help another s&d on the way up, etc.......

Which of the 3 days is best to attend? Less crowded/shorter wait? I'm assuming the first day of job fair is nuts?

That's what the interview is for. Weed out the bad personalities. But as the previous posters mentioned numerous times about this industry not hiring the most qualified pilots, the only fix is for everyone universally to stop recommending pilots. Otherwise the system will continue to run as hiring those who are well connected over those who are well qualified. But then again, the definition of well qualified is hard to quantify for a pilot.

What's "the most qualified"? Is that even required? Or is the standard really "good enough"? They're hiring guys to be FO's for at least 6-7 yrs and on average slightly longer. By the time they upgrade (12-15 yrs professional experience?) the experience gap will have closed significantly if not completely.

I've told less qualified guys - don't be intimidated. Yes, they're more competitive but your odds aren't zero. And who you are is part of the equation. On paper they might rank higher, in person some won't. Improve yourself and focus on fixing your weaknesses/holes in resume.

For planning purposes for our booth I asked WAI about the number of expected attendees for the 3 days. Their response was about 3300 people. :eek::eek:

Hello Silky,

Since this thread went off the tracks after the second post and you never did get a real answer - then here's mine.

Go!

I've done the recruiting at these events. To me, showing up with a broken ankle would impress the recruiters as a real world display of your mettle. Any goofball can clean up their act for a day.

After meeting 200 people on such a short format, I found it impossible to recall who was who when the review board reconvened later in the week. Or the next week depending on everyone's schedule.

The person with the broken ankle? They WILL remember you.

Hope this helps.

How many want to bet a small percentage show up with crutches?
Anyway to get noticed....
Stay classy

OK that's pretty tacky if that's what happened. Junk like that does more to disparage the cause they are trying to promote.

Commercial aviation is a very, very small world though. With 12000 (ish) pilots and another 60K+ employees, how many pilots in this industry at the point of competitive mins can't scrounge up an internal recommendation? And if not, why not? Think about it.

Then repeat for AA, UAL, FX, UPS, SW, etc. etc. etc.

Even perrenial TOTD's have made some friends along the way. To not be able to come up with anything is simply proof that you're just not very motivated, aren't trying hard and have no concept of the CRM part of networking.

Any pilot that's interested and at the level of competitive mins should easily be able to scrounge up an internal rec or three. Easily.

Hmmmmmmm.

Amazon.com: Shell Air Ankle Cast Walker Short, Large: Health & Personal Care