r311music
Well-Known Member
Well long story short, I have been working the ramp for Southwest for about 8 years. It was my first "real" job after high school. I didn't plan on doing ramp for this long, but like many things in life, it just happened. However within the past year I have done some job shadows in both the Air Tran OCC and Southwest OCC and found that Dispatch is where I want to end up career wise.
In the past year I have applied and interviewed for a few positions within the OCC here at Southwest. Twice for crew scheduling, which I was turned down due to my lack of "customer service" experience. The other one was a flight following job but I was turned down as they didn't think I would have the computer skills necessary for the job. I grew up in the computer age, I'm 26, so I really think they just saw I was a ramp agent for seven years and I don't know how to do anything but load bags. I should also mention I can easily get into the Operation department here in MCO, but I enjoy my schedule on the ramp too much to jump on it.
Now here comes the part I would like some advice for. I have saved up enough to do the Sheffield distance course and I probably will start it in the next month or so. However, once I finish, I'm worried that being on the ramp will hinder my chances of getting an Assistant Dispatch opening here. From what I have heard, most Assistant Dispatchers come from other jobs within the OCC such as flight followers, schedulers, ect. Would it be worth my time to wait and try to get on a dispatcher here from the ramp? Or should I go the regional route? I think it's crazy I'll take a pay cut to handle more responsibility as right now I make 18.50/hr, but I'm so bored with my current job that it doesn't bother me too much. How easy is it to move from a regional to a major? Do any regionals actually pay their dispatchers well if they stick around?
Feel free to put your 0.02 in!
In the past year I have applied and interviewed for a few positions within the OCC here at Southwest. Twice for crew scheduling, which I was turned down due to my lack of "customer service" experience. The other one was a flight following job but I was turned down as they didn't think I would have the computer skills necessary for the job. I grew up in the computer age, I'm 26, so I really think they just saw I was a ramp agent for seven years and I don't know how to do anything but load bags. I should also mention I can easily get into the Operation department here in MCO, but I enjoy my schedule on the ramp too much to jump on it.
Now here comes the part I would like some advice for. I have saved up enough to do the Sheffield distance course and I probably will start it in the next month or so. However, once I finish, I'm worried that being on the ramp will hinder my chances of getting an Assistant Dispatch opening here. From what I have heard, most Assistant Dispatchers come from other jobs within the OCC such as flight followers, schedulers, ect. Would it be worth my time to wait and try to get on a dispatcher here from the ramp? Or should I go the regional route? I think it's crazy I'll take a pay cut to handle more responsibility as right now I make 18.50/hr, but I'm so bored with my current job that it doesn't bother me too much. How easy is it to move from a regional to a major? Do any regionals actually pay their dispatchers well if they stick around?
Feel free to put your 0.02 in!