Aubie
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2004
- Posts
- 83
Reflections on SWA
For what it's worth, I was lucky enough to get called several months ago and just finished my first week in the promised land. Thought I might toss my $.02 in...
(1) Southwest has to be about the finest organization and group of people I have ever been around - from management to every employee I have met through interviewing and starting training, to everyone else in my new-hire class. I think a lot of us going through the process of trying to get hired really get our priorities a bit out of whack sometimes. Things like pay, route structure, equipment, etc. seem really important but who can put a pricetag on genuinely looking forward to going to work with some pretty awesome people? I am convinced quality of life is about so much more than $$$. After spending a week at SWA I am sure of that more than ever. (Of course, as far as pay goes, I'll make more than I'll ever need here...)
(2) As far as when and how do people get called to interview, the fact that I am here is proof of how egalitarian and fair Southwest really is. I didn't know anyone on the inside, just talked to them at an AirInc job fare (don't construe this a recommendation for AirInc), got my type and applied the next week, and got called 4 weeks later. One can only speculate about the formula they use to call people, but the group of people in the People Dept are some of the finest, sharpest, and nicest people I have ever met. Nobody's perfect and I know of some pretty awesome and qualified people they for some reason haven't called yet as well as some great people they missed on and didn't hire. But I am convinced the process is as fair as it could be.
(3) My advice to anyone thinking about interviewing and leaving another job would be not to stay up late analyzing pay charts, thinking about time to upgrade, etc. but just to ask yourself "how happy am I in my job right now? Do I really look forward to going to work or just cashing the paycheck?" If you're not sure - just interview. You will likely show up and fall in love with the place like so many of us have. I took a huge paycut (for the first couple years) coming here and don't regret it a second. There are no doubt many cynical skeptics reading this, but I'm convinced this place is really something different from the rest of the industry.
It might sound like I've drunk the kool-aid but that's just because I've drunk the kool-aid. And it's pretty darn-good kool-aid.
For what it's worth, I was lucky enough to get called several months ago and just finished my first week in the promised land. Thought I might toss my $.02 in...
(1) Southwest has to be about the finest organization and group of people I have ever been around - from management to every employee I have met through interviewing and starting training, to everyone else in my new-hire class. I think a lot of us going through the process of trying to get hired really get our priorities a bit out of whack sometimes. Things like pay, route structure, equipment, etc. seem really important but who can put a pricetag on genuinely looking forward to going to work with some pretty awesome people? I am convinced quality of life is about so much more than $$$. After spending a week at SWA I am sure of that more than ever. (Of course, as far as pay goes, I'll make more than I'll ever need here...)
(2) As far as when and how do people get called to interview, the fact that I am here is proof of how egalitarian and fair Southwest really is. I didn't know anyone on the inside, just talked to them at an AirInc job fare (don't construe this a recommendation for AirInc), got my type and applied the next week, and got called 4 weeks later. One can only speculate about the formula they use to call people, but the group of people in the People Dept are some of the finest, sharpest, and nicest people I have ever met. Nobody's perfect and I know of some pretty awesome and qualified people they for some reason haven't called yet as well as some great people they missed on and didn't hire. But I am convinced the process is as fair as it could be.
(3) My advice to anyone thinking about interviewing and leaving another job would be not to stay up late analyzing pay charts, thinking about time to upgrade, etc. but just to ask yourself "how happy am I in my job right now? Do I really look forward to going to work or just cashing the paycheck?" If you're not sure - just interview. You will likely show up and fall in love with the place like so many of us have. I took a huge paycut (for the first couple years) coming here and don't regret it a second. There are no doubt many cynical skeptics reading this, but I'm convinced this place is really something different from the rest of the industry.
It might sound like I've drunk the kool-aid but that's just because I've drunk the kool-aid. And it's pretty darn-good kool-aid.
