Southwest Hiring Info 2016
02-01-2016, 12:39 PM
#351
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2013
Posts: 4,782
I loved her, but we were worlds apart. I knew she was too hot for me and she was going to break my heart. Oh sure, she said all of the right things and promised that we could just sit at home, make popcorn and watch old movies... But I new she wanted to see the world and visit places like Port Au Prince and Lima Peru.
The Texas girl won my heart for a few reasons. First, she was close by. Long distance relationships are hard and New York girl was a two leg commute away. Secondly, she had a history of dating guys for a long time and never breaking their hearts. I'd had my heart broken many times and was looking to settle down. Oh sure, I knew it would be a long time before she let me sit in the left seat of her... Well, I digress. I also felt as though New York girl pretty much let anybody date her. And when I was dating her I didn't feel special. Texas girl was harder to get a date with and dating her made me feel as though I was successful.
Now that I've completely ridden the metaphor into the ground...
Look. I've worked for 8 different airlines including 3.5 majors. Aside from little contractual perks and pay rates the job is virtually identical at all of them. We talk about the same things in the cockpit. The view out the window is the same. Same lousy hotels. Same lousy food. Same labor/management strife. I chose my current employer because I felt like I needed a "win" by the time I turned 40 and Delta wasn't calling. It's a good job - good enough that I can't be seduced by the promise of a quick upgrade to leave and go somewhere else. I've been fooled before. More than once. Shame on me.
Do what makes you happy and what works for your family.
My BEST advice? Do the OPPOSITE of what I did. Hitch your horse to one wagon and stick it out. No matter how bad you "think" it is going to get. If I had stayed (or accepted recall) at ANY ONE of the majors I worked for I would be better off than I am today. So when you get that number think of it like being married. For better or for worse. For richer and for poorer. In sickness and in health. Till death do you part.
You might not be the richest cat on the block or have the fastest upgrade... But take it from me. I killed 20 years chasing green pastures and I missed out on a whole heck of a lot of fun along the way (as well as enough seniority to be able to hold holidays and weekends off while my kid is young)
Oh... And one more thing. It's just a job. Not a religion. Not your favorite football team. Don't take this stuff personally.
The Texas girl won my heart for a few reasons. First, she was close by. Long distance relationships are hard and New York girl was a two leg commute away. Secondly, she had a history of dating guys for a long time and never breaking their hearts. I'd had my heart broken many times and was looking to settle down. Oh sure, I knew it would be a long time before she let me sit in the left seat of her... Well, I digress. I also felt as though New York girl pretty much let anybody date her. And when I was dating her I didn't feel special. Texas girl was harder to get a date with and dating her made me feel as though I was successful.
Now that I've completely ridden the metaphor into the ground...
Look. I've worked for 8 different airlines including 3.5 majors. Aside from little contractual perks and pay rates the job is virtually identical at all of them. We talk about the same things in the cockpit. The view out the window is the same. Same lousy hotels. Same lousy food. Same labor/management strife. I chose my current employer because I felt like I needed a "win" by the time I turned 40 and Delta wasn't calling. It's a good job - good enough that I can't be seduced by the promise of a quick upgrade to leave and go somewhere else. I've been fooled before. More than once. Shame on me.
Do what makes you happy and what works for your family.
My BEST advice? Do the OPPOSITE of what I did. Hitch your horse to one wagon and stick it out. No matter how bad you "think" it is going to get. If I had stayed (or accepted recall) at ANY ONE of the majors I worked for I would be better off than I am today. So when you get that number think of it like being married. For better or for worse. For richer and for poorer. In sickness and in health. Till death do you part.
You might not be the richest cat on the block or have the fastest upgrade... But take it from me. I killed 20 years chasing green pastures and I missed out on a whole heck of a lot of fun along the way (as well as enough seniority to be able to hold holidays and weekends off while my kid is young)
Oh... And one more thing. It's just a job. Not a religion. Not your favorite football team. Don't take this stuff personally.
