Job fair poll

Have you been offered an interview as a result of a job fair?

  • Total voters
    49
L-16B said:
Like the DFW crew I rode up front with. They were very sure that we wouldn't be able to bid any of their domiciles. I asked them to name a recent merger with narrow body domicile fences. It got quiet.
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I bet we will see one in the next few years!
 
I did WAI twice and one FAPA as an applicant. Received two interviews and subsequent job offers from two Legacy carriers due to WAI. Also recruited for my previous company at WAI and hired multiple people from WAI. It may seem hopeless at times but the job fairs work IMO.
 
I've attended 5 ACS fairs, 1 OBAP, 1 NGPA, 1 WAI. I have not received an interview as a result of any job fairs I've attended.

I guess my résumé doesn't stand out whatsoever.
 
Probably over the last 3-4 years....

I attended 1 AeroCrew job fair several years ago.... Nothing.
I did 1 FFD Seminar in DEN and online Webinar for United.... Nothing
I went to 3 college job fairs..... Nothing
I went to 1 trade show job fair..... Nothing
I went to 1 Sun 'N Fun job fair..... Interview** received 4 weeks later & Hired

**(App had been on file and updated for 5+ yrs, several rec letters and meeting the right recruiter helped probably)
 
With 37 responses, I'd say it's a fair cross section. Chances are 1 in 3 for an interview opportunity as a result of attending a job fair. (How many hasn't been answered)

Take from this impromptu poll what you will.
 
ppragman said:
So, job fair attendance = preferential treatment?
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I see it as an opportunity for someone to put a face to the name. After that it's up to you to make yourself standout from the hundreds of other people who talked to the recruiters. The simple act of meeting, greeting and giving a generic 15 minute rundown of your resume will not be enough.

When I was recruiting at WAI years ago I talked to a ridiculous amount of people over 3 days. Most were good people and probably would have been great employees at my old company but at the end of the day I couldn't remember any of their names or what separated them from the rest of the pack. The ones that did stand out and got the call did so because when I looked over their resumes at the end of the day, something stood out and I could picture their face and knew exactly who that person was and why I remembered them.
 
doubleo6point9 said:
I see it as an opportunity for someone to put a face to the name. After that it's up to you to make yourself standout from the hundreds of other people who talked to the recruiters. The simple act of meeting, greeting and giving a generic 15 minute rundown of your resume will not be enough.

When I was recruiting at WAI years ago I talked to a ridiculous amount of people over 3 days. Most were good people and probably would have been great employees at my old company but at the end of the day I couldn't remember any of their names or what separated them from the rest of the pack. The ones that did stand out and got the call did so because when I looked over their resumes at the end of the day, something stood out and I could picture their face and knew exactly who that person was and why I remembered them.
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What kind of things did they do that stood out? Was it their resume/accomplishments, their presentation, both? Thanks.
 
bretthullrampage said:
What kind of things did they do that stood out? Was it their resume/accomplishments, their presentation, both? Thanks.
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I wouldn't necessarily say it was what they said but more of how they said it. Everyone has their own unique story of why and how they got into flying. The ones who made an impression were the ones who were able to tell their stories in a way that made them memorable and stood out. I know, seems like a really vague answer but if you told me a story of how you went to said college, became a CFI to build time, then got a job at a regional, upgraded and voila now you're here I won't remember a thing about you at the end of the day. Now if you would have told me how it was a life long dream that you've been working for this since you were a kid, how you had to work your butt off at the regionals or military, mentored others, etc..., and gave me good stories to give life to your resume then I'd remember that.

Some people here aren't believers of interview prep but I can tell you that the good ones will teach you how to come up with and present your own story. They won't teach you to memorize a canned answer, they'll just help you drag what you thought were the mundane stories from your life and teach you how to use those stories to show the recruiters or interviewers who you are in a (hopefully good) memorable way.
 
doubleo6point9 said:
I wouldn't necessarily say it was what they said but more of how they said it. Everyone has their own unique story of why and how they got into flying. The ones who made an impression were the ones who were able to tell their stories in a way that made them memorable and stood out. I know, seems like a really vague answer but if you told me a story of how you went to said college, became a CFI to build time, then got a job at a regional, upgraded and voila now you're here I won't remember a thing about you at the end of the day. Now if you would have told me how it was a life long dream that you've been working for this since you were a kid, how you had to work your butt off at the regionals or military, mentored others, etc..., and gave me good stories to give life to your resume then I'd remember that.

