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AEPS - UPAS - Berliner Aviation Group

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Ned

Active member
Joined
Dec 3, 2001
Posts
39
I'd like to get some information on these pilot services...

My limited opinions so far...

AEPS - I signed up for the free 10 day trail. I got lots of spam, finally blocked e-mails from aeps.com, then I got a packet in the mail that included a magazine. The magazince wasn't too bad, but didn't have any good information from my perspective. You can't look at any of the job listings without paying, so I guess thats not included in the trial. I got annoyed and decided they hadn't shown me any good reason to fork over the 12 bucks a month (or whatever it is)

UPAS - Ok, its $150.00 to join. I didin't see anything on their web site that convinced me to send them $150.00 Thats a lot of money.

Berliner Aviation Group - Ok these guys one some credit right off the bat with their claim that there is no pilot shortage and there never will be. They have a book called The 2002 Airline and Corporate Pilot Hiring Bible for $25.00 Anybody read it? Anybody used their other services which appear to be a one time charge?
 
I personally don't think that any of those groups really do a whole lot for you.

The only way I have ever gotten a job is to send out resumes followed up by phone calls and/or personal visits.

If you want an airline job, pick your favorite airlines and send them a resume and cover letter. Do that every 6 months and find the phone number to their HR department. Keep a journal of their current news (helpful in the interview).

If you want a corporate or charter job, call them, send them a resume and call them again. Keep bugging them until they hire you or get a restraining order. ;)

Don't worry about minimums, they are usually flexible. Remember, almost any pilot can be trained to their standards. You have to make it an easy decision to hire you, they won't go out of the way to find you. So stand up and shout PICK ME PICK ME!

If you are still in college, usually your college has a career adviser that will help you set up a very good resume (there are also good posts in this forum and on Monster.com).

Good Luck.
 
Pilot head hunters

I agree 100% with the above. These groups do a great job of selling false hopes. In fact, my experience with headhunters as a whole is they play a lot of bait-and-switch with job openings. They get you all excited during their phone call, but when they bring you in all of a sudden the job in question is no longer open. They justify their fees by the numbers of bodies they get through the door. They are a total waste of time in my .02 opinion.

Be your own headhunter. Spam everyone. Update as you build hours and/or add ratings. Update with a resume if you change addresses. Stay abreast of company news. I realize it is frustrating to send out tons of stuff and to get no responses. However, all it takes is one.

Sometimes, it's tempting to place a followup call to H.R. Be very careful about that. Airlines in general and the commuters in particular receive tons of resumes, so, chances are, finding yours will be like finding a needle in a haystack. You don't want to annoy the person on the other end because that person could ace you. I would qualify these remarks to the extent that you can place followup phone calls, with care, to non-airline employers. Just use judgment on where and whom you call.

Good luck with your job search.
 
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AEPS... I have been with them for a few years now...
THey have provided me with a few leads but the crux of the service I find is using the database to get those "hard to find" address, phone numbers, fax numbers, and most importanly NAMES. This database was successful in me aquiring a few interviews. Other than that I really see little value in the job info they send me.

Berliner... Bought the service, the books, video interview, you name it I went for it... hook, line and sinker!

They did the mailing to 10 airlines (4 came back return to sender, wrong address), re-did the resume (they did well), the guide book was worthless as many address were PO boxes and contact names were generic (HR, CP, DO). Used the service for advice, I got basically the same advice I heard from AIR Inc. Lastly, they really are geared for the Majors, you mention regionals and they have no clue.
All in all, I would say save your money!

UPAS... never tried it, but since they really only support an handful of companies I did not think the investment was worth it..

Well, that is my .02
 
Bobby

My friend Bobby and I agree on somthings but when he falls back to his FAPA days we part a bit.

Bobby, AEPS is not a headhunter service, not an airline pilot procurement site, does not think there is a shortage, never said there was one, and provides a service sort of simple. You put your info in, any company wants to look at it can for FREE. To do that, the companies had some requests onhow it is set up. They did those.... Thousands have jobs now because of the program which is especially good for finding the less than obvious situations. Many of the companies that use the service DO NOT POST because they do not want unsolicited resumes.

