Where to go to Dispatcher school?

MT said:
@MikeD I have one question for you about this response and then I'm done. You are the dispatch hiring manager at CrappedOn Regional Airlines dba NotFlyingOnUs Express. You'll have had 3 dispatchers leave and now need to find and hire the best 3 candidates you can find. Your boss says that you are only allowed to fly in your top 15 candidates for interviews.

Applications close and you are presented with a stack of 50 resumes. You pour through these resumes quick hoping to the dispatch gods that you see a guy with mainline experience that wants a massive pay cut and to be treated like garbage again.

After you wake up from your fantasy, you scour it again looking for a regional guy that is looking for a change of scenery and a lateral move. Damn those major airlines for hiring so much the last 3 years, I don't have anyone that fits that bill.

You're hopeful that maybe you will find some aviation experience on this next try. Perhaps an aviation degree in addition to the dispatch license. Maybe a private pilot certificate as well, experience working for an airline in any capacity, FBO? Sweet I found three! Only 12 more to go!

Ok let's look at the general resume. I see a couple with military service, that's a plus. Now only 10 to invite in. Sweet this is easy! We're almost done!

Oh wait.... Damn it, I still have 45 resumes that are practically the same. Joe Schmo has a 10 year work record and was promotable as evidenced by his supervisory experience. Jane Doe has the same. Santa Claus did this as well! Oh no, the Easter Bunny has the same exact qualifications as the first three. Crap...

So MikeD, you're calling the shots here. You have 45 resumes that are very similar. None of them have dispatch or aviation experience outside of their brand new dispatch certificate. We need to find the best individuals to bring in to interview, but you can't bring them all in to evaluate the individual, in an interview. They are all the same on paper outside of the dispatch school (which we have decided can't be a factor because it's pathetic, even though out of the last 5 dispatchers that I hired right from dispatch school, 3 are excellent dispatchers who went to ABC dispatch school and 2 are completely worthless who went to XYZ Dispatch School.) You can't give any preference to age, race, gender, etc. because that would get us sued and you fired really quick. How do you choose the last 10 to bring in for the interview? Coin flip? Lay out the resumes and blindly pick? Throw darts at them and call the guys that you hit?

I really am interested to see how you solve this conundrum that a hiring manager is presented with every time they hire without giving weight to where the candidates went to school.
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I know this is intended for MikeD, but the obvious answer is phone interviews. They cost nothing but your time, which you're already spending on reading over the resume. Nearly every interview I've had for a regional began with either an in depth phone interview, or a quick chat with three or four questions before being invited out for an in person interview.
 
MT said:
So MikeD, you're calling the shots here. You have 45 resumes that are very similar. None of them have dispatch or aviation experience outside of their brand new dispatch certificate. We need to find the best individuals to bring in to interview, but you can't bring them all in to evaluate the individual, in an interview. They are all the same on paper outside of the dispatch school (which we have decided can't be a factor because it's pathetic, even though out of the last 5 dispatchers that I hired right from dispatch school, 3 are excellent dispatchers who went to ABC dispatch school and 2 are completely worthless who went to XYZ Dispatch School.) You can't give any preference to age, race, gender, etc. because that would get us sued and you fired really quick. How do you choose the last 10 to bring in for the interview? Coin flip? Lay out the resumes and blindly pick? Throw darts at them and call the guys that you hit?

I really am interested to see how you solve this conundrum that a hiring manager is presented with every time they hire without giving weight to where the candidates went to school.
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Of course there's going to be no guarantees of anything when it comes to hiring or when it comes to product. You could just as easily get crapbag who happened to graduate ABC school, just as easily as you could get good person who happened to graduate from XYZ school. That's the thing. So if its coming down to what school they came from as the final selection factor for interview, it'd be nice to pick across the board. Never know what may surprise. In the end, the individual still has to pass the interview on their own knowledge merit. Paring down the candidates as mentioned via phone and/or other means, as already mentioned here, is one idea.

I understand your situation, that hiring for some of these places isn't easy, and often you're stuck with entry level wet-ticket holders as your only available candidates, for any number of reasons. Managers will tend to go with what they consider a known product. All I'm saying is that the formula may not always work as a guarantee, or a company may possibly be missing out on a great candidate, if they limit themselves to that.

In no way am I saying the job of hiring is an easy one. I'm sure it can get downright tedious.
 
Our little regional has 21 Dispatchers. IFOD is usually our first stop when hiring. I don't think you can go wrong with Shef or Jepp, either.
We hired a guy from Universal Weather & Aviation once. Very good.
 
I have to say I'm a little nervous after reading through this thread. I'm entering my final semester in the 2 year aviation program at a community college here in SLC.

Most the classes are taught by retired airline pilots who want something to do during retirement and there is only one class specifically for dispatching. It was taught by a SkyWest dispatcher last year but it appears that a private pilot who got her dispatch license for fun 20 years ago is going to teach it this year.

I have no aviation experience, although I do have an app out to work the ramp for SkyWest.

Am I pretty much hopeless in finding a job with no experience and no recognizable dispatch school to put on my resume?
 
Doolittle said:
Am I pretty much hopeless in finding a job with no experience and no recognizable dispatch school to put on my resume?
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I would definitely say, having a well-known school on your resume would be a leg up over the license program you're describing. And based on the instructor you are describing, I would say to just skip that class. There's a huge amount of knowledge you gain after you get your license that it sounds like your future instructor has likely not acquired if she's never used it.

Definitely, I would say to finish the degree - but I think getting your license at a better-known program would increase your chances of getting an interview.
 
For what it's worth, several people at SkyWest have come from that program in SLC and there have been SkyWest dispatchers who taught the class from time to time. There is also a college program in the Seattle area where SkyWest has gotten dispatchers from. So it is possible to get a job from a lesser known program, however manniax is right in that a larger name program like Jeppesen is likely to give you more exposure or name value on your resume.
 
It's almost like the dispatch version of Shiny Jet Syndrome...people put way too much weight in where they went to school at. You don't see pilots obsessing over having gone to a part 61 or 141 school. All that really matters is that the little green card says "AIRCRAFT DISPATCHER" on it.


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azmedic said:
It's almost like the dispatch version of Shiny Jet Syndrome...people put way too much weight in where they went to school at. You don't see pilots obsessing over having gone to a part 61 or 141 school. All that really matters is that the little green card says "AIRCRAFT DISPATCHER" on it.
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People have differing views on this. I will not attempt to rehash them all here, but I would advise @Doolittle to read this entire thread before making a final decision. Also, just to clarify, my concern over his school selection was based less about going to a "name brand" school, and more to do with the likely dispatch course instructor at the school he is currently attending to get his associate's degree.
 
I got my dispatch certificate at the college I was attending at the time. The instructors were ex and current dispatchers at the time. I did it becuase my tuition paid for it and the course was crdited like any other class credits. If money is an issue I would do it at your college because other schools like Ifod and Sheffield cost at least 4k. Again this is all a personal preference and depends on your situation.
 
Just a little update if anyone is curious: my instructor has turned out to be a recently retired airline captain of 20 years who recently got his dispatch license. I suppose it's not as good as an experienced dispatcher but at least he's been in Part 121 for much of his life and has flown every airplane invented since the Wright Brothers.

With that said, I am feeling pretty overwhelmed after my first class last night. I knew there was a ton to learn in a short period of time but I didn't know there was this much to learn! :ooh:
 
CONOR HAYES said:
Anybody know of or how good Phoenix East Aviation is in Daytona FL. ??
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The only Phoenix East grad I ever met was 15 years ago, and I will politely say that, given the knowledge he displayed to me, I don't know how he got his license.
 
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