Should Companies Charge Application Fees

[publisher]

Should Companies Charge Pilot Application Fees?

Most major airlines have stopped charging pilots application fees, but FedEx Express requires online applicants to pay $50. Is this practice fair? Or does it take advantage of aspiring pilots?


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www.aviationcareer.net

 

[Finch]

I have always held the value that if I spend a dollar, I should receive something for it. The current practice of charging "applicaion fees" exists today in many an industry (not just airlines). Spending $25, $50, or $100 dollars to have my information sit in a file or a bottomless database that is administered by overworked HR staff is not good value for the money. I fully understand that the workload of processing all this "interest" in the company will never become a revenue producer of any magnatude, but give me a break! If I am going to be charged, I should at least get to talk to a live human.

My 2 pesos.

Finch

 

[El Cid Av8or]

In one word...

NO!!!

I agree with Finch. However, I will say that if a company did want to charge an application fee then the following should hold true:
If the applicant is hired by the company within, say, 4 months, the company could keep the fee. However, if the applicant is not hired within 4 months, the fee should be refunded (and not one of those cheesy ridiculous 4-8 week turnarounds - this is the computer age and even an old 286 will figure it out before then).

 

[bobbysamd]

App fees

Hey, Pub, pretty spiffy home page!

Absolutely, positively, unquestionably, no. Negative. Negatory. Nyet. Airlines should not charge application fees. It's another unfair practice they use to take advantage of aspiring pilots (you-know-what is the other practice to which I refer). I ponied up a few myself in my time, when they were less money than now. My all-time favorite is my $15 Skywest app fee. I tried for six years to get an interview there. I sent tons of resumes, updates and fresh apps. I even sent them another check to ensure that I wasn't falling through the cracks for lack of payment. My check was returned, proving, to me, anyway, that I was in their system. No, I never got an interview.

Mesa is another fave. Someone on the interview board wrote how Mesa charges $50 for the initial app and $50 each time you update; updates limited to twice a year. Of course, one thing that Mesa always did well is make money. Yes, Mesa collected from me, too.

Some airlines whine that they are so innundated with pilots apps that they cannot afford to process them for free. That's baloney, in my .02 opinion. The H.R. coneheads who review apps are paid, no matter what. Other office overhead is expensed out, no matter what. It's all a cost of doing business. Instead, app fees have become another airline profit center.

Others argue that app fees screen out less-than-serious applicants. Once again, that's baloney. Some people are willing to fork up the dough to take their chances. Which leads to the next argument . . .

App fees are like playing the lottery. You make a bet and hope you win by getting an interview, and a job. You lose your bet if you're not called, or, even worse, if you are interviewed and are rejected. I recall that you are history with most airlines if you are rejected. Unfortunately, app fees are all part of the deal of applying to the airlines.

I second Finch's idea 100% that an applicant should at least receive a phone call from H.R. in return for paying the airline for the privilege of applying. Sometimes, a brief telephone conversation can be enough to convince H.R. that you are a person worthy of an interview. I also second El Cid about app fees being refunded if a person is not contacted within a time certain.

 

[jetexas]

It should be illegal.
I especially liked the 100 dollar fee to apply to AA. Only to read on the app. something to the effect that "if you make the most miniscule mistake on your app., you will be disqualified for consideration for employment" geez, for 100 bucks I should be able to drive to the HR dept and get a back rub or at least some type of response for my hard earned $$$!

 

[cvsfly]

Have you ever had to wade through a stack of resumes of every style and form? Would never solicit again without a standard form. Seen some horrible resume formats. Don't have the time to even look at unsolicited resumes (still get them).

 

[Finch]

No disrespect to you cvsfly, but I once was a manager in the fast food business. Mountains of crappy resumes came in every day, and worst of all I had to read them! No matter where you work, if you are responsible for hiring staff, you'll get ones you hate to read. Thing is, I was paid for my time to read them, and understood that it was part of the job. I once hired this guy who sent me a resume in the shape of a foot-he was one of the best prep cooks we ever had!

Finch

 

[Timebuilder]

No.

The purpose of applications is to provide companies with a view of available hirees. Without the applications they cannot hire, and their business will die by attrition. This acceptance of applications is a cost of doing business.

A better idea would be to identify a certain number of days per year when applications would be accepted. The day before an acceptance "window" would open, the company places an ad in the Wall Street Journal, saying that applications can be turned in the next day, via overnight delivery. Once delivered, the applications can be opened and filed at the convenience of the HR department. The number of packages received should be a great deal smaller than the current amount, and be a reflection of the most motivated applicants.

Less work, motivated people, no fee. Easy.

 

[enigma]

If we can get society to agree that such fees are wrong, and to lobby the legislature to outlaw them, then I will say they are bad. In the mean time, the only way to make them go away is for us to stop paying them. Somehow I doubt that everyone would join in. Just like PFT, the practice exists because enough pilots are willing to participate. In the case of the application fee, unlike PFT, it isn't really possible to opt out.

regards,
8N

 

[bobbysamd]

Resume screening

Have you ever had to wade through a stack of resumes of every style and form? Would never solicit again without a standard form. Seen some horrible resume formats. Don't have the time to even look at unsolicited resumes (still get them).

No disrespect intended in the following comments, CVS. Having said that . . . .

Violins, anyone? Screening apps and resumes are part of the hiring function at any company. H.R. is not harmed by substandard resume formats, it is the applicant!! There is enough material floating around that is available for free that any pilot can find to design a resume in standard form.

There is no excuse for a pilot not to submit an aviation-standard, professionally-styled resume. In fact, it's much easier these days to locate a standard pilot resume form because of the Internet. I remember when I was looking for jobs fifteen years ago I had to depend on Kit Darby to provide me with a standard form (and in that regard, Kit provides some good forms).

I have no sympathy for an H.R. department charging a fee because it is tasked with reviewing resumes of all manner and form. That comes with the territory. Pilots shoot themselves in their feet if they submit a non-standard form.

While I'm on that subject, this link provides a good sample aviation resume.