Is Southwest Hiring Mostly Military?

[SKYW Pilot]

I'm a regional guy with no military experience. I've heard rumors and seen that most of the new hires at Southwest have previous military experience? Is this true? Just wondering! Just got the call today and looking forward to the interview!!

 

[TexaSWA]

not so

I'm a regional guy with no military experience. I've heard rumors and seen that most of the new hires at Southwest have previous military experience? Is this true? Just wondering! Just got the call today and looking forward to the interview!!

We have to hire atleast half civilians to help the military guys get thru training. Your profile looks right on. Good luck.

 

[AMRCostUnit]

I'm a regional guy with no military experience. I've heard rumors and seen that most of the new hires at Southwest have previous military experience? Is this true? Just wondering! Just got the call today and looking forward to the interview!!

Thats a good call get. May I ask how much PIC you have?

Unit

 

[SKYW Pilot]

I had 5000 total, 1900 PIC turbine, no turbojet, 737 type, checkairman, and four year degree. Application has been in since Feb. 2004. Type in Nov. 2003 at K & S. I'm so excited I'm about to pop! I know many people who have been turned down, so I'm a little scared, also. I just keep hearing how the military folks are getting the jobs.

 

[K-Mart]

I know more people (Military) that have been turned down then hired. Good luck at the interview!!!!

 

[YellowLab]

SKYW,

How long out are they booking interviews when you got called today?

 

[SKYW Pilot]

I picked the first available which was three weeks from today.

 

[Jim Smyth]

No! ;-)

 

[ATR-DRIVR]

We have to hire atleast half civilians to help the military guys get thru training. Your profile looks right on. Good luck.

HAHAHHAHAH!!!

 

[BHS]

I had 5000 total, 1900 PIC turbine, no turbojet, 737 type, checkairman, and four year degree. Application has been in since Feb. 2004. Type in Nov. 2003 at K & S. I'm so excited I'm about to pop! I know many people who have been turned down, so I'm a little scared, also. I just keep hearing how the military folks are getting the jobs.

SKYW, did the PD call you or did you recieve a letter in the mail? Do you or anyone else know if the the PD is doing all phone calls or interviews by letter? Thanks

 

[YellowLab]

Good luck Sky, have some fun.

 

[flint4xx]

Most of my class was civilian.

 

[SKYW Pilot]

I got a call. They're sending the rest of the info via Fedex.

 

[Resume Writer]

Hi Everyone,

For what it is worth, I will throw my two cents into the hat about what I think is going on. Yes, I believe that SWA is interviewing, and in many cases hiring, a good deal of military folks. However, I have also seen many civilian pilots with no previous military getting interviewed and hired.

My opinion on this matter is an opinion only - not based upon facts. My thoughts on this come from the large number of people that I have interview prepped and what their collective backgrounds happen to be.

Now, here is WHY I think they are hiring so many military pilots. Most people that are from the military ranks have leadership positions in their background. That is what I believe Southwest is looking for on the application.

Of my clients that have been interviewed and hired in the civilian realm, every one of them has had some kind of leadership position at their airline, i.e., Check Airman, Committees for ALPA (btw, use only "safe" committees, not controversial ones, like negotiations), Chief Pilot in the corporate world, etc.

Keep in mind, airlines interview for First Officers, but they hire for Captain slots. They are looking at good judgment, ability to communicate and previous leadership positions. This is no different for SWA.

My recommendation for the people that are still waiting for interviews? Get on a committee at your airline, apply for a Check Airman position if possible, etc. You need something that you can point to that shows leadership and initiative.

As I said, these are just my opinions.
Kathy

 

[chase]

To those interested in SWA,


Ditto on Kathy's comments....her advice is well thought out & should be considered...again it doesn't make you an automatic shoo-in for a phone call or interview but when the time comes you will look better than those folks who don't have additional leadership experience beyond "just" being a CA....of course SWA hire folks who haven't had additional rating/leadership opportunities...those examples are out there but in the "no stone left unturned" approach, consider Kathy's advise closely. Good luck to all & congrats to all the folks who have been called recently....again to those who have received letters don't despair, take Kathy's advice & over the next year (when you can apply again) make yourself "different" in terms of improving your "package", new leadership opportunities...don't wait for the game to come to you, go after it & put your focus on adding more "leadership" examples to your resume....good luck!

 

[miles otoole]

2 pools- Military pool and Civilian pool, FWIW. Competition is within each pool.

 

[Benhuntn]

SWA hiring.

I went through training in May. My class had 24. There were 11 mil and 13 civ. I don't know what the ratio of mil/civ is at the interviews but I chatted with most interviewees while I was there and it always seemed to be fairly balanced. I would add one more thing. Most mil guys seemed to be older, which equals less time in the company which equals lest overall cost to the company, since they will not be there for 25-30 years like our younger civ. counterparts. Just my thoughts...

 

[inline]

I'm a regional guy with no military experience. I'veheard rumors and seen that most of the new hires at Southwest haveprevious military experience? Is this true? Just wondering! Just gotthe call today and looking forward to the interview!!

That would be FedEx.

 

[FlyBarneyJets]

Don't sweat it. You've gotten the call. Had they not believed in your qualifications, they wouldn't have called you.

Best of luck! It really is a fun experience!!

 

[walden]

I interviewed on 12 January. 9 civilians, 3 military. From what I've heard, the SWA PD attempts to get a nice cross section of all available applicants at each interview session so they don't have the same type of people each day. If everyone has a similar background it makes it tough to compare all the available applicants fairly. As to the percentage of mil v. civ that ends up being hired, I have no clue. I'm hoping that they're willing to hire this mil guy, however.