United new hires without 4 year degree
01-15-2015, 02:29 PM
#31
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Joined APC: Aug 2008
Position: It keeps changing.
Posts: 206
Originally Posted by baseball
The reason for the degree is sort of threefold (in my opinion), but I have shared this opinion with HR folks and they tend to agree.
1. It shows you are a go-getter and a goal setter, you finish what you start and you are committed to your career path.
2. It demonstrates that you can subordinate yourself and work within someone else's system to accomplish a goal.
3. College graduates tend to represent their companies better in both written and oral communication. If we're hiring potential Captains not a bad idea to hire someone who will well represent your product and your brand.
1. It shows you are a go-getter and a goal setter, you finish what you start and you are committed to your career path.
2. It demonstrates that you can subordinate yourself and work within someone else's system to accomplish a goal.
3. College graduates tend to represent their companies better in both written and oral communication. If we're hiring potential Captains not a bad idea to hire someone who will well represent your product and your brand.
I think toughing it out through 2 furloughs (~10 years or so) and still staying the course within the industry might be a stronger indication of career commitment than someone whom obtained a piece of paper from a 4-year institution.
01-15-2015, 03:59 PM
#34
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Joined APC: Oct 2012
Posts: 167
Originally Posted by oldmako
Tough crowd! Are you a CP somewhere, or higher up? Because that would make prefect sense. Is an ATP, 330 international experience and previous ATC experience light in your book? I've flown with a hundred guys who had far less experience when they were hired. All were fine pilots. It sounds like you need to chill "based on the small sampling we have of you". 
Lighten up Francis.
A330, keep pushing at every carrier. You will get hired.
Lighten up Francis.A330, keep pushing at every carrier. You will get hired.
01-15-2015, 11:50 PM
#35
Don't say Guppy
Joined APC: Dec 2010
Position: Guppy driver
Posts: 1,926
Obviously having a 4 year degree does not make one a better pilot. But when you have 10,000 applicants, and 9800 of them have college degrees, who are you going to call?
You are going to call the applicants with the best resume. Period. What constitutes the best resume is open to debate.
You are going to call the applicants with the best resume. Period. What constitutes the best resume is open to debate.
01-16-2015, 12:30 AM
#36
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Joined APC: Nov 2009
Posts: 5,192
Originally Posted by Probe
Obviously having a 4 year degree does not make one a better pilot. But when you have 10,000 applicants, and 9800 of them have college degrees, who are you going to call?
You are going to call the applicants with the best resume. Period. What constitutes the best resume is open to debate.
You are going to call the applicants with the best resume. Period. What constitutes the best resume is open to debate.
Not sure why we keep having this semantics argument. The majors require one, get it or face the uphill battle that will be your career.
01-16-2015, 03:14 AM
#37
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Joined APC: Apr 2008
Position: Sleeping in the black swan’s nest.
Posts: 5,709
Originally Posted by Grumble
Sure it does, the one with the degree gets a job.
Not sure why we keep having this semantics argument. The majors require one, get it or face the uphill battle that will be your career.
Not sure why we keep having this semantics argument. The majors require one, get it or face the uphill battle that will be your career.
01-16-2015, 05:11 AM
#38
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Joined APC: Mar 2008
Position: 757/767 First Officer
Posts: 364
Originally Posted by baseball
The reason for the degree is sort of threefold (in my opinion), but I have shared this opinion with HR folks and they tend to agree.
1. It shows you are a go-getter and a goal setter, you finish what you start and you are committed to your career path.
2. It demonstrates that you can subordinate yourself and work within someone else's system to accomplish a goal.
3. College graduates tend to represent their companies better in both written and oral communication. If we're hiring potential Captains not a bad idea to hire someone who will well represent your product and your brand.
As a side note, I have been doing this for over 24 years now and I see folks lose their medicals and have to eventually quit flying for health reasons. Not a bad idea to have a degree to fall back on should the aviation Gods clip your wings. Whatever your degree is in make sure it is applicable to something that will help you earn some money or something you enjoy or are passionate about.
1. It shows you are a go-getter and a goal setter, you finish what you start and you are committed to your career path.
2. It demonstrates that you can subordinate yourself and work within someone else's system to accomplish a goal.
3. College graduates tend to represent their companies better in both written and oral communication. If we're hiring potential Captains not a bad idea to hire someone who will well represent your product and your brand.
As a side note, I have been doing this for over 24 years now and I see folks lose their medicals and have to eventually quit flying for health reasons. Not a bad idea to have a degree to fall back on should the aviation Gods clip your wings. Whatever your degree is in make sure it is applicable to something that will help you earn some money or something you enjoy or are passionate about.
01-16-2015, 06:03 AM
#39
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Joined APC: Nov 2013
Position: 7th green
Posts: 4,378
Originally Posted by SeamusTheHound
#4. The degree criterion is also simply a sorting tool for when you have thousands more applications than available positions.
When I got out of the military, Delta required 20/20 vision. Why? It was an eliminator. Even the military had scrubbed the 20/20 requirement for pilots (except for TACAIR). So why did Delta require it? You're not looking for bogies in the sun.
An eliminator pure and simple. Automatically reduces the number of apps to sort through.
01-16-2015, 04:53 PM
#40
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Joined APC: Jun 2014
Position: 737 FO
Posts: 360
I was hired in June 2013. Throughout the recruiting process, it was made very clear at job fairs, in one-on-one discussions, etc. that United is not interested in hiring pilots that don't have a degree. We were told the same during Basic Indoc when the powers that be came in to talk to us.
I think the reasons listed above for getting the degree are valid, but there are two more: one, if you lose your medical, or just decided to go into an office job with the airline, they'd like to see you have a degree you can apply to your job (it isn't always a perfect fit, but it does help).
Second, the days of the paper applications getting tagged with a Post-It note saying that a pilot would be a good candidate are over. It's a computer program, and when the company puts in the search criteria, one of the items they select is "4 year degree." If you don't have that....well, do the math. It's very impersonal, but it's the world we live in now.
I think the reasons listed above for getting the degree are valid, but there are two more: one, if you lose your medical, or just decided to go into an office job with the airline, they'd like to see you have a degree you can apply to your job (it isn't always a perfect fit, but it does help).
Second, the days of the paper applications getting tagged with a Post-It note saying that a pilot would be a good candidate are over. It's a computer program, and when the company puts in the search criteria, one of the items they select is "4 year degree." If you don't have that....well, do the math. It's very impersonal, but it's the world we live in now.
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