02-01-2016, 02:17 PM
#352
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2015
Posts: 536
02-01-2016, 05:24 PM
#353
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2006
Posts: 2,889
Quite frankly, I have to say that I'm somewhat surprised to see such a (dare I say) whiny post coming from someone who reaps profits from the whole "Hiring game" himself. The HR reps at the Job Fairs are looking for people they can hire and put in class as soon as possible. If someone doesn't meet the qualifications to be hired, they are wasting both their time, and the time of the qualified people standing in line behind them that have "crawled on their belly---burned precious military leave or burned hard earned regional dollars--for literally just minutes with a recruiter" AND meet the qualifications.
Don't get me wrong, I applaud your service to the pilot community and endorse your service to pretty much all my friends that are looking to get on with their carrier of choice as I appreciated and respect what you offered, but I think you might be the one that's acting a little "high and mighty" here.
There's no doubt in anyone's mind that Job fairs suck, and I've personally only met one person who has actually benefited from them.
I felt the need to comment because the whole tone of your post seems like a personal vendetta against SWA because they are calling people out for using ECC.
Don't get me wrong, I applaud your service to the pilot community and endorse your service to pretty much all my friends that are looking to get on with their carrier of choice as I appreciated and respect what you offered, but I think you might be the one that's acting a little "high and mighty" here.
There's no doubt in anyone's mind that Job fairs suck, and I've personally only met one person who has actually benefited from them.
I felt the need to comment because the whole tone of your post seems like a personal vendetta against SWA because they are calling people out for using ECC.
These folks who pay to sit in line really don't have many options--except perhaps other job fairs. That to me is the difference. I don't like the "pay to play" scheme. I also don't like the fact that while the majority of airline pilots are not gay, female, or black those organizations get to place a de facto tax on the rest of the pilot population in order to gain access to these recruiters.
The recruiter at SWA isn't the only guy/gal who has been brusque. People used to be forced to stand in line for hours to do the same thing with Fedex interviewers--at least until Delta and United started hiring big numbers!
As someone pointed out its human nature. I'm not bashing SWA, I'm bashing the whole "kiss the ring" culture that has emerged at ALL the hiring departments. Southwest will always have a stack of interested pilots--as will most of the majors. I spent a lot of time doing airshows, static displays, and open houses for years in the Air Force. I don't remember ever looking at a kid and saying "...well...honestly kid....I don't think you have a chance in hell of flying this jet. You probably won't get into a good enough college, and pilots slots are hard to get. You probably need to go over and look at the airplane loading equipment and get a more realistic dream...." Those kids didn't even pay to come visit, yet we always went out of our way to show them the jets and inspire them. Yes--that's kids and the public--not a trade show--so the analogy isn't perfect...but I just don't think standing in line for 4-7 hours in a suit to chat for 10 minutes is a very good system. I wish there was a better way.
It seems like maybe there could be a system where you got invited to a job fair--based on being "qualified" on paper to at least interview. (I think Jetblue may have done something similar, but forget the details...)Then everyone there would know they were at least in the game, and making the payment on the fast pass or other expenses would be perhaps worth doing.
FWIW...I never did a job fair, nor did I do an interview prep. I blundered along and thought I did pretty well, and in hindsight did well enough. But there was also a lot more hiring in 2000-2001 than until recently, so the opportunity cost for pooching it was less than it was 2002-2010. As for passing up an interview or class to "save" it for someone who wants to be there--that's just life. I don't see how a guy can be asked to bypass a six figure job that will take care of his family, so some guy he doesn't even know can get his dream job. Its a nice ideal, but I cannot imagine that going over too well at the kitchen table with momma... As Zap has pointed out--the jobs are more similar than different, and leaving that much money on the table to wait for the next class is just not going to happen. The upside for the SWA wannabes is if you are the guy who really, really wants to be there your passion should be obvious to the interviewers. You will hopefully get your chance...
02-03-2016, 07:21 AM
#357
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2007
Position: 737 right
Posts: 755
Our retirement falls well short of what our counterparts receive.
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