Stupid Question for Doug

[outside_looking_in]

Hey doug,

What exactly do you mean by networking. I know that you always say that the biggest thing to having a successful career in the Airline business is networking. I just don't know what you mean by networking!

Thanks!
Brian

 

[cmsuav8r]

He means going out and meeting people in the business. The more people you know, the better chance you have of someone walking in your resume.

 

[Minuteman]

Start off by bringing a large spool of CAT-5 to each interview. Can't build a network without the right cable!

Actually, this kind of networking is about knowing the right people at a place you want to work, or knowing people who know the right people, or knowing people who know people who know the right people, and on and on...

A candidate who has received a recommendation from someone already at the company or someone who can sidebar with an interviewer has a much better chance of getting a thumbs up over someone who the interviewers have never heard of before prior to the interview.

How do you get a good press like that? Network! Get to know people. If someone knows you're looking for a job, and thinks well of you, they can do a lot to help you along over the shlub who goes straight from dispatch to the plane and they don't know.

 

[DE727UPS]

Many airlines have a system in place for their pilots to recommend guys they know for an interview. At my airline, you won't get an interview without it.

 

[MQAAord]

You can never have too many friends in this business. There will be people in your new-hire class at your first airline that you won't see for 20 years, and then you'll literally walk into them in the terminal.
Never, ever burn a bridge, someone you screw over can turn up years later in the most unexpected places.