Rostov

Trying to read the tea leaves is never a good use of time. Though I admit I attempted many times while waiting for the call. Unfortunately even those currently working on property won't generally have a good indication of this as it doesn't look like any of us are really privy to the process really.

The best advice I would give is keep updating, applying not just for United but every airline/cargo carrier, making sure your app is clean, and when able looking for opportunities to add to your application (upgrades to elevator, chief pilot, director of operations etc etc.)

rightside02

The point system used is always a moving target ... the guys who didn’t get the invite last time around could def get it going forward ... what was the average resume when I got hired prob isn’t today . Thr averages change .

Don’t let this distract you from your goal .... of United is what you want , get back to a job fair and show that to a recruiter .

Best of luck .

TripleSpool

Job Fairs, Nepotism, Conjured Algorithms, more Job Fairs, and Fear Tactics instilled in every move you make. Can we admit amongst ourselves, at least, that the hiring practices of legacy carriers have gotten out of hand? Dare I say, rigged?

Dave Fitzgerald

Maybe, but if you want the job, you have to play the game.

Winston

It’s the Golden Rule:

“They’ve got the gold, so you have to play by their rules.”

TripleSpool

The point behind my question was to simply shed light on what many perceive to be flawed hiring practices. The power to change ‘The Game’ and how it’s played lies within and can only be changed as such. Maybe integrity in hiring should be the new Golden Rule because what we have now is a big sham.

I’ve seen too many good and very qualified pilots not get their fair shot. And yes, I know, life isn’t fair either.

I’ve seen guys who’ve never attended a single job fair get an interview, and subsequently - a job offer. By the same token, pilots with good experience and education, who’ve attended several job fairs, have yet to hear something. Anyone can concede that this is all a ‘game’ but few have the courage to change it for the better once they make it in. In the meantime, we’ll resume our cog-like culture while HR brandishes their overreaching power in deciding the fate of several exceptional applicants.

USMCv22

Maybe, or maybe their hiring practices are completely ethical and above board but we just don’t see the inner workings. Perhaps instead these folks that you perceive as solid top-notched aviators actually have something in their background that precludes them from getting hired, or just aren’t what the airlines are looking for when compared to the folks that DID get hired (spoiler alert, it ain’t all about flight hours). I understand people’s frustration, but in every other industry where there is even the slightest competition for employment, the onus is on the candidate to market themselves and get themself hired, not the employer to seek them out. Fact is, the “pilot shortage” still hasn’t hit the legacies.


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ReadyRsv

no

filler

Rostov

It is easy for me to criticize this being on the inside now, but honestly those that don't get a call or hired usually from what I've seen something contributed to it. You may be the best candidate the world has ever seen but you have a trivial error on your application that is negatively effecting it. Perhaps those people who you think you know have skeletons in their closet that they have not been open about to you for one reason or another. Then there is the personality test, if accomplished poorly then simply you do not pass go. Again you could be the best dude/gal ever but if you trip up on any of the 100 steps up to that point then it can be a problem. Finally the interview. Again your the best thing since sliced bread, but the stress of the multiple years of work leading up to this singular point overwhelms and for whatever reason you perform poorly or fail to gel with your HR panel, make a glaring error on your technical assessment etc.

My long winded point is the system is designed for attempting to weed out of a mountain of applicants (there still are plenty no matter what pilot shortage you believe in) into what company A, B, or C is looking for and hopefully set those individuals up for success.

Having the most hours from what I've seen is not the ruler by which you need use. You need to look at yourself, and your situation and see if you have been pursuing greater responsibility and involvement in your own situation. So if your a left seat captain at regional x with 1 billion hours, but you've not upgraded Aircraft in a decade, or pursued Chief Pilot, Line Check Airmen etc then you may be harming yourself.

Regardless of your plan once you get hired at a major their goal is to hire their next crop which will define their culture for the next 20+ years.

So I am sorry but the system like any has its flaws but it is by no means rigged against good pilots or applicants. Good ones get through. Except perhaps in my case

TripleSpool

I wholeheartedly agree with your points. We can both agree that the system is imperfect and sometimes even blind to good candidates based on airline app errors or skeletons in the closet. I think you hit the nail on the head.

The good ones, such as yourself and others, do get through, but it’s the ones that never get the call that I take issue with. The system is inconsistent.

We can agree that the process from start to finish is designed to vet as many as possible; thus leaving the few selected to define the culture for the next 20 years. So rather than sounding like some bitter dude on the message board, I offer the following suggestions that will probably never come into fruition.

- The application system should be changed to a proprierty one. Hence, it should be free to all applicants and company run.
- The Hogan test should be scrapped, as it is far from scientific.
- Job Fairs at United should be by invitation only and alignments with special interest (for profit groups i.e. consulting) should be abolished.
- Nepotism should be more tightly regulated but I fear it is not. I know it isn’t.
- The application process should be able to provide some indication that it is under review or no longer being considered –no reason required.
- Come up with realistic and hard requirements i.e. no longer using the phrase preferred. This will ensure that top tier candidates are the only ones being considered instead of a diluted pool of less experienced pilots who meet only the bear minimums.
- Lastly, involve more pilots in the recruiting process. I know they exist but some career events are easier understood and received from one pilot to another.

Sorry for the long post but I know I’m not alone in this.