Some Delta Application Pointers
- Thread starter derg
- Start date
Dexter
Hop off there, Blonde Ambition Tour
So, if all of the above is actually true, how come a thread meant to provide inside to applicants at an airline you don’t work for (but admittedly applied to) have to become another “Help Me Justify My Station in Life, Again” thread? And, egads, not updating for barely six months isn’t indicative of “no longer applying”.
“Dr. Laura, I’ll take my answer on the air!”
jtrain609
Antisocial Monster
mastermags
Well-Known Member *giggity*
Literally took about 3 posts for the usual suspects to derail the thread. Did not disappoint.
Cherokee_Cruiser
Bronteroc
My first post was this thread gon be good and then a popcorn gif. I jumped in after with the non answer comment by AT. Next month my app payment is due and I ain’t paying. I don’t know what happens but I assume lack of payment makes the app go poof.
Mmm hmmm.
“Someone is gonna poop outside the litter box!”
[Proceeds to poop outside the litter box]
Skywest never called when I applied during my CFI days. American gave me the TBNT. If I trolled both airlines when the topic came up and then claimed “I don’t really care”, it’s what we call in Arizona “disingenuous”.
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ppragman
FLIPY FLAPS!
I always laugh at the dudes with Sour Grapes about this stuff.
I got my medical back after teaching in the sim and running my own business for a bit. A prominent ACMI carrier gave me TBNT and told me to apply again in a year after more recency of experience. Fair 'nuf, I think I'd be alright, but they don't know me, so whatever. I'm fine (and not in the girlfriend sense) with doing what I'm doing because I enjoy the work and I see my kids a lot. I can't change a company's hiring metrics; whether they're rational or irrational being upset about it is a waste of energy. In general, industry wide, there is no rational metric. There is no appropriate box to check, this career is a moving target and it's driven by demand. If the choice is "park jets or hire people without a degree" what does everyone think will happen? Hiring standards get pretty lose when money is on the line. Stressing about this nonsense, paying consultants, and obsessing over the color of your tie or suit is an tragic waste of your life.
Appear to be a decent whole individual with interests outside of being an equipment operator and you probably stand a better chance than the guy who has exactly the appropriate boxes checked but looks like everyone else.
One of the weirdest experiences of my life has been the relatively recent realization that all our petty career goals are precisely that - petty. We'll all be worm-food in a generation, frantically updating my app on AirlineApps or frantically reloading ClimbTo350 in search of the next greatest thing is a waste of precious time. Yeah, I don't want to work myself to death, and yeah, I plan on following my goals, but it's OK to be a little bit content with this stuff. If you spend all your time preparing for the "next thing" checking the right boxes when that thing shows up you'll have missed the "good old days" and be just like everyone else. Obviously, MMMTO is the name of the game, and of course keep working towards that, but ironically when you spend all your time trying to check boxes you become the exact person HR departments don't want. Let it happen organically if it happens at all.
Beyond that, what do we really want to make out of our lives? Is the sole purpose of my existence to move people and things around rapidly? Can't I be a part of something better than simply making share-holders money? What difference can I make in my life that will outlive my arguably selfish existence? Your total time doesn't • matter, your PIC time doesn't matter, whether your degree took 4 years or 24 years doesn't really matter. No one will care about your checkride failures when you're dead. We should stop bitching about interview practices and start asking how we can leave the world a little less • than we found it. If we're lucky, then maybe HR will hire us in spite of our flaws and we can put the money and additional time off we get into something meaningful.
mastermags
Well-Known Member *giggity*
That’s definitely the macro view of the situation. Don’t know if that will necessarily help targeting specific companies.
As everything, the answer probably lies somewhere in the middle.
ppragman
FLIPY FLAPS!
Here's the thing though, targeting a specific company is kind of dumb. Other than your cover letter, how different is your application going to be for any of these places? They're all going to want an ATP, some experience in a similar job, and something that makes you stand out. Go get that then app everywhere if that's what you want to do.
