Are pilot job fairs worth $200 to attend?

I have never been to one and am doing fine, and i turned CFI around the economic downturn in 2008. Networking is important but some of your greatest contacts could be those instuctors that left ahead of you, or people from this forum. If the airlines are your goal, 1500 hours and a pulse will get you in at the moment.
 
GlenA said:
I have never been to one and am doing fine, and i turned CFI around the economic downturn in 2008. Networking is important but some of your greatest contacts could be those instuctors that left ahead of you, or people from this forum. If the airlines are your goal, 1500 hours and a pulse will get you in at the moment.
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I have one of those!
 
Speaking of job fairs are there any others coming up that have say, Spirit, JB, Airways, Air China, China Southern, Emirates, Qatar, Etihad, Delta or United?

I'd pay for one that had more majors...
 
I went to the AeroCrew Solutions job fair this past May, mostly because of my interest in Spirit. I was there all day and attended some presentations and the career seminar, which was excellent. Now, since I was there all day, I talked to many different individuals, most of them were 121 regional FOs that have been in the right seat for a long time, like myself. To be honest, the one thing I got out of the whole event was a good look at my competition and that I am no different than the next RJ FO, and that I need to find ways to differentiate myself and make myself more marketable, since an upgrade isn't going to happen anytime soon.
 
CRJDriver said:
I went to the AeroCrew Solutions job fair this past May, mostly because of my interest in Spirit. I was there all day and attended some presentations and the career seminar, which was excellent. Now, since I was there all day, I talked to many different individuals, most of them were 121 regional FOs that have been in the right seat for a long time, like myself. To be honest, the one thing I got out of the whole event was a good look at my competition and that I am no different than the next RJ FO, and that I need to find ways to differentiate myself and make myself more marketable, since an upgrade isn't going to happen anytime soon.
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With all the regionals currently hiring I would think that they are predicting some movement. Have you guys seen any reflection of that in terms of people actually going to the majors and FOs transitioning left at all?
 
Meh. Don't pay, get paid to go.

Get 1500, get on with a regional. Then get in with HR, and attend the show as a rep. For your company. Then on your down time, go network.
 
I say go for it. Anyone saying that you won't get an interview with anyone because you are not at ATP minimums is something you already knew. It will never hurt to put yourself infront of the recruiters and leave them with a good impression. Besides, you can browse the internet and forums like these for days looking for information about every single regional, but, getting the right information (whether good or bad) will always come from standing right infront of the airline itself. The seminars sound interesting, but, I'd go there just to ask questions and evaluate my options. Think about it....would you rather go to the job fair with 1500TT where everyone might persuade you to fly for them, or would you rather go test the waters out and give yourself enough time to think about your options? When you're eligible for ATP, the recruiters might tell you exactly what you want to hear in order for you to consider them as your employer, but when you don't have the ATP mins and you're just there to talk, you might get more a neutral dissection of where you should eventually aim for once you get to 1500TT. Good luck, I'm also considering checking the event out, and I'm nowhere near ATP mins.
 
Dunno if you've made the decision to go or not yet, but regardless if you go to Las Vegas or wait until you're at the magic 1500 hours I'd add:

They're a great opportunity to network with other pilots currently working where you want to work (unless you're willing to work anywhere, in which case it's still a good opportunity to network.)

Don't be shy, talk to as many folks as you can (if it's anything like the Chicago job fair there's a ton of downtime, make good use of it) swap business cards and follow up when you get home. The guy you ate a sandwich next to might be the internal recommendation that gets you into an interview sooner rather than later.

You'll be amazed at how willing people are to help if you're a decent dude and you just ask.

I was really on the fence about attending the Chicago fair in May but ultimately I'm glad I did and it was worth the $200 or so and a day of my life. (I'm a 135 freight guy, so the whole 121 pax world is a little alien to me.) In the end I made some good contacts, had some nice conversations with the Spirit and Virgin America folks and actually enjoyed myself.
 
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