Does attending a job fair increase your chances of getting hired?

[i'mbatman]

Anyone care to venture a guess on how many people attend any given job fair? 100? 1000?
And do you just show up and get in line, or are there presentations? Etc?

 

[igneousy2]

Anyone care to venture a guess on how many people attend any given job fair? 100? 1000?
And do you just show up and get in line, or are there presentations? Etc?

There are usually both presentations and a line. The important part is the line obviously be prepared for (why airline XYZ question and the why you question) I usually started out by showing the recruiter my resume and then asking for advice on how to be more competitive. It's a frustratingly slow and expensive process...but it works.

Good luck

 

[puddlejumper101]

I think it depends on the person. If done right, a conference is the golden ticket. If done wrong it is just an expensive waste of time. I can attest that they work. I got hired at a major just by showing up at these conferences over a two year period. I had my app in the system, and the head recruiter for this legacy recognized me from previous conferences. He asked for my resume, and gave me an interview in three weeks. I know for a fact I would not have gotten hired there if it wasn't for conferences. It also gave me tons of gouge for SWA. One minute I get an interview for a legacy, the next minute I am talking to one of SWAs Chief Pilots and he is giving me pointers since I had an interview with SWA coming up. This happened at the same conference. Bottom line, if you can handle people, it is an investement. Of course, this was like my 6th conference and I was competitive on paper.

 

[CesnaCaptn]

I think it depends on the person. If done right, a conference is the golden ticket. If done wrong it is just an expensive waste of time.

That's precisely the point of those initial meetings at a job fair. I used to be on the hiring board at my last airline. Most of the time I've made up my mind on an applicant in the first few minutes. Sometimes, an applicant won't get hired no matter what he says, because of subtle issues in his appearance or paperwork.

At a job fair, an airline can weed out the applicants they would nuke in the first few minutes of an interview. The failure rate for an interview might normally be around 50%. That percentage drop dramatically if the interviewees have been pre-screened at a job fair.

 

[inline]

I went to an airinc job fair once. It was a pretty depressing experience. Picture a Holiday Inn conference room filled with a crowd of greedy, under-educated, white guys wearing cheap JC Penny's suits -- do you want to be a part of that? Everyone there thinks they found the secret to easy money. The number of bad haircuts is truly frightening.

" undereducated". ....the horror!......if I was conducting an interview I would want to know what the applicant has done in an airplane rather than where they went to college.

 

[waveflyer]

Well said, puddle jumper - job fairs were instrumental for all my interviews

 

[IAHERJ]

" undereducated". ....the horror!......if I was conducting an interview I would want to know what the applicant has done in an airplane rather than where they went to college.

Well my guess is that you will probably never sit on an interview board then.....

 

[thepotato232]

Purely anecdotal:

I've had four different flying jobs. My first face time with three of the four was at a job fair / meet 'n greet / cattle call / whatever you want to call it. I'd be willing to bet that showing up at the fair and not making an ass of myself made the difference in two of those three.

 

[Melfly]

Clearly having your father working at major airline works better than going to a job fair. I thought everyone's father was a chief pilot or check airman at some fabulous airline?

However the last job fair I went to I got the feeling from the recruiters (SWA and Fedex) that the new application system scores your application and regardless if you showed up to the job fair or not it doesn't mean anything.

The SWA lady wasn't even taken applications because "everything is done online." She also said internal recommendations were important after you have been called in for the interview and you are being reviewed on the panel. But the new scoring system in place sounds like internal rec's may not be weighted that heavy. However she counseled us to pay $6000 dollars for a type to be more competitive.

I say go to the conference and waste your money if you are searching for airlines outside of the www.pilotcredentials.com hiring system.

 

[waveflyer]

I agree Mel- some were like that- but read some of the posts above. Job fairs can be a lot of standing around- and sometimes not lead to much- but I'll never forget standing in line and a recruiter coming directly to me and asking way more details than I was prepared for- it was a good kick in the arse and a few more fairs got me more focused and comfortable in the think on your feet, interview mode. Sometimes, it's about the personal development, more than the direct opportunity you might get. It's also a decent place to network.
No one gets a job by themselves at this level-
Know aviation first, then study your career. Lacking in either area can sink you.