DropTank
Well-Known Member
Torrrrrrr-TA!
UAL CEO said he uses this hiring tactic to vibe check job candidates
- Thread starter Springer
- Start date
Torrrrrrr-TA!
MissionBrevity86
Well-Known Member
You're not a real aviation professional unless you're in active addiction and making it everyone else's problem, or just coming out of it. Right?
Toobdrvr
Estrellas Asesino
This “vibe checking” thing is not new in airline interviews. Everyone has been doing it, one way or another, forever. Hell, isn’t that part of ANY interview?
My first “major” airline interview (20+ years ago), we spent most of the day just hanging out in a breakroom with a handful of “hosts”. At the end of the day, those “hosts” had a vote on you. Shocker…
My first “major” airline interview (20+ years ago), we spent most of the day just hanging out in a breakroom with a handful of “hosts”. At the end of the day, those “hosts” had a vote on you. Shocker…
FlyingAccountant
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I've been on both ends of the "let's see if you're a decent human" interview in the finance world before. Pretty much every company I've ever worked for has done this in some form or fashion. I didn't think this was anything new or novel.
Cushion Rider
Well-Known Member
Agreed. Sounds like you are and I was in/on similar career fields/track. By the time the candidate got us, the discussion was more about "fit" than technical ability. However, my colleague and I didn't always agree, so there is the "it" factor...some people "click" and some don't. Apparently, to be accepted to the Blue Angels, one has to have a unanimous vote from the continuing team members. And, it's not about being a good stick (that's presumed), it's about "can we hang with this person for the entire show season".
Cushion Rider
Well-Known Member
That movie put Pinot Noir on the map, and darn near killed Merlot.
DPApilot
GUYSH! GUYSH! GUYSH!
If anything, thanks to him I’ve been reminded I need to rewatch this…
ChasenSFO
hen teaser
Idk, I'd imagine with everything our resident shark/fox has overcome and a background in Acro/Alaska flying/tech that this would be exactly who I'd want flying my family around, but you do you. Especially in 2026, this isn't 1953.
///AMG
Well-Known Member
I mean I think part of the problem fox has run into is that to a lot of the senior Captainry, this really still is 1953......or what they think 1953 was, decades before they were born.
Karnage
I-am-a-pirate. I do not need credentials!
Meanwhile I’m still not convinced a single member of my interview panel was hetero-normative, and that includes the retired white male captain who sat dead center across the table from me.
With a few notable exceptions, the majority of the pushback against gender non-conformity for me has come from the under 30 crowd. I get nervous at times jumpseating to work and genuinely have had more positive interactions when it gets brought up with the stereotype of the crotchety old white guy pilots and more negative ones with the “damned I could be your parent” crowd. Go figure.
Sadly doesn’t really surprise me anymore. I’m guessing the people dumping right wing propaganda into social media platforms got their money’s worth on Gen Z.
🦈💜
Well-Known Member
I honestly have no idea. I really don't. Oddly enough, I've been well treated by all the people at my current airline. But I've also had a recent negative experience with a couple of the younger set, during OC operations of all places.
There're some really weird, toxic attitudes out there among that group, so I could believe it. The bigotry is still out there, and it's strong, and I'd be willing to say it seems like it's getting worse. I would have thought everybody would have laughed the "manosphere," "alpha male," andrew tate incel crap out of the building, but that's just not where we are.
People I fly with seem surprised, though. Maybe it's just west-coast base, but I fly with great folks.
No idea, boss. My brand ain't sellin'. And there are a whole lot of VERY good transwomen out of the job market right now. Some of the best coders, engineers, data scientists and architects in the world can't find a job.
-Fox
Not at a Bigly AirLine, totally sober, and our travel budget is above Holiday Inn Express. Here I go anyways because I occasionally interview pilots.
A good recruiting department is worth their weight in gold. As a hiring manager I don’t have to deal with most of the minefield that is the world of hiring and firing. Instead, I’m presented with a menu of generally outstanding candidates and the hardest part is making the TBNT call at the end (I do that with anyone who makes it to the phone interview stage or further…it’s the least I can do). They don’t step on my toes and I’m welcome to interview anyone I want, but they wade through the huge pile of applications and do a great job finding and screening applicants.
One still occasionally sneaks past the goalie, so to speak, and I’ve found that they’re generally self-selecting and my inability to think on my feet and the awkward silence created allows them to make it clear why they’re not going to be extended an offer. Someday that’ll be a chapter in the book I’ll write that nobody will read except maybe a therapist (FAA that’s for entertainment value only).
A good recruiting department is worth their weight in gold. As a hiring manager I don’t have to deal with most of the minefield that is the world of hiring and firing. Instead, I’m presented with a menu of generally outstanding candidates and the hardest part is making the TBNT call at the end (I do that with anyone who makes it to the phone interview stage or further…it’s the least I can do). They don’t step on my toes and I’m welcome to interview anyone I want, but they wade through the huge pile of applications and do a great job finding and screening applicants.
One still occasionally sneaks past the goalie, so to speak, and I’ve found that they’re generally self-selecting and my inability to think on my feet and the awkward silence created allows them to make it clear why they’re not going to be extended an offer. Someday that’ll be a chapter in the book I’ll write that nobody will read except maybe a therapist (FAA that’s for entertainment value only).
jhugz
Well-Known Member
Trying to say you’re not getting the job at the next level due to being trans is pure copium and I think you know that. There are plenty of trans pilots at the legacy airlines and the hiring department (HR) is probably the most liberal set of employees at those companies.
…and please don’t mistake this comment as any of Knot’s transphobia. I’m an ally.
DropTank
Well-Known Member
Although the best coders are either rainbow or allies, do not underestimate the power of Crypto Bros and Nepo Babies and their backwards ways.
Fixtur
Dunning-Kruger Expert
I do interview and hire, and of course the vibe check is 95% of the interview. These captains will be the face of the company, and it will be my carpet they're dancing on when they screw up. I select for people I want to work with.
It is assumed that after a certain number of hours all potential candidates can meet basic requirements of operating the aircraft safely.
It is assumed that after a certain number of hours all potential candidates can meet basic requirements of operating the aircraft safely.
🦈💜
Well-Known Member
In absence of data, all I'm left with is either "trans" or failing the "vibe check."
I'm sure it's primarily the vibe thing. I've never been one of the cool kids. Some people are, some aren't. Whatever my "vibe" is, it's just not legacy vibe.
That said, while I absolutely believe this:
When a candidate is repeatedly misgendered as part of the process–especially after correction–it creates doubt that no verbal assurance of fairness can dispel.
I have no reason to trust the system— for whatever reason, it seems designed to screen me out.
At this point, I've given up, so it's not about me.
I believe it. But I don't have any reason to trust the system, at this point.
(Cue the dogpile of every JC member
ing on me, or, hear me out, we can skip this round—I'm not up for it.)