I would guess those who received the "lucky lotto ticket" via the Scholarships/Door-Prizes from the Special Interest Groups (WAI, OBAP, ect...) are not germane to such that theory?

Id say those are several hundred times more valuable than an internal rec.

Because no pilot that has a jumpseater from his desired next airline riding along cant flip the theatrics switch and become the nicest, most professional aviator out there for the 50 minute flight? I only say this because I have flown with a few guys that were not real enjoyable to fly with on a daily basis. Amazingly, with a jumpseater from (DL, WN, UA, B6) they become an INCREDIBLE pilot that is super friendly and actually gave a damn about his crew, just to try and impress the guy in the jumpseat and get a letter. As soon as that fill in the blank jumpseater disappears up the jetway, back to reality it goes. So just a fair warning, desperate pilots are capable of incredible things.

Syd, maybe I shouldn't have put it in such absolute terms and I actually did get an interview at another carrier with no recs (didn't get the job, though). Offhand, I don't know of anyone hired here without somebody pulling for them on the inside, that includes OBAP, WIA, etc. members (don't know about "scholarships"). Admittedly, it's not a primary topic of conversation ("hey, who got you hired here?"), but it's pretty apparent that there are connections that predate LCAL for everyone I can think of. In addition, the company is very open about the importance of recs, to the point of informally recommending you a) hand walk your LOCs to your ACP and b) if possible, having your buddy come to the Chief Pilots office to personally introduce them. We might wind up like the 60s needing to cold call pilots, but it probably won't happen in our careers. IMO, you will not get a job unless you have some sort of personal connection to UniCal and if you don't know anyone at the company, a job fair might be your best/only bet.

I see you're a 130 driver. It's not fun, but if you beat the bushes, you'll probably find somebody you have a connection with at UCH. If not, a job fair might be your best bet.

Syd, did you have recs at UAL? I'd be curious if anyone posting here got hired at UCH with no internal recs.

Yeah, a -130 bubba. Most of the guys I know are at Delta, Southerst and FedEx, especially guys that I've actually flown with. I'm still Facebook stalking looking to see if there's any guys I know.

Job fairs have got to be the way, I've spent around $2K going to two of them, for Spirit, haven't heard a word back from them, but it was definitely valuable experience. The regional guys at the job fairs have looked at me rather suspiciously, even going so far as having one place say I probably wouldn't get a look in, they'd figure I'd bail once the legacies start hiring.

Returned this weekend from an OBAP volunteer event, I had a great time, but purposefully didn't network, I figure these volunteer events aren't for looking for a job. The kids were great, I really had a blast.

We'll see, if I can get my resume in to some recruiters hands at the job fair, it's all worth it!

I had no recommendations at Ual.

I had only external letters at UAL when I was hired in '07, also no job fairs or specialty groups.

I think I have been around long enough to tell the real thing from a BS act but that is a fair point.