Side Commentary from “Extra things you had on your application…”

Max Power said:
I still, to this day, do not know what I did different at my AA interview that got me the job. I have my thoughts, but I'll never know for certain. One answer I gave might have been my savior even though I swore on that 2 hour flight from DFW to home, it was what did me in from not getting a day of CJO.

This was after my application/interview went to the review board before I was given a CJO a week later. Out of 13 people in my interview group, I was one of 4 who didn't get a CJO that day. The AA interview was the last one out of Spirit, Southwest, Allegiant, Breeze,Jetblue (which I waited out the pandemic to be told TBNT after a face to face) and I'm sure I'm forgetting one. I was bitter, I was angry at everyone moving on from the regional except me. And I was really pissed at myself for not being able to figure out WTF I was doing wrong. I don't interview well, that much was certain.

I don't know if the secret sauce changed (like what they were looking for credentials-wise), if I did something in my interview or phrased something better than I had been doing in my previous 5 attempts. I had done prep with 3 different companies. I spent big money (to me) having my electronic logbook professionally printed out and adding some personal touches when I got it back.

I don't know what I did, but I kept on going. It has been worth it on many levels and considering how some of the companies I interviewed with have gone, AA was the best one I could have done for a lot of reasons. It sucks, keep going, you'll get there. Somehow.
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Word. I don’t know what the Eskimo was thinking when they gave me the handshake. I showed up to the interview fresh off 6 weeks straight of work, the last 4 weeks being night shift, where I’d flown every night, except the night that I took off because we had to bury the cat we’d had from a kitten. My prep was limited to reading a pirated pdf copy a buddy sent me. I fumbled on a couple questions and thought there was no way I was getting an offer. Literally the only 2 possibilities I can think in retrospect were 1) they were desperate or 2) my background and experience made up for it. This is why in spite of what the general consensus of others have said, given shark’s background and amount of effort put into the process I do wonder if the obviously cishet white dude privilege is still somewhat of a thing. Or maybe that’s the imposter syndrome talking.
 
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Cherokee_Cruiser said:
Again. Focus. Jealous? No. Calling out a BS system? Yes. You responded with emotions, not facts.

Emotion: he’s a great guy who got a tough sandwich.


Fact: He bent a 767 and still got hired at a big 4, while many other qualified, very capable, nice personality, haven’t bent metal candidates did not get called.



I like facts over emotions.
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I responded as a current pilot at the company during the time incident. It just happened to be my buddy.

Fact is he did have an accident on his resume. Guess what? He worked through it, and apparently the company he applied to liked his response.

There is zero emotion in my response other than you took what i said out of context.
 
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EIR said:
I responded as a current pilot at the company during the time incident. It just happened to be my buddy.

Fact is he did have an accident on his resume. Guess what? He worked through it, and apparently the company he applied to liked his response.

There is zero emotion in my response other than you took what i said out of context.
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That's my point. People get told, keep your nose clean, head held high. Plenty of people without accidents who don't get a call, yet a guy with an accident gets a call.

Look, all I'm saying: the process is BS. It's just a game. Often without rhyme or reason.
 
derg said:
Oh, one of my old high school crushes. Sometime about running into her, (peak) Susanna Hoffs (Bangles) and (peak pink-haired) Miki Berenyi (Lush) while we’re all high on MDMA after band practice sounded like a riot:
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Who was the girl in college who on a XC flight to Gila Bend Muni (E63), and managed to land at Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field (GXF), even though one is an uncontrolled northeast/southwest runway of 5200’, and the other is a towered north/south runway of 8500’ and double the width?
 
