Two year degree's, will you get a job?

[JeremyAV8R]

Re: Finish

Jeremy,


Use this time in the cycle of the airline industry to finish your degree. Don't worry about anything else right now. When the cycle swings up again you'll be ready. Remember, it looks like it will be years before that happens. BTW, I hope you're not considering a degree in English.

Just kidding.

English in not my forte.

 

[bobbysamd]

Masters

What about a Masters Degree? I'm working on mine now. Does that earn you any bonus points at Air Wisc or Skywest?

I once heard that anything beyond a Bachelor's was regarded as a negative. In fact, I recall reading some years ago about a lawyer who wanted to change careers and was told not to list his J.D. It was implied that anything beyond a B.S. or B.A. might imply that you might have an argumentative or know-it-all personality.

Frankly, I would ignore all of that. Finish your Masters. You'll be better off overall. Good luck with your thesis.

 

[LITCHAT7]

I'm sure you'll get a regional job with an associate (they dont give a rats a$$) however the majors are more picky. Internet or correspondence courses dont fly very well with them! I know there are a lot of people that fall into this catagory and dont like hearing this but its true (wife works in HR at a major). This is not to say it will never happen. There are going to be many people that "know someone" that got in without a normal degree, yet the chances are far more slim (especially in these times). I know you just want to start playing airline pilot right away, but the pay-off in the end will be much greater if you wait. There are MANY guys at my regional that wish they did!

 

[Viking]

"Internet or correspondence courses dont fly very well with them! I know there are a lot of people that fall into this catagory and dont like hearing this but its true (wife works in HR at a major). "

I've never seen an official college transcript differentiate between correspondence, distant learning or campus classes. So how would the interviewer know if you took a class via distant learning unless you told him? There are many well know universities that offer classes through distant learning. UNC, BYU, UCLA, Embry Riddle, Delta State, Ohio State and dozens if not hundreds more.

It goes without saying that it is important to check the schools accreditation. This notion that an airline or any company for that matter does not like distant learning courses is complete nonsense!

 

[Turbojet]

IMHO,

I believe a 4 year degree is very attractive to any airline hiring pilots right now. That being said, at the regional level, I still believe that the most important qualification is to have as much flying experience possible and having a "clean" background. A two year degree is definetly going to get you in the door if you have competetive experience in your logbook.

My advice is to keep flying and trying to get in the door. There will be pleanty of time to finish the four year degree once you are there because it will be many years before the Majors even consider hiring off the street again.

Good luck
tj

 

[Caveman]

You can get hired at a decent national airline with only a two year degree, I'm living proof. However, I believe that the fact I was retired military was enough of a plus to outweigh the downside of not having a four year degree. It has also been my experience that I am the rare exception at my airline. I only remember 1 other pilot I've met here besides me that had less than a four year degree. I'm sure that in a pilot group as large as 1500 that there must be others, I just haven't met them.

In the group of CFI's that I worked with all but one of us were offered jobs from the first airline we interviewed with. Almost all of us had more than one offer. We all pretty much trained and were taught to fly the same way. Nobody had any skeletons in their closets. The one guy that had trouble getting a job had to interview at three places before he was offered a job. The only difference between him and the others was a degree. In fact he had little or no college but his logbook was just as solid as everybody else's. He did finally get a 121 job flying a 1900 for a smaller company.

The irony is that almost all of all the guys that took jobs with larger national airlines are now furloughed, the guy that initially struggled to get work is still flying today. You just never know what the aviation gods have in store for you.

Oh, I almost forgot....GET THE DEGREE!

BTW, JH if you are reading this forgive me for using you as an example. Remember, as the last man standing you get the last laugh! DK says hello.

 

[Cardinal]

Me and my 2 year degree got called for an interview just last week, but of course this was not American, it was only Great Lakes. Nonetheless it is possible to get picked up by a regional with less than a four year.