Alaska Interview? Just Kidding!

[dogg]

Mach, no you did not turn me down and as far as attitude....if that is how it is coming out than I apologize...having flown my entire career within the state of Alaska, I call bull on the "Alaska time" myth that so many people hold near and dear and I think that there are lots of great pilots that will not have a chance at a career with Alaska(myself not included) because they will not be able to produce a "silver bullet" inorder to get their application noticed. But like you guys say it has worked so far, might as well leave it alone.............and Trainer, stop getting so huffy ... jeez

 

[trainerjet]

and Trainer, stop getting so huffy ... jeez

Deal....

 

[UND84]

Why can't we all get along?

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

Deal....

Trainerjet,

Thanks for asking us all to "Deal" with the issues raised in your scintillating posts. Or do you mean you have issues that we need to deal with?

Have fun "doing whatever feats of typing strength" on flightinfo.com that you need to do. I'm outa this thread.

 

[trainerjet]

Trainerjet,

Thanks for asking us all to "Deal" with the issues raised in your scintillating posts. Or do you mean you have issues that we need to deal with?

Have fun "doing whatever feats of typing strength" on flightinfo.com that you need to do. I'm outa this thread.

Actually, what I meant was that he had a deal when Dogg asked me not to get so huffy. And then he wonders why I do with posts like yours.

Oh well, I made a deal with Dogg not to get huffy, so I won't.

I guess you'll have to "deal" with being a d!ckhead all by yourself.

 

[Fred]

The Silver Bullet is not always a must have. Myself and others at Alaska are prime examples. We were hired by going to career seminars and talking to the right people. Not that I advocate Air Inc. and the hefty cost, but the people who do the hirng at Alaska like face time. Also not every person with a Bullet gets the job. In fact, I have know people with multiple recommendations that have been shot down. Like someone said, once you get the interview, your on your own. Nobody can fly the sim for you (Climbing and leveling DME Arcs, NDB Approaches and Holds, etc), or make an impression for you on the hiring board.

Good Luck to all

 

[av8instyle]

Not that I advocate Air Inc. and the hefty cost

I got three job offers at one conference. I didn't end up taking any because a better deal came along, but the point is that I thought it was well worth the money. I don't understand why people have a hard time paying for a decent service.

Re: Alaska hiring: Fred has some very valid valid points. I'd bet (and this is a guess based on previous trends) that only about 25ish % of silver bullets get jobs here. That is why we keep doing the program...it works. Yes, it's about getting your buddies hired. That way VERY few scum bags get jobs. I can say that I know at least one pilot at every major airline except ATA, and I haven't been in the industry that long. So, I'd say generally speaking that the majority of people that say they don't know SOMEBODY at Alaska probably really mean that they don't know anyone that will write them a letter, and if that's the case we don't want them.
Does that sound harsh? Whose feelings did I hurt?

 

[mar]

Dude! That was harsh!

av8instyle--Why ya gotta be like that? I thought you said, no scumbags at Alaska....



Just kidding.

Look. Here's my real beef: You wrote, "I don't understand why people have a hard time paying for a decent service."

I have a *VERY* hard time paying the middle man for something that should be kept between myself and the company.

But to be perfectly honest I find that military pilots just entering the civilian market and new civilian pilots just entering the market are more willing to pony up the cash for a seminar/interview prep/or even PFT.

Why? I thought you'd never ask.

My theory is these two categories of pilots just happen to see the additional outlay of cash as just one more expense to add to the list of logbooks, headsets, physical exams, aircraft rental, checkrides....you know, what's another $150 or $500 or even $10,000....?

It's all part of the deal, right?

Wrong.

I have no beef with the Silver Bullet program (well maybe a small one, but hey man it's their company and nobody is getting rich off of it).

But it really bugs the ever-lovin' crap outta me to have to pay some opportunistic, blood-sucking, profiteering middle-man (you know who you are) my hard earned money just to have the opportunity to access the company.

I mean, is this an industry or a club?

Am I a professional or a pledge?

My resume should speak for itself--not whose "services" I choose to patronize.

Fly safe man.

 

[Big Air]

Re: Alaska hiring: Fred has some very va

Re: Alaska hiring: Fred has some very valid valid points. I'd bet (and this is a guess based on previous trends) that only about 25ish % of silver bullets get jobs here.

Last spring I saw the Chief Pilot's news letter, and he said that they had hired 7 in 10 of those who had an employee reccomendation.

 

[dogg]

So now that everyone has had their say, I have a couple of questions. Does a "silver bullet" carry more weight with HR than some face time at a job fair and a resume with a couple of LOR's from Alaska pilots attached. And will the new system have any method by which an attendee of a job fair can somehow indicate this when filling out the online app. And do you guys think that the HR dept will look at all of the online apps or just search for names etc....It seems to be a curious system that is being put together...I hope it works. Of course Alaska would have to actually do some hiring for it to matter and it sure sounds like both sides of the fence are settling in for a long fight over that proposed concession plan.......

 

[av8instyle]

t sure sounds like both sides of the fence are settling in for a long fight over that proposed concession plan.......

I don't think it's gonna be much of a fight...our contract doesn't expire for almost 2 years, and we just announced a 40 some million dollar third Q profit. We could just say NO now and be done with it, but I think the MEC wants to see what they can get in return.

 

[Singlecoil]

I think changes to the A Plan (defined benefit plan) won't happen. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of proposal being presented to the pilots for a vote before this is all said and done. Perhaps a pay cut in exchange for a greater level of contribution to the B Plan (defined contribution plan)? Right now there is a $40,000 per year limit on total contributions to a B plan. If we can get the company to up their contributions so we can lower ours, maybe they would be able to get some tax relief for their contributions. I don't know how that works between them and the IRS.
My point is, there are some changes that could be made, that could truly be win-win. Hopefully what does get presented will require some thoughtful review and not be obvious concessions.

But at any rate, I think those in the pool can rest assured that their A plan will be safe. Defined benefit plans are doing poorly right now, because no one foresaw interest rates dropping as low as they are, forcing companies to contribute more raw dollars to the plans to compensate for the loss of interest income. Guess what? Interest rates are going up. The feds are going to be running large budget deficits for the rest of the decade, forcing them to sell bonds to cover the difference between revenue and outlays. More bonds on the market should lead to higher rates to stimulate the market to purchase them. End result, A plans are once again safe, especially because people didn't panic when there was a bump in the road at the turn of the century.