Fellow pilots, your opinion please....

[jcaldwell]

I am currently flying for 135 type operation in the Eastern Caribbean. Great job, good pay but piston twin flying. I would like to move onto a regional or fractional. Like most of us, I regularly submit resumes. It is very expensive to call from this region to the recruiters, and I'm not sure how effective that is anyway. I am wondering about two things: Is submitting resumes enough or should you be aggressive and call? Also, do the majors hire out of the fractionals or is better to go the regional route?

I am a bit out of touch down here and I hope you all will be able to contribute some honest opnions about this.

Many thanks for your consideration....and as they say down here, tek it easy mon.

jcaldwell

 

[1900cpt]

When i sent out my resumes to the regionals.....thats all i did. I would update them often to make sure they always had a current one on file. As for calling...not sure if that would help. Alot of times you may not have a number to call, and if you do....most of the time no one will pick up. You may get a voice mail.

As for regional vs. fractional....thats all personal opinion i think. There are several threads on regional vs fractional.....check them out and that may help you decide. I think once the majors start to hire again they will pull from all the available resources, obviously with the furloughed guys first then the regionals and fracs.

Right now your best bet is to go fractional. There are some regionals hiring right now, but not to many of them. Just keep plugin away at those resumes and keep sendng them out. Try sending some to the fracs.....it cant hurt.

Hope this helps,

1900cpt

 

[jcaldwell]

Thank you

 

[swimmer]

Regional vs. fractional

I tend to agree with 1900cpt with reagards to calling after submitting a resume. Some folks will say that you should call to let them know you are interested/motivated, but to me your just being more of a nuisence. I never made a call after submitting a resume/application, and have had a fair share of interviews.
As far as regional vs. fractional...you really need to ask your self what you want. I was corporate for several years, and got very few interviews, the flight time accumulated rather slow compared to a regional carrier. The big plus of it though was the pay! If you can't sacrafice the salary than going with a regional is not the way to go. Fractional carriers tend to fly a bit more than a normal corporate operator, and pay more like a corporate operator. The big plus of going with a regional carier is the 121 experience that you will get. It seems the airlines like to see some 121 experience. After I got hired by a 121 carier, the interviews really started to come in. Hope this helps.

Swimmer

 

[PHX767]

When I screened and interviewed for my national / regional airline, I considered people that called all the time to be pesky and rude. Much different than the fractional business where a little more personal contact seemed to be acceptable.

Most all companies call for interviews based on the resume.

There are certainly a lot of thoughts on this, but not once did I say, "That guy calls every week - bring him in for an interview."

A suggestion - If you have an overseas phone number, you may want to use a friend or relative on the mainland as one of your callback numbers. That way it is easier for the airline to get you.

Also: Have a businesslike message on your answering machine.

And of course have your phone number on the resume.

 

[sewertube]

EJA Observations

In the past, a phone call was a key to getting noticed at EJA. You would send in a resume, call and see if they got it, send in the app they give you, and call and see if they got it etc etc....

Now, EJA is specifically requesting that people do not call. The only calls they want are from EJA pilots recommending someone. I guess they are so swamped with resumes and calls that their feeling on being "bothered" has changed. So some discretion in the area of phone calls is definitely necessary right now. Just jeep the resumes updated, unless you know someone to recommend you. Good Luck!

 

[jcaldwell]

I thank you all for your observations. We do flights into the resort islands for many EJA clients. Would it be worthwhile to try and network through the EJA pilots as I meet them?

Justin

 

[HPaul3]

Grip and Grin

Quote: "We do flights into the resort islands for many EJA clients. Would it be worthwhile to try and network through the EJA pilots as I meet them?" End quote.

J,

Always, always, always network with whoever you can in this business. Think about it. If you're sitting in the ExecJet recruiting office and you have a stack of resumes and applications, all of which "weigh" about the same with respect to time, quality of hours, education etc., and you have ten of your pilots come into the office, pull your application out and say "hire this guy, he's cool and besides he makes great Jerk chicken," who are you going to call first?

Case in point. March 2001, I attended a pseudo-recruiting day at a local college. In attendance were two representatives for a major airline. I just so happened to have my resume, their application and supplementary paperwork with me. After their "dog and pony" show, I introduced myself to one of the representatives and asked if I could leave my paperwork with her. I also asked a few questions and chatted a little, as anybody would do in that situation. During that discussion, she told me that interviews generally followed about six or seven months after the company received the paperwork. April 2nd, 2001 I got an invitation to an interview. Early May I went for my interview, and guess who my second interviewer was? You got it--the same person who took my paperwork and chatted with me at the college. Do you think I was happy to see her? Do you think I was more at ease than I would have been otherwise?

So the point is, the little bit of personal contact I made that day in March probably accelerated the interview by at least six months, and made it much more easy for me in the actual interview as well, which certainly contributed to the overall positive outcome.

Always make time to meet and share a moment with anyone who might lead you down the path to success. You'd be surprised how much some people will be willing to do for you if you make a connection on a personal level. And sometimes you won't have any idea how great an effect a particular person can have on your success, just like in my situation. You just never know.

Good luck!
PS I'd work the Caribbean angle for all it's worth. You've got something unique there that might highlight you from other applicants. I'm not sure how to go about that, but I'll think about it.

 

[ivauir]

Networking!!

I couldn't agree more with HPaul, I did everything (reasonable) under the sun to get interviewed, but it was my networking that got me a job. And it didn't come from where I expected it or in anyway I planned. I just kept in touch with people (especially pilots) that I liked and got along well with. Over time, several of my buds ended up in the majors. Of those folks about half actually did anything for me - but a handful bent over backwards for me. But the guy who was key was not who I expected. This guy kicked around strange flying jobs (I mean strange), and took years longer than he needed to get to the majors. I didn't keep in touch with him for a job, I thought I'd get there before he did! I kept in touch with him because I like him and I was interested in what he was doing, how his familly is, etc. Eventually he made his move and it turns out that he has a close friend in HR and ...

So network any chance you get, but it doesn't have to be work. I like talking to other pilots, don't you? Sit down, talk flying, golf or whatever you like to do. It could get you your dream job, or it may never help your career. I'd bet on the former, but your life will be richer either way.

Best of luck,
BTW what a great place to build hours!

 

[bobbysamd]

Follow-up Phone Calls

I always learned that you should not follow up with a phone call. For one thing, H.R. receives tons of resumes. Finding yours is like searching for the needle in the proverbial haystack and you may set off the person the wrong way. Some of these H.R. people are very touchy and capricious. Someone might remember your name and blackball you when your resume surfaces.

I wouldn't do it. Even if you met some H.R. conehead at a job fair or something, don't bank on that person remembering your name if you place a call. The best way is to send them updates and submit a fresh app form yearly or so. I don't see any harm in directing materials to the person you met, but be sure that person is not just a figurehead who might bury your resume in a stack of unrelated papers.

Good luck with getting your interview.