climbto350- Opinions Please?

[Focus]

Has Climbto350 been a good resource for anyone? Im thinking about adding my info. as it looks pretty good but I just wanted to get some feedback. I think they charge about $10/month. Any comments on the sight as to how valuable a tool it is are appreciated. -Focus

 

[InHot]

Try it

You can try it out for two weeks for free.

 

[Little Deuce]

Climbto350.com

I think Climbto350.com is overall a good site. They recently started charging a fee after 9/11 due to the volume of resumes being sent to employers. All the fee does is let the new job postings be seen 3 days before non-paying people can view them, and you can post you resume. Do employers have to go to a web site for pilots in this market?

Overall I would not waste my money. I just Cx my subscription.

Good Luck

 

[A1FlyBoy]

as InHot noted, you can try it for free. They will ask for a credit card #, but if you cancel before the deadline there is no cost.

I've heard a number of people claim that climbto350.com gets their "postings" from other sources. I don't know if this is true.

Seems a worth while site to surf and see whose hiring, if they are hit their company website and go to them directly.

 

[flydog]

Wait the seven days until the ads are free. If you look youll notice most of their ads are copied word from word from the airline web sites and continued to be posted even after the airlines discontinued hiring. I some cases I have sent resumes and gotten responses from the company that they werent hiring

 

[mar]

I will gladly give my opinion

I'm not giving one more red cent to another middle man. I'm sick of being nickle and dimed to death by individuals hoping to make a few bucks on my ambition.

Case in point: UPAS.

I've been current on UPAS for almost four years--only because I want to work for Alaska. Well, now Alaska has dropped UPAS, I need to re-apply to the company directly and four years of dues and updates are tossed out the window.

I ask you: When will pilots be evaluated for employment by examining their skill, technical knowledge and work history *rather* than by their ability to procure the most effective letter of recomendation or their ability to learn a sim profile by rote.

Sorry for the rant but I'm sick of jumping through irrelevent hoops.

I realize the original question pertains to Climbto350 and I'm on a tangent, happily bashing the airline selection process in general...

Climbto350 is an excellent site but I will *not* pay them on a matter of principle.

I will not pay UPAS any longer.

I will not pay for a 737 type.

My education, training and work history speak for themselves.

 

[publisher]

350

350 has legitimate jobs and ones that they just find and put up there.

A high number of foreign and odd jobs.

As to the point of middle men. You miss the message. The companies that use them do so for a simple reason. It allows them to search by the criteria that they want with out all the trouble and record keeping that comes from an applicant.

Take Fedex for instance. People complain that they get hit for a fee to apply, does Fedex need that much money and pray on the poor pilots.

The fact is that Fedex gets tons of unsolicited resumes that they have to look at and track. It is expensive and a majority are from unqualified personnel./

If you want to state that you will not pay for a 737 type, great, you will not be working for SWA. If Alaska was hiring, odds are that you would still be using UPAS. If not, they would spend the money to have their own system./

If you do not like the system, then find something else to do.

 

[flydog]

Another quality job from Climbto350.Com:

March 15, 2002
PDS AVIATION SERVICES (Stockroom Clerks - West Palm Beach, Florida)
5000 NW 36th Street, Miami, FL 33166
Tel: no calls
Fax: none
Email: wprado@pdstech.com
Web Site: http://www.pdstech.com
Positions in West Palm Beach, Florida for stockroom clerks. Responsible for handing out tools and supplies to aircraft maintenance personnel. Keep inventory of all tools and supplies. Maintain records of tools in need of calibration. Must have experience working with aircraft parts. Please email resume in word format to wprado@pdstech.com. When applying, ref: climbto350.com


Must also be able to dress themselves without assistance, talk without drooling on themselves, and chew gum without biting their own tongue. No furloughed pilots please.

 

[mar]

Thanks for pointing out the obvious

Mr. Publisher: Thanks for pointing out the painfully obvious--I nearly missed that rather fine point.

Funny response given that my post only had the best interests of all pilots in mind (yours included).

I'm sympathetic to the paperwork woes of FedEx, Alaska and other companies that are swamped with unqualified applications. But quite frankly, it's not my problem. Not my problem, that is, until they flat-out require me to solicit the services of the Middle Man.

Here's a solution: Don't accept applications from those that don't meet the minimums.

You graciously wrote: <<If you do not like the system, then find something else to do.>>

My response: Good idea! I've always wanted to be an English teacher.

By the way, didn't anybody ever tell you not to begin a sentence with a numerical figure (i.e. "350...")

 

[publisher]

thanks for the English lesson...

the problem is that larger employers cannot just take those that meet the minimums as applicants. Federal law dictates that they treat all applicants in a fair and equitable manner.

The point being that there are legitimate business reasons for utilizing certain systems. I would remind you that ALPA set up UPAS.

To make the statement that you do not like the way they do things, fine. They do not have to hire you either. When I lefty EZ, I spent about $1500 on my search. Seemed like a resonable investment for a $90k job.

 

[mar]

My definition of a reasonable investment

A college degree and $30,000 worth of flight training.

I'm just saying that I've already made my investment. I also have the skills, technical knowledge and work history to back it up.

