Take this for what its worth (very little), probably will be confirmed next week when the first of 2 weeks of Oct interviews will be occurring but I've heard interveiws maybe curtailed for the following two months, Nov & Dec. I know that will be disappointing to those awaiting a call...however, lets recap what has gone on so far and what is in store for '05 for SWA & you.
-- Began interviewing in Feb '04 again...8 months of interviews for the year (not bad in this climate)
-- Estimate of around 1000 folks who had a chance to sell themselves to SWA (all you want is a chance and those folks were some of the lucky ones so far) at the interview
-- Implemented a new addition to the interview process, Line Oriented Interview (LOI) seamlessly into the process thereby allowing 2 more folks to view the applicant and rate them....highly successful & fair process (my opinion)...good for SWA and the applicants...attaboys to the folks in Flight Ops who added this little twist & thanks to the Fed Ex folks for their assistance
-- A little under 50% were selected--my estimate, based on many sources but even if it is closer to 40% than 50% these are historically high numbers...you should be encouraged!
-- Reapplication was changed from 2 yrs from interview date to 1 yr for those who didn't make it the first time through...great news for those 2nd, 3rd & 4th timers who wish to try again...this truly recognizes the fact many "great folks" slip through the process and aren't selected....SWA recognizes this fact & thus allows multiple attempts to those who really desire to try again
-- A pool of over 200 pilots (forever known as the "poolies".....some are still pretty wrinkled I hear...they're my hero for staying around for so long with nothing but promises...thankfully kept by Herb & the PD...good on ya folks!) many of whom who had been waiting for over 2 yrs
from their original interview date were brought on to the property earlier this year
-- SWA learned a valuable lesson from the above experience...don't keep too many folks in the pool if you're not going to able to train them...why continue to interview if you have all the slots filled for the foreseeable future (probably through early 1Q05...this prevents false hope and allows folks to live their lives without being on the hook
-- At the end of the day approximately 400 new hires will come on the property by the end of '04...approximately 170 of these were from the 'poolie' group so only 230ish of the other new hires came from folks who interviewed this year, some with as little time from app to interview to being on the property as 5 months!!!
-- New hire class starts today (4 Oct), 2 in Nov & 1 in Dec...that will drain the pool a little bit and help those who interview early next year to get to training that much sooner which is always good I believe
-- A net of 29 airplanes next year with hiring projections ranging anything from 400 to 600 new hires...if we find more airplanes "katty bar the door", interviewing will definitely go up and more new hires
-- Based upon needing those many new hires (or more)expect at least 1200+ or more folks to be interviewed next year, probably much more if more planes opportunities come along
-- Training has moved a lot of folks PC up by several months in order to make room for the bow wave of training that will require sims...that is always a good sign & should bode well that if something changes quickly & we need more folks, we can get them the training we need....it doesn't take long to get invites to interviews does it?
-- The PD folks, interview team & everyone out there can now sit back and focus on other things for the holidays...like your family. The folks here have been working very hard to get the best folks they can...it takes a lot of time and money. Having an enjoyable holiday season will allow them to do what any of us would like to do....do a little work, enjoy family and experience the holidays without having a lot of "stuff" looming over you. Put down the interview prep in enough time to do exactly that & you will look back upon this 2 month break as a breather from the stress of applying for a new job. Don't stop completely but at least take a 2nd look around and enjoy the things that are important. Oh BTW, all of these folks do much more than just pilot interview "stuff" so they aren't exactly sitting around with their feet up doing nothing...this will give them time to do those things and adequately prepare for upcoming year which will be 120 MPH for sure!
-- If we're going great guns next year the holidays maybe tough to enjoy for the SWA team so taking a short break over this period of time maybe their only break for the upcoming year
Yes the bottom line to those hoping for a call in Nov or Dec is that it may not be coming (remember, it could & may very well change tomorrow & if so someone will post it here....that will be good news indeed) but to the 'poolies' from earlier this year, they realize what the 2+ year is like and comparing that to 2 months was a short hold of the breath for a shallow dip for them. Hang in there, fill in the gap in your prep a little but as I said, enjoy the hiatus from the grind of prep and applying, at least for Southwest. Pursue other options for sure to keep family covered but please come back and see your friends at Southwest again, they do want to hear from you....and most of all remember this....there are many of you right now who even as you are reading this post will be SWA employees this time next year or sooner , that is pretty exciting to me and should be hopeful to you...to many it will occur much sooner than that so be ready at any time for the call....as I spoke to one of the new hires last night, he got the call this past Friday, 4 PM & was asked "could you make the new hire class that starts on Monday?"....he dropped the phone and had his bag packed & was on the way to Dallas before it hit the floor...he had to turnaround and pick his wife up ....he's loving life right now (maybe slightly info deficient about what is to happen at new hire training but is definitely glad to be hear!). Also a big shout out to all the spouses who put up with this lifestyle and hassle...you are the heros who put up with idiots like us chasing a dream....Cheers & God Bless,
-- Began interviewing in Feb '04 again...8 months of interviews for the year (not bad in this climate)
-- Estimate of around 1000 folks who had a chance to sell themselves to SWA (all you want is a chance and those folks were some of the lucky ones so far) at the interview
-- Implemented a new addition to the interview process, Line Oriented Interview (LOI) seamlessly into the process thereby allowing 2 more folks to view the applicant and rate them....highly successful & fair process (my opinion)...good for SWA and the applicants...attaboys to the folks in Flight Ops who added this little twist & thanks to the Fed Ex folks for their assistance
-- A little under 50% were selected--my estimate, based on many sources but even if it is closer to 40% than 50% these are historically high numbers...you should be encouraged!
