UAL CEO said he uses this hiring tactic to vibe check job candidates

Springer

Springer

Well-Known Member

  • United Airlines' CEO said the company relies on "well-liked" pilots to assess potential hires.
  • Kirby said the aim is to hire people who employees actually want to hang out with.
  • United will receive 75,000 applications for a few thousand flight attendant openings, Kirby said.
You might be qualified for the job, but do people actually like hanging out with you?

That's a question United Airlines is interested in when assessing new hires — and uses a unique tactic in order to answer it.

Scott Kirby, United Airlines CEO, told McKinsey chief Bob Sternfels in an interview published in early April that he started a new process at the company aimed at evaluating if a candidate is a good cultural fit.

Kirby said he asked the head of flight operations to identify a dozen pilots who are "well-liked by everyone." When candidates come in for interviews, those popular pilots will hang out with them — walk them around the building, have lunch with them, and escort them to interviews.

"I told this group of pilots, 'Your job is just to assess: Is this interviewee someone I would like to take a four-day trip with? And if you say no, then they're out. You get a veto vote,'" Kirby said. "The idea is to pick people who care about others, who you want to hang out with, who you want to be with."
 
The first five minutes of my United interview was talking about being on a swimteam as a kid. And that started while talking with a fellow interviewee in the waiting room, annd it spilled into the interview. Absolutely zero about airplanes, just back-and-forth chitchat, laughing and talking about spending hours in a Speedo. The HR lady did not look too pleased lol.
 
///AMG said:
I thought this was already basically what the interview was about? No?
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I do not understand why people are so infatuated with what CEOs say. An article like this will wow and drop the jaws of many in the corporate world, I’m sure it’s already been reshared thousands of times on LinkedIn lol
 
I'm going to go ahead and call "BS" on Kirby.

Maybe he does, but that seems highly unlikely.
 
derg said:
I'm going to go ahead and call "BS" on Kirby.

Maybe he does, but that seems highly unlikely.
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I haven’t done interviews in a few months due to fleet planning, so maybe things have changed…but this isn’t exactly how it works. The position he’s talking about is greeter position. If we are there for interviews we have a chance of working that position instead of doing interviews that day. You meet and greet the applicants, give them a tour, and a little presentation on what to expect. I really enjoy that position as it’s a fun change of pace. Do we have veto power? No…but will the pilot interviewer / hr rep ask us for input if they noticed something? Sure.
 
jhugz said:
I haven’t done interviews in a few months due to fleet planning, so maybe things have changed…but this isn’t exactly how it works. The position he’s talking about is greeter position. If we are there for interviews we have a chance of working that position instead of doing interviews that day. You meet and greet the applicants, give them a tour, and a little presentation on what to expect. I really enjoy that position as it’s a fun change of pace. Do we have veto power? No…but will the pilot interviewer / hr rep ask us for input if they noticed something? Sure.
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Not saying that this happens. But it is bizarre to imagine that someone would be so socially inept as to highlight themselves in this setting. As they say though “this basic low-threat dog and pony show where you can just simply keep your pie hole closed, is yours to lose…”
 
///AMG said:
Not saying that this happens. But it is bizarre to imagine that someone would be so socially inept as to highlight themselves in this setting. As they say though “this basic low-threat dog and pony show where you can just simply keep your pie hole closed, is yours to lose…”
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Oh it happens…it shouldn’t, but it does.

Just to add though, greeter input can also lead to good results not just negative ones.
 
///AMG said:
Not saying that this happens. But it is bizarre to imagine that someone would be so socially inept as to highlight themselves in this setting. As they say though “this basic low-threat dog and pony show where you can just simply keep your pie hole closed, is yours to lose…”
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I 100% believe a pilot would be inept enough to do that. One of my friends does interviews at my airline and said he had a candidate recently who sat spread eagle and scratched his balls non stop for the entire interview.

He did not get the job.
 
jhugz said:
I haven’t done interviews in a few months due to fleet planning, so maybe things have changed…but this isn’t exactly how it works. The position he’s talking about is greeter position. If we are there for interviews we have a chance of working that position instead of doing interviews that day. You meet and greet the applicants, give them a tour, and a little presentation on what to expect. I really enjoy that position as it’s a fun change of pace. Do we have veto power? No…but will the pilot interviewer / hr rep ask us for input if they noticed something? Sure.
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This seems entirely reasonable and I don't know why anyone would have a huge problem with it. Anyone who thinks they aren't being "watched" at every step of any job interview, from the waiting room to the break rooms is deluding themselves. If anything I would think people would welcome this approach over a computerized test like the Hogan. I also knew when one of the prep courses I'd pay for included sage advice like "don't be a jerk to people at the hotel or on the shuttle to the interview, you never know who is watching!" that I'd wasted my money.
 
JordanD said:
This seems entirely reasonable and I don't know why anyone would have a huge problem with it. Anyone who thinks they aren't being "watched" at every step of any job interview, from the waiting room to the break rooms is deluding themselves. If anything I would think people would welcome this approach over a computerized test like the Hogan. I also knew when one of the prep courses I'd pay for included sage advice like "don't be a jerk to people at the hotel or on the shuttle to the interview, you never know who is watching!" that I'd wasted my money.
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I'd go even further... Even post interview! After my interview at the Legacy, while at the gate waiting for my flight home, I was approached by someone in a nice pilot uniform... I immediately recognized him as one of the interviewers on duty that day. Further, he recognized me (even though he didn't do my interview) and started asking friendly questions about how things went and then just friendly conversation.
Mind you this was hours after I'd left the building!
 
Everyone is always on their best behavior, except a couple. But without divulging too much, there are far easier ways to 'press to test' than rizzing up a tour guide.
 
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