I had an interesting conversation with this one guy here in town and he argues that networking or knowing someone in a company to give a prospective employee a reference for a job is unfair treatment. For example; Company A is looking to add another slot to its large pilot base. Pilots 1, 2, and 3, and many more already work at this company. Pilot 4, 5, 6 apply for the job. Pilot 4 does not know anyone at this company. He has 2000 tt and a lot of experience with training and charters. However pilot 5 is friends with pilot 2. He only has 1100 tt and experience flight instructing only. Company A ends up hiring pilot 5. Pilot 4 is bummed because everything went well with interviews qualifications etc. But he believes those that know someone in the company puts others at an "unfair advantage" Leaving the company not to consider all possibilities but be narrow sighted with a pinecone up their butt. So anyways this guy argues its discrimination... http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/discrimination. What does everyone else think?
Could networking become illegal?
- Thread starter nutz4life
- Start date
Your friend is a misguided.
First don't think of flight time like "points". If you meet the minimums that they're asking for, you're qualified for the job.
If "Pilot 4" doesn't know anyone at the company, he needs to get off his ass and start shaking hands of people that are, or find a way to strategically do so..
"Pilot 5" knows "Pilot 2" and "Pilot 5" is putting his name on the line to recommend "Pilot 2" for the interview, it helps HR.
I have a leaky roof over the garage. I didn't pick up the phone book, start at #1 and work my way down the list of roofers. I called my friends here in the valley that have had roof work done and asked who their recommendations were.
Back to aviation.
Considering internet forums, meet and greets, social networking, etc, the only excuse for not being able to meet at least SOMEONE at a company you're interested in working for is lack of basic effort.
And if you can't dig around your contacts to find someone who works for Ameriflight, how in the world are you going to dig around a six page sheet of NOTAMS to look for a potential safety issue with your flight?
First don't think of flight time like "points". If you meet the minimums that they're asking for, you're qualified for the job.
If "Pilot 4" doesn't know anyone at the company, he needs to get off his ass and start shaking hands of people that are, or find a way to strategically do so..
"Pilot 5" knows "Pilot 2" and "Pilot 5" is putting his name on the line to recommend "Pilot 2" for the interview, it helps HR.
I have a leaky roof over the garage. I didn't pick up the phone book, start at #1 and work my way down the list of roofers. I called my friends here in the valley that have had roof work done and asked who their recommendations were.
Back to aviation.
Considering internet forums, meet and greets, social networking, etc, the only excuse for not being able to meet at least SOMEONE at a company you're interested in working for is lack of basic effort.
And if you can't dig around your contacts to find someone who works for Ameriflight, how in the world are you going to dig around a six page sheet of NOTAMS to look for a potential safety issue with your flight?
Joe Gremlin
Well-Known Member
Life is unfair. Always has been, always will be. But hiring people you know or people your employees know, simply because they know them, isn't illegal now nor will it likely ever be.
He's wrong. If we extend his theory out to its logical end, we could argue that anytime two or more people apply for a job and only one of them gets that job, then someone has been discriminated against. But more to the point of the direct discussion at hand, that being pilot jobs, the logbook doesn't always tell the whole story when it comes to choosing employees.
Lets consider a chief pilot whose experience has led him to believe that personality types and being able to mesh personalities with the other pilots is as important or even more important to finding a high quality employee than the hours in the logbook. Now lets consider a job that requires 800 hours total as per the insurance company. Pilot A has 2000 hours and doesn't know anyone within the company. Pilot B has 1100 hours and worked at a previous job with one of the current pilots who can vouch that his personality is a good match for the company. So pilot B gets the job because its a safer bet that he'll work out. Is that discrimination? I don't think so.
And lets not forget there's discrimination according to the dictionary and there's discrimination according to the law. When it comes to employment, the law is the discrimination that matters. And the legal definition of discrimination as it applies to employment is much different than what you'll find in the dictionary. Race, color, religion, sex and national origin, age, having a disability and genes are pretty much the only types of discrimination the law protects you from.
I just looked up the word discrimination, and the first definition was "treatment or consideration of, making a distinction, in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class or category to which that person belongs rather than on individual merit"
But discrimination doesn't just mean that. It also means to "the power of making fine distinctions," but somehow that definition gets lost in all of this PC-nonsensse that goes on these days.
I would say that there is no discrimination vis-a-vis the first definition, because anybody has the ability and choice to network. Nothing prevents a person networking, except his own choice.
But discrimination doesn't just mean that. It also means to "the power of making fine distinctions," but somehow that definition gets lost in all of this PC-nonsensse that goes on these days.
I would say that there is no discrimination vis-a-vis the first definition, because anybody has the ability and choice to network. Nothing prevents a person networking, except his own choice.