All of that (the investment + personal qualifications) should really be enough to allow me to apply to any job. I just get really frustrated when artificial barriers are put in front of me and the only thing that can knock them down is some more coin.

Thanks for your response.

 

[publisher]

You can apply anywhere you want.

On the other hand, if Southwest wants to say we are only going to employ people who walk through the door with a Boeing 737 type rating, that is their right too. If they cannot get enough, then they can change their system.

Your point reminds me of a great inventor who makes the perfect widget but has no clue how to tell anyone about it and so waits for someone needing one to find him.

You have the skills and the times, but you want to leave the telling of those talents to your way of doing it. Fine. If that is working for you, why complain about these systems.

 

[Ty Webb]

Scrub-lisher

Scrublisher, your argument falls apart upon first inspection. You see, UPS seems to be able to process their own apps. So does UAL . . and ATA . . . and AirTran, and Jet Blue, and SWA, and many others.

Once again, Publisher opens his pie-hole and leaves little doubt that he is a disgruntled wannabe who now makes a living pimping pilot employment materials.

How sad

 

[ivauir]

IMHO

Like many of you I have spent thousands of dollars in my search for an airline job. A lot of that money is gone forever - I'll never wear that suit again, I don't need that FEX of Radio Operator Permit and FedEx, NWA, and AA will never return my hard earned cash. Also, like many of you my technical skills have never been questioned, I have the ratings and the hours and the experience the majors say they want. Frankly, I spent any where I thought it would help: expensive paper for my resume, job fairs, UPAS, Air Inc, a great suit, Rob Beeks, my phone bill (for letters of rec), and so on. Not including anything that makes me a more qualified or better pilot I have spent more than two grand.

But I do not regret a single dime I spent, even the "wasted" ones. Because I was not going to let me being cheap deny me the lifestyle I want. Yes, there are a lot of things you really do not need to get the job, but if you expect to get hired on your technical merits alone it'll be a long wait.

I am not saying sign up for every resume service or job fair out there. But you better do something more than fly a good plane. Stop whinning about what is fair or how you wish things were. If someone else is willing to go that extra mile and you are not - that person WILL TAKE YOUR JOB!

One last parting shot - having the hours and ratings does not make you a great pilot. And being a great pilot doesn't make you someone worth knowing (or employing).

Best of luck to all y'all.

 

[mar]

Far from the perfect widget

Mr. Publisher: Thanks for the comparison but I'll be the first to admit my career is far from the perfect widget.

I'm complaining because this is how I exercise my right to self-expression.

I'm complaining about being nickle and dimed to death for the same reason we complain about PFT--Because if we didn't complain everyone that is new to the industry would think that it's the status quo.

I'm complaining because to remain silent is an implicit approval.

You're right! Southwest can stipulate any requirement they wish for employment (as long as it doesn't discriminate against race, creed, sexual orientation, etc.). And Southwest is a fantastic company--no doubt about it--my application would be there in a heartbeat if they would drop the 737 type requirement. But I am dead set against labor picking up any portion of the company's training cost (PFT, training contracts, or type ratings). If they said, 737 type with 500 hours in type, I would be much more amenable.

You have a right to start any kind of business you like.

I have a right to say I've had enough and I'm not giving one more red cent to another middle man.

And, Mr. Ivauir, it's not because I'm cheap, but thanks for your advice nevertheless.

I agree with all your points from a strictly logical point of view. In sum, you wrote: "One last parting shot - having the hours and ratings does not make you a great pilot. And being a great pilot doesn't make you someone worth knowing (or employing)."

Well this is really the point, isn't it?

That's why companies interview--To get to know the applicant. Right now it's very difficult to get the interview without paying the middle man.

Gotta go.

 

[CCDiscoB]

mar,

I totally agree with you. No money to the middle men! Like Jet-Jobs, what a joke. Their magazine is a rag. No 737 type, and certainly no pay for training. They want me, they pay for training.

I've received interview offers without the help of "middle men." Thank you very little.

I'll never fly for SWA or commuters, bummer. At least I know I won't have to submit an application fee.

 

[enigma]

Hey Publisher

For one, I don't mind the middle man who serves as a clearinghouse for both the applicant and employer. What I mind is the people who make a living by playing to the dreams and emotions of the uninformed. How many articles have been written by such rags as FAPA, AirInc, etc, that continually speak of pilot shortages? How many articles have been written that speak of PFT pimp outfits in glowing terms?
I've always tried to avoid supporting those type of publications, but I confess that I did inadvertantly support a mag called Aviation Careers (if memory serves) because I was a client of AEPS.
It seems as if most of the information they offer is either old or incorrect. They recently featured my airline, and that issue was the laughing stock of my crashpad for a week. It's too bad that organizations that probably started out with honorable intentions must sell out their integrety in order to keep up the income stream.

PS, I realize that sometimes the writers get snowed by the managers they interview. However, I imagine that they are so focused on writing something that will sell, they they are easy marks.

PPS, for those who have read this far. There are only two guys who I have read that don't act as cheerleaders for the "shortage" lie. They are Paul Berliner, and Bruce Crofts.