FollowMe

It’s not like there are 1 qualified pilot for every opening, there are hundreds for every opening at the legacies. When weighing equally qualified candidates there needs to be something to set you apart. But I’m sure you know more about who to hire than those who have made a career of it...

4V14T0R

But apparently you think you’ve be ‘Screwed’ out of the position you really covet. You just don’t get it, and maybe never will. The well rounded acts as a discriminator for all the well qualified currently getting hired. If it becomes more difficult to find candidates they will likely loosen up some of those ‘well-rounded’ discriminators.



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Flyboy68

I never said I'd say that dude, but if we're being honest, that's what we'd all like to say.

How about this answer: "Unfortunately, I don't have the time to do volunteer work or many extracurricular activities because I'm dedicated to my job and my family life. There really isn't extra time for anything else."

That would be the honest truth.

Flyboy68

Truth!


Filler

Flyboy68

I've been gainfully employed my entire adult life, owned a business, got married, bought two houses and maintained them, went to countless family gatherings and functions on both sides of the family, mentored my nephews, and yes I have done some fishing and hunting along the way. Basically, I live a good clean life, no criminal record, and I spend as much time as I can with family and friends when I'm not working my job or taking care of my home. That's how I contribute to society.

So since I don't do volunteer work, this makes me less of a pilot and unable to get hired by a major? Is being a SJW now a prerequisite for getting hired? If it is, this industry in a sad state of affairs.

Flyboy68

When I was having a brain tumor removed, I interviewed several surgeons to perform the surgery, and I made my decision based upon which one was the most well rounded and had done the most volunteer work.

I wasn't interested in where they went to med school or how high they graduated in their class, or how many times they had performed brain surgery. After all, all doctors have the same medical licenses, so the only way to differentiate between them is what they do when they're not performing surgery. That's what's important.

Right?

dera

The problem is, that there are no reputable pilot schools that only produce good pilots, and your logbook doesn't tell anything about how relevant your hours are.

Flyboy68

I agree, and like I said in another thread, you can't judge pilots like NASCAR drivers, by how many wins they have. We're not really competing with each other per se. You can only judge us on hours flown, different aircraft flown, rating and types, training records, number of accidents or incidents, and of course by flying with them yourself. It's very subjective.

So throwing in "What have you done for society" requirement is meaningless bull$hit. Like it was "in the old days", where you were judged by your experience, time and recommendations from others at the airlines to confirm that you were a good pilot and a good person to work with. Trust me, if you were a huge d-bag, a couple of guys at an airline could blackball you from ever working there. I know of a CA I worked with that was a d-bag and had it happen to him, and rightfully so.

I have several friends at the majors that could vouch for me that I fit the bill if that meant anything nowadays, but I don't know if that even matters now, unfortunately.

FollowMe

Okay, so you have 10 pilots to decide between for one opening. All have 7,500TT and 3,000 TPIC. All hold CFII, ATP and numerous types. None have any incidents or failed checks in their past. All have multiple internal recs. All interviewed well and seemed like they would be a genuine pleasure to share a cockpit with. Who do you pick for the job?

Of course it’s easy if you are picking between one highly qualified candidate and 9 turd sandwiches, but that is not what they are doing. By the time they get to deciding who gets the slot EVERYONE they are looking at is highly qualified. Something needs to set you apart, that’s just common sense.

wrxpilot

I get it about the volunteer time, but it really doesn’t matter what your or I think. If you want to move on, you DO need to separate yourself from the average line pilot. It took me awhile to finally get over that mentality myself.

Fortunately I found that volunteering didn’t have to be a lame experience. I did some trail building with my local county, which was actually pretty fun and fulfilling since I’m an active trail user. I also met some new friends. Another thing my wife and I did was dog fostering with a couple of rescue groups. Again, really fulfilling and pretty enjoyable!

I was just a normal line captain at my regional, but with networking and my volunteer experience, I was able to finally get some interviews and eventually got offers from my top two choices.