ETOPS class

W

WLFPAK

Well-Known Member
Been working at this place for almost 6 years. Had a couple of calls for interviews my question is would it help me if I took the ETOps and international flight plan class on my résumé. How do airlines view just the class
 
ETOPS is better understood if you actually utilize it in an operation. Don't go out there and dispatch for years at a regional carrier, then in an interview, brag that you are the foremost expert in ETOPS. (@PlaneFan82 knows exactly who I'm referring to!)

You can have the foremost training material from a school, but after training dispatcher as an OJT trainer for many years, I've come to the conclusion that until you dispatch an ETOPS flight, the pieces won't come together and make sense.
 
Any joint you get on with will teach you all you need to know to dispatch ETOPS, so coming in with classroom knowledge is superfluous. In that I mean I would be astonished if one candidate was selected over another solely based on his having attended an ETOPS workshop.

Trust me, ETOPS is not rocket science on the dispatch side of things. If you were going to school for maintenance it might be a different story. Any competent training department can have a dispatcher classroom trained to do ETOPS an any theater in three days.

Save your Confederate dollars for the move to your new gig.
 
deltabobo said:
ETOPS is better understood if you actually utilize it in an operation. Don't go out there and dispatch for years at a regional carrier, then in an interview, brag that you are the foremost expert in ETOPS. (@PlaneFan82 knows exactly who I'm referring to!)

You can have the foremost training material from a school, but after training dispatcher as an OJT trainer for many years, I've come to the conclusion that until you dispatch an ETOPS flight, the pieces won't come together and make sense.
Click to expand...
100% True words here... Getting these supplemental courses while may give you and understanding of the basics, it really isn't going to give you an advantage unless it specifically states they want some ETOPS experience. Even then, like said above unless you actually work and begin to understand the concept, it probably wont matter much
 
Useful information? Yes.
Money making ploy? Maybe.
Useful information early in your career? Probably Not.
Glad I took the course? Yup! (Of course, it was for my own benefit.)
 
A major carrier is not going to hire you just because you took an ETOPS course. They are looking for individuals who have experience in dispatching ETOPS flights, and who are intimately familiar with the rules and regulations of ETOPS. IMHO although it is an informative course, it will not necessarily put you ahead of other dispatchers when applying for a job.
 
PlaneFan82 said:
A major carrier is not going to hire you just because you took an ETOPS course. They are looking for individuals who have experience in dispatching ETOPS flights, and who are intimately familiar with the rules and regulations of ETOPS. IMHO although it is an informative course, it will not necessarily put you ahead of other dispatchers when applying for a job.
Click to expand...


Well, I had zero ETOPS experience and pretty limited international experience when I got hired by a major - everyone's mileage may vary, of course.
 
As I mentioned in another thread, I did the class myself but it was more for personal reasons than professional as it is something I am very interested in work or not. I just got hired at a major after being at the regionals for nearly a decade. I know of at least four other people from the regional I was at who put in for the position, and I was the only one chosen for the job out of that group. To my knowledge, I am the only person who did the ETOPS class, though I don't have a ton of experience in ETOPS professionally. Did it help me get the job? Probably not, even though I did put it on my resume and we discussed it at my interview. But I will mention it. If you want to do the course for personal reasons, do so. But I wouldn't do the course thinking it will help you land at a Major in the future.
 
Depending on who you (as an airline) are you'll likely find a very limited pool of ETOPS experienced dispatchers to draw from, especially as supplemental airlines operating under part 121 are shrinking or going away all together. Dispatchers at majors are not jumping ship to go to other majors so that pretty much leaves you with a hiring pool of qualified regional dispatchers who have no ETOPS and likely no class II experience. As a hiring manager this would concern me not at all. I can think of no scenario by which you would be a competent dispatcher but be unable to grasp the concepts of ETOPS and Class II navigation.
 
pljenkins said:
Dispatchers at majors are not jumping ship to go to other majors
Click to expand...

Generally true but not universally. Seen a couple people leave for a different major where I am at - of course you have to be willing to start at the bottom again in terms of seniority, pay, etc. Mainly it was a desire to stay farther south that drove the decision, though - at least as far as I can tell.
 
manniax said:
Generally true but not universally. Seen a couple people leave for a different major where I am at - of course you have to be willing to start at the bottom again in terms of seniority, pay, etc. Mainly it was a desire to stay farther south that drove the decision, though - at least as far as I can tell.
Click to expand...

True. I didn't think of that...
 
manniax said:
Generally true but not universally. Seen a couple people leave for a different major where I am at - of course you have to be willing to start at the bottom again in terms of seniority, pay, etc. Mainly it was a desire to stay farther south that drove the decision, though - at least as far as I can tell.
Click to expand...
^that seems to be the most common major-to-major move, it would seem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top