"It's who you know"

[7507]

I applied at a Navajo operation a few times over the past year and a half . Talked to a friend and told me their friend just got onto this navajo gig with less than half of the time I have because they knew an inside link.

Don't get me wrong , not pissed off at all, just trying to see how many of the guys getting hired in these entry level gigs have the inside scoop or a contact and how many of you were hired because of what was on your resume.

Good luck to the person that gOT the gig and has fun.

Curious and thanks

[single_swine_herder]

Yup.

Its the old concept called "networking" and is exceptionally important in all business (or personal) situations.

The time to start that process is the day you decided to get a Commercial Pilot Licence.

Back when the earth's crust was still cooling and I was a newbie looking for employment or catching a break for advancement, I was miffed that an exceptionally high percentage of the hires by Air Canada were relatives of current employees.

Best of wishes for you finally getting that job, the first one is the most difficult.

SSH

[ant_321]

I applied at a Navajo operation a few times over the past year and a half . Talked to a friend and told me their friend just got onto this navajo gig with less than half of the time I have because they knew an inside link.

Don't get me wrong , not pissed off at all, just trying to see how many of the guys getting hired in these entry level gigs have the inside scoop or a contact and how many of you were hired because of what was on your resume.

Good luck to the person that gOT the gig and has fun.

Curious and thanks

That's the truth all the way through your career. I got my current job flying a 737 because of someone I know. Don't get me wrong, I had all the requirements and then some but he got my resume to the top of the pile.

[7507]

I applied at a Navajo operation a few times over the past year and a half . Talked to a friend and told me their friend just got onto this navajo gig with less than half of the time I have because they knew an inside link.

Don't get me wrong , not pissed off at all, just trying to see how many of the guys getting hired in these entry level gigs have the inside scoop or a contact and how many of you were hired because of what was on your resume.

Good luck to the person that gOT the gig and has fun.

Curious and thanks

That's the truth all the way through your career. I got my current job flying a 737 because of someone I know. Don't get me wrong, I had all the requirements and then some but he got my resume to the top of the pile.

So there's not a whole lot of luck for me for getting a job as I don't know a whole lot of people.
Oh well I'll try for a bit and then decide to pursue further.
Thanks for the note

[FOD_Vacuum]

I got all my pilot jobs through networking. Do you know this person, or would you like this job or are you interested, could you recommend someone etc. It’s is usually about who you know.

[NotDirty!]

Look at it from the perspective of the smaller operator. They are hiring pilots, usually sight unseen, based off a resume and a brief phone interview. I would give stronger weight to the recommendation from someone I know and trust, than even a long list of impressive sounding, but anonymous references.

I know that you say that you don't know many people... I am not sure that this is true! Surely you had one or more instructors throughout your training, other students who might recognize you from your flight school, other random pilots you might have had a coffee with at an airport somewhere... We're not expecting someone who knows your entire life story, and knows all your favourite things; just someone who says "yeah, I remember that guy... he wasn't an idiot/seemed reasonable/showed up on time for his flights/didn't screw us around/etc."! Networking is important in many industries, this is not rocket science! It's the whole reason linkedin exists!!

This is also not unique to small companies; the major airlines in Canada like internal references too.

[7507]

Well I guess I'll see how far I'll get!!
Oh well, geez.
Thanks for the comments.

[northernpilot2]

I would give stronger weight to the recommendation from someone I know and trust, than even a long list of impressive sounding, but anonymous references.

It all depends on the person. I'm sure your a great person and you recommend great people. But there are some jerks out there who recommend other jerks, and it just gets worse from there.

[wordstwice]

Dont be discouraged if you feel you don’t know enough people to get the jobs you want. I have never got a job at a company where I knew people who already worked there. Sure, it would have helped but it certainly did not hinder me.