Max Power said:
I still, to this day, do not know what I did different at my AA interview that got me the job. I have my thoughts, but I'll never know for certain. One answer I gave might have been my savior even though I swore on that 2 hour flight from DFW to home, it was what did me in from not getting a day of CJO.
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Autothrust Blue said:
My trip to 'lanna that was 'successful' was the one about which I gave the fewest damns and for which I was "unprepared" insofar as engaging the various snake oil firms. (Which, that's not fair to Centerline, really, but you get the idea.) I do not recommend this approach as universal, but it was really entertaining to sit there with my jacket off while everyone hopped from foot to foot scared to death.
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Roger Roger said:
Word. I don’t know what the Eskimo was thinking when they gave me the handshake. I showed up to the interview fresh off 6 weeks straight of work, the last 4 weeks being night shift, where I’d flown every night, except the night that I took off because we had to bury the cat we’d had from a kitten. My prep was limited to reading a pirated pdf copy a buddy sent me. I fumbled on a couple questions and thought there was no way I was getting an offer. Literally the only 2 possibilities I can think in retrospect were 1) they were desperate or 2) my background and experience made up for it. This is why in spite of what the general consensus of others have said, given shark’s background and amount of effort put into the process I do wonder if the obviously cishet white dude privilege is still somewhat of a thing. Or maybe that’s the imposter syndrome talking.
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You know, I think you guys are onto something. I showed up in ATL with a black suit, Frontier striped tie, and socks with pizza slices on them. Mine was the first interview after lunch break so they asked what I'd had for lunch as an ice breaker. Me being me I had a pizza so I told them "I had a margherita pizza, it was quite good, and even matches my socks!" pulling them up for everyone to see. You would think for as stuck up as people make Delta out to be they would be horrified, but instead they loved it and laughed their ass off. Yes it was in a way my "dream job" but I was very happy at Frontier so my attitude going in was that I had nothing to lose, and I think it helped tremendously even more so than the prep I did. Maybe it sets the tone a different way from everyone that's trying to be on their best behavior.
 
luke3 said:
You know, I think you guys are onto something. I showed up in ATL with a black suit, Frontier striped tie, and socks with pizza slices on them. Mine was the first interview after lunch break so they asked what I'd had for lunch as an ice breaker. Me being me I had a pizza so I told them "I had a margherita pizza, it was quite good, and even matches my socks!" pulling them up for everyone to see. You would think for as stuck up as people make Delta out to be they would be horrified, but instead they loved it and laughed their ass off. Yes it was in a way my "dream job" but I was very happy at Frontier so my attitude going in was that I had nothing to lose, and I think it helped tremendously even more so than the prep I did. Maybe it sets the tone a different way from everyone that's trying to be on their best behavior.
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Good to see more Frontier escapees.
 
luke3 said:
You know, I think you guys are onto something. I showed up in ATL with a black suit, Frontier striped tie, and socks with pizza slices on them. Mine was the first interview after lunch break so they asked what I'd had for lunch as an ice breaker. Me being me I had a pizza so I told them "I had a margherita pizza, it was quite good, and even matches my socks!" pulling them up for everyone to see. You would think for as stuck up as people make Delta out to be they would be horrified, but instead they loved it and laughed their ass off. Yes it was in a way my "dream job" but I was very happy at Frontier so my attitude going in was that I had nothing to lose, and I think it helped tremendously even more so than the prep I did. Maybe it sets the tone a different way from everyone that's trying to be on their best behavior.
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Yeah, there is the 3rd possibility being that when they said they want to see the real you at the interview, they actually mean it. They got it. Other than forcing myself to be social in the group portions, they got unfiltered, unpolished me.
 
General observation…. How many people in this thread are or have been directly involved in the hiring of pilots at any level? For those that didn’t raise their hand and take issue with the process….Remind me again how you are so sure on how the process works?
 
JEP said:
General observation…. How many people in this thread are or have been directly involved in the hiring of pilots at any level? For those that didn’t raise their hand and take issue with the process….Remind me again how you are so sure on how the process works?
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A bunch of victims got together one daayyyyyyyy
 
Cherokee_Cruiser said:
Without rhyme or reason is the "why" as to the subject matter. You can always find some excuse as to why someone was - or was not - hired.
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Luckily we have subject matter experts who post here.

JEP said:
General observation…. How many people in this thread are or have been directly involved in the hiring of pilots at any level? For those that didn’t raise their hand and take issue with the process….Remind me again how you are so sure on how the process works?
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Because at that level, are sitting on a top perch.


At your Corporate shop, sub 50 pilots (?), yes I’d take your word on what you’re looking for and what it takes to get a call. Because chances are, you are calling directly.


But not a major with 14000+ pilots. Does Derg pick up that phone and say hello Mr So and so, I’d like to invite you to Atlanta…

Or wait. Is it an email? Ok, does derg send that email out himself, directly?


If he does not, he’s just another cog in that machine. Can provide guidance, pointers, etc, but unless he’s the one sending the emails out…

I think you get the point.

“Oh well, our system is proprietary, we, um, yeah”
 
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