Vet to airline pilot
 

Just a question regarding veterans going to the airlines, specifically younger guys that were enlisted. Do the interviewees tend to look at this as an advantage? Does it weigh heavily on the selection process when when they decide who gets hired?

It makes good resume material. You have proved that you can conform, follow rules, are disciplined, have leadership ability, a team player, able to handle stressful situations, and host of other valuable skills that airlines look for. So of course having that experience is ALWAYS to your advantage.

Whatever airline you want to go to work for is going to call you for interview based on your flight experience.

When they interview you, the choice to hire you is going to be based on how you handled their interview, as well as how good of a job you did selling yourself on how well you will fit into their company. As well as whether or not they can handle flying a 4 day trip with you.

Non-pilot military service will not give you a hiring advantage if you are not otherwise competetive with flight experience.

If you are in the competetive range, the military background will probably show them that you already have many of the characterists they want in an airline pilot so it should give you a small edge.

There are a few guys at the regionals you got rejected by the military for whatever reason, and these guys might hold a grudge against military pilots (yes, I have seen this). But for an enlisted guy, this will probably not be an issue, just don't beat the military drum if you get bad vibes from the interviewer.

In aviation hiring the most important factor is flight time; next is who you know.

My wife is an HR manager for a fortune 500 co, and vets to my knowledge have a preferential hiring status as required by law, not sure if that is taking into account in the airlines? any way know anything different?

Those two factors get the interview. How well the candidate interviews is what gets them hired.

There are no laws which require private companies to give hiring preference to veterens in general, that only applies to the federal (and possibly some state/local) governments.

Some companies which do a lot of government contracts may be required to have a certain workforce percentage of women, minorities, and veterens...your wife's company is likely one of these. But the catch here is that veterens DO NOT get preferential hiring as individuals...if the company already has the required percentages they would not have an incentive to hire more (not to say they wouldn't).

Many airlines have large federal contracts, but I guarantee you that all airlines are WAY over their veteran quota...remember all those ex-military pilots?

When I interviewed there was zero preference due to being prior military it was strictly meeting the mins they were looking for.

When it did come into play they asked me what was the most difficult training I had ever been to and I asked them if they wanted the list chronological or alphabetical. They did not ask any questions after that.

in my experience it was a benefit once I was in the door but that is only one airline and I am sure there would be less preference at the legacies.

What you are thinking of with the preferential hiring is for all FEDERAL jobs, not regular civilian companies... If any of us who were prior enlisted/commissioned go up against a civilian for a fed. job, we get put at the front of the line.... thats all that means...

I got out of the Army in 1989, and had 3-4 different jobs and a dozen interviews before coming to SkyWest in 2000. SkyWest was the first to bring up my military experince and I don't think it made a difference in getting the job. The LOR from a SkyWest captain was more important, as was my flight experince and aviation degrees.

i don't think that being a veterinarian will help or hurt you. as a pilot, i don't really come into contact with many animals while working, but sometimes you see passengers carrying them. i wouldn't tell them you're a vet, though, cuz they might want you to fix a problem the pet has. better not to let them know.

Ohhh man!?!!??! hahaha

At my interview at SkyWest I felt that my enlisted experience was a huge plus.

I agree...I think it helped me on all my airline interviews (I was hired at each place I inteviewed). I made sure to list the relevant items from my enlistment for the job I was applying for...CRM skills...Door Gunner etc. HAHA! Have fun.

Double post - My bad

Let Ali G straighten this out for you...

YouTube - Ali G learns about Farms (Rubbish Zoos)

Word to your mother, vanilla face.

dojetdriver - this is a great list. I think I'll keep this post and use all those traits in my resume. :)

This was recently told to me as the number one quality they (a company) was looking for. Most applicants are highly motivated, have thousands of hours of experience, and are very equally matched based on what is on the resume. It was the personality that came across at the interview that was the tie breaker.

rickair7777 - It seems that many companies don't really care how much flight time you have as long as you meet the minimums. I mean other threads on the forum are rife with stories of people with crazy amounts of time not getting jobs while others who had to use conversions just to make the mins are getting hired. I've heard others say on here that once you get past a few milestones in the TT, PIC, and Turbine time that the number of hours doesn't really matter. Do you not agree with this?

USMCFLYR

I don't think with your experience you will have to list those traits. Just putting whats in your profile here will be enough to get the point across. Military ALWAYS has an advantage, especially with IP/evaluator experience. It's more like you said, the guy interviewing wants to know your personality.

Thats for the most part true. Maybe the FEW exceptions were when both FedEx and UPS had the heavy/overwater REQUIREMENT.

But yes, we all know somebody that got on at FX, UPS, SW, or what ever other desireable job with the bare minimums. Where they qualified? Sure, by that airlines definition based on their own stated minimums. Where they competitive? Probably not nearly as much as TONS of other guys in their applicant stack who sadly don't know anybody to help get their resume pushed to the top. What separated them? They had the in's to get noticed, then sold themselves in the interview.

There no pilot shortage, especially for the jobs everybody wants.

I absolutely agree that networking in one of the most important things in this line of work. I actually learned that very early on when I first started flying. I was flying check runs and ran across a guy who was less experienced than I (if that was possible at the time) and was flying right seat in a Turbo Commander. I remember asking him how he got that job and he said the boss played poker with his father. I thought to myself - man.....I don't know anybody! :( Thanks for the compliment btw. Let's hope the HR people think the same way when the day comes.

USMCFLYR

Retired Navy Senior Chief....Finished my BS with ERAU the year I retired (2002)...was a CFI,CFII,MEI for 2 years before that....hired by first regional I interviewed with even though the year prior to hire, I held an operations management role –vs.- flying full time. I am convinced that my military service was a key reason I was given an opportunity based on the questions asked during the interview........ GO Veterans!!!!!

I agree. Depends on the company, but once you meet their competetive (as opposed to min) times, additional time probably won't matter much unless the quality of the time is significant (ie military).

If you can stay out of trouble for 2000 hours 121 TPIC you probably have more than luck going for you...after that, the returns diminish.

You can definately be overqualified at a regional...if you have plenty of TPIC they might suspect you won't stick around. But I think most regionals would feel you out and give you a chance if you are looking for a home. I know plenty of ex-corporate turned regional pilots who came with thousands of hours.

Rumor has it that some majors don't like pilots who have many thousands of TPIC, and have not done a training event in years. Perhaps they consider them a training risk.

Also, word is that in 2007 a certain major had 8 out of 15 new hires bail during training for brown or purple...supposedly the hiring manager decided to hire only people who had upgraded but ot yet reached 1000 TPIC :rolleyes:

You probably got hired more because of your proven track record as a responsible adult.

In some industries and at some companies veterans are prefered, but it doesn't make that much difference in aviation unless you were a military pilot. Occasionally you can get lucky if the interviewer is ex-military or happens to be a military fan...I've had that happen.

Now see, that's what's up right there....

I'll be a retired MSgt (USAF), maybe SMSgt (if I'm lucky) in 4 years and I hope to have those ratings and some solid hours by then. I'm almost three-quarters done with my degree as well . I may just stay past 20 until I can get that 1000/100ME if I don't meet the personal deadline of December 2012. I'm based here at ETAR since 2005, will be here until next November then head back to the States. Flight training should be much more accessible back home than it is here in Europe so I can stay current.

Inspiration, I tell ya. Thanks Chief.

HerkFCC