Flyingyayy

I believe they post your names for a while so everyone in the company has a chance to tell the chief pilots if you're a jagoff or not

shoelu

Yes, the names of those attending an interview are posted and available for current employees to view and comment on if they so choose.

It is my opinion (my opinion only) that applicants names are submitted to the decision board with a recommendation to either hire or pass on each individual. The decision board then makes the final call, which is where a negative or positive comment about the potential new hire from a current employee or possible other negative or positive opinions that might be discovered during calls to references etc. Also, I believe the DB will have access to PRIA documents and drug testing results to factor in to the decision as well. Most of the Chief Pilots on the decision board have never even met the potential new hires, they are simply reviewing the recommendations from others then adding in any new info discovered after the actual interview. Again, all this is only my opinion of how the process works and I can't guarantee my opinion to be 100% factual.

Spark

Why then do some folks references never get called, and they never get the job. Wonder if someone's interview is so bad they don't bother calling references.
I know that even recently there have been dudes who had their references called and no job offer... However historically it's been said that if you have your references called you have an excellent shot.
But if your references are called and they throw you under the bus then I can see a TBNT email going out in short order.
And then what about the folks called weeks before or after the decision boards.

Shoelu, good post. Such a mysterious process!

shoelu

It is certainly a very mysterious process that those truly in the "know" are very reluctant to share info about. I have asked direct questions and never gotten much insight.

I will speculate that if the members of the interview team are recommending no job offer, they probably do not set the process in motion for gathering more data about the applicant. However, maybe the decision board has 20 internal recommendations coupled with other face to face positive comments from current employees and they want more info about the applicant. The decision board has to know that someone might have a poor interview skills but still could be a positive asset to the pilot group.

The moral of the story is do not give up hope until they give you a conditional job offer or a thanks but no thanks message. I know that I have put in positive referrals through the company web site and also through face to face discussions offering positive remarks about an applicant to my chief pilots that make up the decision board. Don't assume that you are not going to get the job until they inform you of such. It is a fluid process that ebbs and flows contingent upon what is happening at the airline at any given moment. There is no definitive time line for anything. Sometimes the airline operation takes precedent and lower priority tasks get pushed back.

tr4a

If you don't make it past the interview, you don't make it to the DB.


(Disclaimer: The opinion is my own, and not that of Southwest Airlines Officers, Directors, or Employees.)

tr4a

Well said.

Spark

Thanks guys. Not giving up hope. Didn't feel like I connected very well during the panel (really nervous), so I've been a wreck since then. I have very good letters, and they called my best reference, but I don't know if they've called anyone else.
So, I'm looking for shreds of hope

Rubicon

LOL! Good one!

Thunder1

Yep, whacko you are correct. Those factors probably play into the decision for those lucky few who have 2 job offers.
By the way, why don't you go and get hired on as a new hire at one of the legacies? Seems that is all you post about is how bad things are at SWA and how rosy things are at the legacies.

ZapBrannigan

Being critical about deficiencies at ones place of employ isn't reason to go cross the street and apply elsewhere. How will things ever get better if people remain silent and accept the status quo? The reality is that there are deficiencies - even if they are little things like parking, crew meals, uniform allowance, reserve rules, scheduling flexibility, retirement, etc. It is more than fair to share some of those deficiencies with potential candidates so that they conduct their job search with eyes wide open. We can still love a job, while acknowledging that it has room for improvement.