My interview suit is the same for all these places. If asked the same question I will give the same answer.
I get the root of what you're saying but everything is a market. You have to make yourself marketable. If you're just sitting back and enjoying life and "when the time comes and Delta/AA/whoever really needs me they'll take me" ain't going to work.
Those that know me know I've gotten some big TBNTs in my career. That's fine, it sucked and we'll both move on and "see other girls" but that didn't change the drive. I see a lot of well I didn't get called at 26 years old so screw it imma go do something else. That's a whole lot of lack of prospective. Another thing I see is well so and so got hired and look at them. That don't mean crap. Me, Dough, and a whole host of others got turned down before someone said yes. Jobs we were 100% qualified for and would be damn good employees at. But after that no we didn't sit back and say well they'll come to me, don't work that way.
I've gotten it from both ends, "damn dude you need to sit back and enjoy life". Got that when I was chasing upgrades and flying my ass off at 23. "Yea well must be nice to be at Elvis Express Express". The two aren't mutually exclusive. I went out and wrecked my QOL for close to 15 years to check every damn box I could. Worth it, absolutely. Now I can sit back and enjoy the hell out of life and not have to worry about chasing the dream job. Funny that those same people giving me • for chasing upgrades and not having a life at 23 are now "Hey buddy how's it going, i was thinking of applying...."
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ppragman
FLIPY FLAPS!
On the other hand life is preciously short and 15 years of getting after it and checking boxes is a pretty bleak existence if you get hit crossing the street before you ever get the brass ring.
Having faced that in a metaphorical sense, I wasted a lot of my time worried about my career that didn't matter. Enjoy the road because Delta or no Delta some day you will be an old man looking back on your life, you'd better have had fun and made the world a little less •.
My thesis isn't (and shouldn't be interpreted as) "don't apply, don't check boxes" rather the thesis is "stop worrying so damn much and get on with your life, you can't make people hire you." Hard work is no guarantee of success, but hardwork is still required.
There's no guarantee that any of us get hired, I'd be awfully disappointed in myself if I structured my whole career around doing one thing and never made it there. Our lives are more important than our jobs.
Well if flying jets as a captain at 23 is a bleak existence then there's probably a different career for those that think that. My QOL was crap meaning I moved 10+ times and bounced around a bunch I still wasn't digging ditches.
Jordan93
Well-Known Member
Upgraded at 24 and I’m able to get 8-10 straight days off a month and afford to go on a vacation every month if I wanted to. Not many of my friends can do the same. I’d say I’m enjoying life.
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Screaming_Emu
Joe Conventional
CFI A&P
Exploring the world one toilet at a time.
1) What can I do to increase my chances of getting an interview?
If being a Captain for Delta is your ultimate goal, keep working toward that, and take advantage of opportunities that might give you experience that would help you be the best Delta Captain you can. We want to hire pilots who are safe, are good leaders, will take good care of their coworkers and passengers, and who love their jobs. Any opportunity you find, either at work or in your personal life, that works for you and that you are passionate about would be something we’d encourage you to do.
Come on that's the biggest non-answer I've seen.
No way, I thought you wanted unsafe, bad leaders, who'll neglect their coworkers and passengers, and hate their jobs?
They know what they're doing with that answer. They can't tell you to pursue one avenue of flying or another. Imagine if the big three added a face or neck tattoo to their minimums, then you'd have 100,000 pilots lined up out there to get some ink because that is what they need to get to their dream job.
What if they said you needed either option (regional PIC or widebody freight), then you made a life decision to follow their guidance..... and still never get hired. Guess who will be pissed off at that airline since they never hired them? I've met plenty of people that have a 737 type and never made it to SWA, want to guess what their attitude is about Southwest?
Screaming_Emu
Joe Conventional
Yeah. Times are different than they were back when the soulless ginger were starting out.
Jordan93
Well-Known Member
Yep. I’m a below average pilot with above average luck
