UPS Internal Rec
 

How do you go about getting an internal recommendation if you don’t already know someone flying there? I have all the required boxes checked I just don’t know anyone currently flying there. Any help appreciated. Happy New Year everyone.

Job Fair!!!

Not knowing anyone there makes it difficult getting an internal rec? I never would've guess that...:eek::p

Hang out in a cheap airport hotel lobby during the late evening hours or early morning hours. If you see a crew in baggy brown pants and blood-shot eyes dragging black bags through the lobby, introduce yourself.

Now you have an internal rec !

:D

Boom !

Advice on the internet, its worth what you paid :D

no internal
 

I did not have an internal rec and was recently hired so it is possible. This situation makes a job fair mandatory though.

You were a charity case though. Mark felt bad for you!

.
 

Hahaha I'll take charity of this sort any day!

Once of the problems is that even if you meet one of us casually and we agree to write something for you, the form and process are geared to people that we have actually flown with. The last time that I looked at it, it was very long and specific, basically nothing anyone is going to bother with unless they are pretty close with you.

Which is absurd. Those of us who have been at UPS a long time haven’t flown with anyone outside of the company for a long time.

My recommendation would be to work somewhere who's sending UPS a ton of Pilots. Mainly Mil or ACMI carriers... If you do have a Mil back ground go dig back deep. Start stalking old buddies on Facebook!

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..

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My story is more to pump you up, than to give out of date details on how to get an interview.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

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

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.

Hi Rob,

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

Great advice! ^^^

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.

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 :confused:

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.

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!!!

Thanks to the both of you for the encouraging replies. I’m going to try to attend NGPA in Palm Springs for some face time. It appears that it’s first come first serve there, so I’ll have my sleeping bag rolled out at the door :D

The seminar format is something many recruiters like because otherwise they end up hearing and answering the very same questions from pretty much each and every attendee.
A seminar format allows them to cover all the basics for each airline so when you see the recruiters in person, and I believe the option will still be there, you and they can focus on specific issues applying to the specific candidate.. ..at least that’s my understanding of the process..

Hey Guys/Girls,

Long time stalker here. I have a friend at UPS. He is willing to write me a letter of rec. I did the Orlando job fair, it went really well. Going to NGPA next month. Boeing intl PIC and currently wide body FO. Application is currently “active”. When should I send the letter of rec? And how do we do it? Thanks in advance for the help.

Your UPS friend will need to submit a pilot referral via AirUPSers.

Thanks. What timeline? Now, or after I get an interview?

Now!!! It may be the one thing that pushes you into the interview.

Of course the standard... JMO, YMMV, etc.

UPS Internal rec
 

Flyers,

As I'm hoping to obtain a UPS interview in the near future, I wanted to inquire as to how UPS weighs external recommendations. For my UPS app, I'll have (2) solid internal recommendations but wanted to consider including friends who fly with FEDEX, UAL, and SWA. Will UPS hiring department accept these external recommendations toward an interview invite or is it best just to roll with the internals? Thank you in advance.

I'm unaware of anyway to submit an external recommendation since our recommendation process goes through a company website. I'm sure you could submit a generic letter of recommendation should you be invited to an interview but I'm unaware of any process that would allow for an external submission to assist in getting an interview.

Next time you see a UPS driver, ask him.

UPS interview instructions are to NOT bring any external recommendations.

Hello everyone, I'd rather start a new thread but I don't have the permissions to do so.

I'm a separating Air Force pilot and I would love to fly for UPS. Yes I read the night flying thread..

My neighbor, and good friend, is upper management at UPS, in charge of multiple sorting centers in San Antonio.

Does anyone have experience with internal recs from non pilots? Does this "letter of introduction" still look like a valid alternate means 3 years later?

Thank you for your help.

Steve

I actually have the same question. I am having trouble getting an internal recommendation as the few pilots I know in the company either I never flew with in my time in the military or I haven’t flown with them since I was a brand new copilot about a a decade ago so they did not think it would be a strong letter. I did however work for UPS as a casual package car driver for parts of four years before entering the Air Force. I was wondering if getting a recommendation from a non pilot from when I previously worked for the company (supervisor or manager) will really make a difference in trying to fly for the company.

In the interview it will. Suggestion, go to a job fair and tell them you were a former employee. A job fair will trigger an app review, so being a former employee will be a bonus.

The answer to this is probably that the air side of ups has an entirely different set of processes than the rest of the company, and that may impact the efficacy of a non-pilot rec some. It may move the needle, it might not. Never hurts to have someone willing to write in on your behalf, so you may as well have them try if the offer is there.

The chief pilots’ news letter has solicited referrals ground ops workers etc but I would be surprised if the ground ops guys are getting the same requests to refer pilots.

The pilot rec form on the EFK is very pilot skill specific so I take it they are looking for level deeper than a basic character reference. Fwiw, I was told that pilot referrals don’t attach to your app until after you pass the Hogan. Ymmv

Internal Rec
 

When can a new hire make an internal rec for another UPS hopeful? After probationary 1st year?

I’d say the best thing to do is to look at UPS as a box checking exercise. If you’re at a regional, don’t leave until you get 1000 tpic. I’d echo the comment about going to an ACMI. Odds are you will do a lot of international flying and most likely you will be qualified to fly one of the airplanes in the UPS fleet. They want to see if your trainable and what better way to prove that than basically doing the same flying at another company. I’d also read Big Brown just to know something about the company. I applied to UPS on three occasions. The one time I had an internal rec, I didn’t hear anything. The other two times, I got an invite for the hogan. Screwed up the first time but didn’t make the same mistake twice. I will say both times they called, I was caught off guard so have a plan if they want to talk to you. There is good gouge here on the hogan prep. Sorry if I got bit off topic.

On day one of indoc. Yes, it has been done. However, that was a few years ago when you could still walk into HR with a resume. Now you would probably have to wait a week or two until you get your EFK (iPad).