whalesurfer

Why is that absurd? If you flew with someone back in the military or at your previous airline say 15, 20 or 25 years ago you hopefully remember this person’s personality, attention to detail, safety mindset, etc., etc.. HR takes care of his or her more recent experience. They just want to hear from one of us, from someone who’d spent some time in the cockpit with the individual. Seems pretty logical to me..

jabr800

I spent 25 years at UPS and I'm now retired.

This is probably ancient history now as I suspect the recommendation process is quite different.
My story is more to pump you up, than to give out of date details on how to get an interview.

I recommended 5 airmen and 4 are working there now.
One individual I never flew with.
Talked with him several times via long distance way back when, to establish our relationship.
Excellent candidate in my opinion (Military Back round, lots of civilian activities, etc.)

What I did was write what I called a "Letter of Introduction" to the HR People.
Didn't lie or stretch the truth at all which I guess they liked.

In the end, I said something like I feel this candidate is an outstanding person and I would greatly appreciate it if you could offer him the opportunity to interview.

He was called 2 weeks later to interview, and on the payroll shortly thereafter.

I know things are done much differently now days, but I bet there are ways of partially side stepping the crazy paperwork process, if you are creative.
Several already mentioned - Job Fairs, Go find a crew somewhere and make nice, etc., etc..

Good luck.


Jabr800

Machtransition

Good day gents,

I fall in the line of not knowing anyone to recommend me at UPS. I have one friend there who I’ve flown with once, but I’m not sure I’m comfortable asking him for a recommendation just yet.

Having said that, if I attend job fairs a few times a year and stay persistent with UPSs in-person recruiters, do I stand a chance with how competitive it is? My other disadvantage is that I’m still working on my degree online, with a few years left to completion. Flight times and experience are good I think, with the only thing missing being heavy time.

If it takes a few years then so be it, I’m just really curious how reoccurring visits at job fairs may help my chances of going sooner.

Thank you

robxjt27

That’s your best shot. It’s likely the recruiter will mention your lack of degree but of course you’ll say you are working on it. They will like that. But just like the person who has 900TPIC don’t be surprised if they say keep coming back to see us but finish that degree first (just like they might say get the 1000TPIC). In the meantime, attend a couple job fairs a year and plant the seed. Maybe you’ll get lucky and get a call before you finish your degree, but worst case is that you’ve met several of the hiring people during that span of time that will remember you when you do meet the requirements. Plant the seed now and continue to water it if UPS is where you truly want to be.

Machtransition

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the reply! I’ll definetly visit some fairs and remain persistent.

whalesurfer

Great advice! ^^^

Walkeraviator

Only issue with this is that most of the job fairs are trending away from the type of system where you get one on one time with recruiters. WAI for example is doing the seminar format this year where everyone’s just sits and listens to HR give a speech on how to fill out your application correctly.

Machtransition

I just saw this last night. I'm new to job fairs so I wasn't even aware of how these 'fast passes' worked. Sounds like if I go, I may not even get the chance to speak with UPS unless I luck out?

After doing some research, it appears that FAPA job fairs just require you to wait in line, but attendance of the bigger airlines seems random

G550Guy

I did not attend a FAPA fair, I went to OBAP; so I cannot say with certainty how they work their setup. But I will tell you like Ive told everyone who's ever asked me...

I wanted to work at UPS over every single other place on the planet that flew airplanes. And NOTHING, absolutely nothing was going to stop this paratrooper from getting a chance to shake someones hand and show him/her that I wanted to be here. Where there is a will... there is a way. Best of luck.

BrownDoubles

No internal recommendations; one job fair and I somehow made the cut. That being said the job fair circuit has changed significantly in the last year when G550 and I were slugging it out. The trend being that many airlines are hosting their own in house events; UPS hasn't and to my (limited) knowledge doesn't intend to do so. I think the ultimate point is that UPS places significant value in personal contact and any (positive) personal contact that you can establish above those competing with you places you at an advantage. Of course that is simply my opinion and is based only on a sample size of 1 (me)... but I don't think my story is in the minority. Any chance you get to sit down with UPS officially should be taken. JMO, YMMV and all that stuff. Best of luck to all of you seeking to get on. Congrats to G550 for the milestone!!!