Some people here aren't believers of interview prep but I can tell you that the good ones will teach you how to come up with and present your own story. They won't teach you to memorize a canned answer, they'll just help you drag what you thought were the mundane stories from your life and teach you how to use those stories to show the recruiters or interviewers who you are in a (hopefully good) memorable way.
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Great advice, thank you!
 
This poll should be separated. Regional/LCC/Cargo/Legacy

Anybody can get a regional interview just by applying.

Job fairs seem to help with LCC interview calls: Spirit, Jetblue, Alaska, Frontier, Allegiant etc, or Cargo places like Atlas, Kalitta

For the big 3 Legacy's I think job fairs are pretty much a complete waste of money for the vast majority of us "regular people" who never hear anything back. Been to major job fairs and the UAL training center ALPA FFD deal. They always make it sound like you are exactly like what they are looking for, and they will surely call. Then you never hear anything. Every Captain I know who has attended these things with a civilian background has had the same experience basically, no matter how good your resume or internal recs are.

Personally, I am done with them and boycotting the whole scheme of having to pay hundreds of dollars to a job fair just to get my resume looked at. I think it's a complete joke and a couple of the popular fairs are just a big money making scheme under the guise of trying to help pilots. They rent out a hotel conference area for a couple days, sell out hundreds of tickets at $100-200+, then they charge the airlines as well. Do the math on what they are making taking advantage of pilots. It can't cost 50+ grand to rent out a 3 star hotel conference room for the weekend, how many tickets did they sell out though at $150? Then the others major fairs you have people sadly pretending to be interested in the cause of Women in Aviation or Obap just to try and get a job, at least that money for those goes to an orginazation trying to help people instead of a straight up for profit business though. It's honestly pretty ridiculous that this is what we have to do these days to get your resume looked at.

I've travelled across the country on limited days off away from home and family/friends, spent a lot of money on these events, waited in line for hours to talk to some of these places and literally get 30 seconds of face time with some of them for all the effort. I always feel ripped off afterwards. We are highly trained, highly experienced, highly educated professionals standing in "take a number" lines in a suit, literally begging for a job, or even an interview. It's freaking sad the industry is this way. You don't see other experienced, highly trained, highly educated professionals wasting their time and money doing this job fair crap. It's an embarrassment.

If the airlines want pilots, they should put on FREE events and have people come and meet with them. At least the ALPA UAL FFD event was free, and it was probably the best one I have attended. At least I got to spend a lot of time with them and I didn't feel ripped off and scammed out of my money.
 
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My friend says more than a few people are misinterpreting talk of a pilot shortage as "fog a mirror, become a MD-11 pilot for FedEx".

Umm, nope!

If you don't bring your "A Game", you're not going to have your choice of carriers. Handing someone a poorly-written resume and immediately inquiring about how long it takes to hold LAX before the recruiter even gets his intro done is not a winning plan.

If you don't have a four year degree and the airline requires it, being "8 credits short" coupled with a sob story about how you've got 12 kids and you're too busy doesn't negate the fact that the software will not be overridden to put you in the invite group. It's not going to happen as you don't electronically exist at that point in the pre-selection pool.

Don't be this guy:
Eeyore_3.jpg
 
Is there any benefit to visiting recruiters at a job fair for an airline you have all ready been invited to interview with?
 
Hacker15e said:
Is there any benefit to visiting recruiters at a job fair for an airline you have all ready been invited to interview with?
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Sure. Is it worth standing in line for 2-3 hours? It depends.

It seems the goal of these job fairs are to entice the business to invite you to an interview. If you already have one lined up, everything else is a bonus.
 
Kingairer said:
AArogant
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I had a fast pass with AA at the WAI last month. Mundane was a good word for it. My recruiter I talked to told me I might be more competitive if I were to purchase a large jet type rating (320/737 etc) and to reapply after that....I was floored. Ive been a; sim instructor/ sim examiner, DPE, I have thousands of TPIC etc. I dunno.
 
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