UPAS has been killed by the September 11 activities and lack of hiring by the 26 companies that use it. Of the 26, 14 also used AEPS.

The magazine AviationCareer.net has been running a series called Jobs at the Speed of Light that goes over all the reputable services.
 
Headhunters

Actually, I was taking aim at headhunters at general, aviation notwithstanding. I remember belonging to some aviation job service some years ago in New Orleans that did absolutely nothing for me.

Pub, are we agreeing that Kit and FAPA indeed purveyed false hopes? :) :)

For the public record, I do receive Publisher's avationcareer.net online and enjoy reading it. In fact, the article in the one I received today on people who are trying to live down rap sheets has some excellent information. The piece raised points about people who are trying to get on with their lives after making mistakes. The Comair article had some good information, too, after you get past the hype, and I'm not a major CAA fan. I also appreciated the article on approaching an interview as your first day on the job and not as an "interview."

Just the same, you can try the services but you are still better off hyping yourself. As the old saying goes, all things cometh to he who waiteth, while he worketh like hell while he waiteth. Another saying: If you don't blow your own whistle, who's going to blow it for you?

One again, good luck with your job search.
 
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UPAS

Kind of on the same subject; I saw an article in Plane and Pilot, in which the owner of UPAS (the name was familiar from old flame posts on this board...) mentioned that hiring has not suffered at all from 9/11; in fact, will be almost as good as last year. He attributes this to the oncoming pilot shortage :rolleyes:

As usual for P&P they didn't do any research into his comments, just printed them as quoted and let you think that was it! From what I have seen on this board and personally, thats good enough reason not to send money to UPAS....
 
reply

Bobby,

I really never was paying that much attention to Kit when he was doing FAPA with his partner.

I have heard him speak on numerous times over the last three years and have not heard him make any pronouncements that I though were out of whack.

As I said somewhere, I have never heard the words --- there is a pilot shortage ---come from Kit or AEPS or UPAS, in fact just the opposite.

I have heard positive comments about pilot hiring in 2002, however, one must realize that you may be thinking airline and for most of us in the business, the scope goes way past that to all pilots hired everywhere to fly all kinds og missions.

Does anyone think that it is at the level of 2001, not really and especially at major carriers.

If there is an article from Plane and Pilot that you have, I would appreciate that information in specific.
 
P&P article

Page 56--P&P this month

""In reality the light (at the end of the tunnel) never went out," explains Kit Darby of AIR Inc., and Atlanta aviation career-specialist firm that tracks the nation's airline economy and assists in pilot placement. "Even in October--the first full month after the attacks--500 new pilots were hired with another 621 in January. We're looking at 5,000 to 6,000 new jobs this year--not as big as it has been, but by no means has hiring ceased."

As for the majors, Darby says "There will likely be more furloughs in the major airlines. But many of these pilots won't choose to step down during the interim to smaller, regional carriers--the target job market for new pilots. I don't see much reason for a person to turn away from a pilot career, to be honest. The race is still on. True, the finish line has been pushed a year or two down the road, but the winners will still be those who ran hard during the whole race.

"There's a good argument that this period of reduced hiring is the time to start your pilot training," Darby notes. "During this time, fewer pilots will be gaining their seniority ahead of you. And the smaller airlines, in particular are making quicker recoveries. It's important to realize that there are jobs out there. Of the 210 carriers we track, 78--or about 35%--are currently recruiting. Not as good as our last six banner years, certainly. But you'll want to be a compeitive candidate the minute better times return."

My bad--he didn't say anything about a "pilot shortage".

PA
 
I find the quote funny...

It does state "some" truth but it fails to state those being hired are not the "lower" time people of the last 2-3 years.
Those starting out nowadays is a good 2-3 years from a regional, where as 18 months a go it was about a year to 16 months.

The experience level has increased dramatically with the furloughs and the smaller carriers have a nice selection to choose from. What was it a 18 months ago? classes of 40 or more each month and maybe they were interviewing a 100 month? Now the class sizes are 20 and month and they are still interviewing 100 a month?

Competitive candidate's... we will see where they are in 2-3 years? any one willing to take bet's on how high?
 

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