-- Reapplication was changed from 2 yrs from interview date to 1 yr for those who didn't make it the first time through...great news for those 2nd, 3rd & 4th timers who wish to try again...this truly recognizes the fact many "great folks" slip through the process and aren't selected....SWA recognizes this fact & thus allows multiple attempts to those who really desire to try again
-- A pool of over 200 pilots (forever known as the "poolies".....some are still pretty wrinkled I hear...they're my hero for staying around for so long with nothing but promises...thankfully kept by Herb & the PD...good on ya folks!) many of whom who had been waiting for over 2 yrs
from their original interview date were brought on to the property earlier this year-- SWA learned a valuable lesson from the above experience...don't keep too many folks in the pool if you're not going to able to train them...why continue to interview if you have all the slots filled for the foreseeable future (probably through early 1Q05...this prevents false hope and allows folks to live their lives without being on the hook
-- At the end of the day approximately 400 new hires will come on the property by the end of '04...approximately 170 of these were from the 'poolie' group so only 230ish of the other new hires came from folks who interviewed this year, some with as little time from app to interview to being on the property as 5 months!!!
-- New hire class starts today (4 Oct), 2 in Nov & 1 in Dec...that will drain the pool a little bit and help those who interview early next year to get to training that much sooner which is always good I believe
-- A net of 29 airplanes next year with hiring projections ranging anything from 400 to 600 new hires...if we find more airplanes "katty bar the door", interviewing will definitely go up and more new hires
-- Based upon needing those many new hires (or more)expect at least 1200+ or more folks to be interviewed next year, probably much more if more planes opportunities come along
-- Training has moved a lot of folks PC up by several months in order to make room for the bow wave of training that will require sims...that is always a good sign & should bode well that if something changes quickly & we need more folks, we can get them the training we need....it doesn't take long to get invites to interviews does it?
-- The PD folks, interview team & everyone out there can now sit back and focus on other things for the holidays...like your family. The folks here have been working very hard to get the best folks they can...it takes a lot of time and money. Having an enjoyable holiday season will allow them to do what any of us would like to do....do a little work, enjoy family and experience the holidays without having a lot of "stuff" looming over you. Put down the interview prep in enough time to do exactly that & you will look back upon this 2 month break as a breather from the stress of applying for a new job. Don't stop completely but at least take a 2nd look around and enjoy the things that are important. Oh BTW, all of these folks do much more than just pilot interview "stuff" so they aren't exactly sitting around with their feet up doing nothing...this will give them time to do those things and adequately prepare for upcoming year which will be 120 MPH for sure!
-- If we're going great guns next year the holidays maybe tough to enjoy for the SWA team so taking a short break over this period of time maybe their only break for the upcoming year
Yes the bottom line to those hoping for a call in Nov or Dec is that it may not be coming (remember, it could & may very well change tomorrow & if so someone will post it here....that will be good news indeed) but to the 'poolies' from earlier this year, they realize what the 2+ year is like and comparing that to 2 months was a short hold of the breath for a shallow dip for them. Hang in there, fill in the gap in your prep a little but as I said, enjoy the hiatus from the grind of prep and applying, at least for Southwest. Pursue other options for sure to keep family covered but please come back and see your friends at Southwest again, they do want to hear from you....and most of all remember this....there are many of you right now who even as you are reading this post will be SWA employees this time next year or sooner
, that is pretty exciting to me and should be hopeful to you...to many it will occur much sooner than that so be ready at any time for the call....as I spoke to one of the new hires last night, he got the call this past Friday, 4 PM & was asked "could you make the new hire class that starts on Monday?"....he dropped the phone and had his bag packed & was on the way to Dallas before it hit the floor...he had to turnaround and pick his wife up ....he's loving life right now (maybe slightly info deficient about what is to happen at new hire training but is definitely glad to be hear!). Also a big shout out to all the spouses who put up with this lifestyle and hassle...you are the heros who put up with idiots like us chasing a dream....Cheers & God Bless,
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