Air Canada Pool

[aycarumba]

April 1st

[dukepoint]

Just a side comment, but to anyone in the pool.........your wait will be well worth it.

Given the growth projected, and upcoming retirements, advancement will be relatively fast, and you'll be on the front side of a huge hiring spree. Being first through the gate makes an immense difference. Fast movement to higher paying status and equipment will more than make up for a later start date.

Those giving up and taking other offers should really have a seriously close look at what's happening at AC before accepting an offer elsewhere.

DP.

[V1]

Wait.. can someone please explain the pool system and how it's possible to be in it for potentially years? Does this mean you are hired and are just waiting for a ground school spot to open up? Does AC makes this clear that this is their intention? How much notice do you get? I am just assuming you will stay at your current job until you are called.
I am very happy in my position right now but would like to apply but by the sounds of it I should do it now (applications seem to be closed). If you have many internal recommendations does that make a difference with anything?

Thanks!

[Slappy the Squirrel]

Wait.. can someone please explain the pool system and how it's possible to be in it for potentially years? Does this mean you are hired and are just waiting for a ground school spot to open up? Does AC makes this clear that this is their intention? How much notice do you get? I am just assuming you will stay at your current job until you are called.
I am very happy in my position right now but would like to apply but by the sounds of it I should do it now (applications seem to be closed). If you have many internal recommendations does that make a difference with anything?

Thanks!

Sure. In order to be hired you have to have an online application. I believe you can fill this out at any time. When AC decides they may want to hire some pilots soon, they pick some suitable candidates from their database and offer them interviews. Interviews are set up a month or more in advance of the interview date. You go for the interview, psych eval, and cognitive testing all in the same day. They then call your references, possibly including the company you currently work at. A few weeks later they advise you if you are successful at getting through the interview. If you are successful you are put in a hiring pool.

They make it very clear that being put in the pool is not a job offer, and make no guarantees as to when you will be hired, nor even if you will be hired. Basically they are reserving the right to not hire you if they choose not to for whatever reason. From this point on they will email you every couple months to advise you of updated hiring plans.

When a ground school course comes up they generally take the candidates who have been waiting the longest out of everyone in the pool and put them in the ground school. Prior to being offered a ground school a pre-employment medical has to be completed. Generally they will organize this for you if you are getting close to the top of the pool, so that you are ready to go if they need you. If things move fast interview to hiring could be a matter of a few months.

So how does one end up in the pool for years? Easy. You apply, do an interview, pass said interview and enter the hiring pool. Air Canada then decides to stop hiring for whatever reason (ie. pilots stop retiring) so you are left in the pool for an undetermined length of time. Some hiring occurs, which means you move up on the list, but still not enough to be hired. Then they stop hiring again and you sit and wait for the next hiring cycle.

As for your other questions: Yes, you wait in your current job until you get a call. Yes, your current employer knows you are waiting to leave. You would probably have a month or two's notice before getting an actual ground school date. Internal recommendations? I don't know for sure as I'm not an AC pilot, but I've heard there is a place where their pilots can recommend one individual each year. This is a new thing. I don't know how much an internal reference helps nor if that info is even accurate.

Good Luck

[jpilot77]

Are you able to update the questionnaire online while the pool is closed?

[ant_321]

Has anyone who has applied lately had any problems creating a profile? I recently applied and after selecting my username and password it brought me to a page to select a security question but the page is blank other than the title. After I exit the page and try again it tells me that I am already logged in. It will then let me update my profile. I have tried many times on various devices and every time I have to go through the same process. Log on, get a blank screen, exit the page, open it back up and I am already logged on. It made me wonder if my application actually went through because I never did get an email saying it was recieved like it said I would.

[TrailerParkBoy]

Welcome to the life of computer applications! In the good old days, if you wanted a job, you knocked on a door and handed your resume to the boss. Then you'd call them every week (or more) to show your interest!

[BlueSkies12]

Internal recommendations? I don't know for sure as I'm not an AC pilot, but I've heard there is a place where their pilots can recommend one individual each year. This is a new thing. I don't know how much an internal reference helps nor if that info is even accurate.

The internal recommend is a new thing as of this year and you are expected to be a sort of mentor to that person if they do get hired. I was talking with a management pilot and he said that it holds quite a bit of weight. Although, no hiring has gone on since this started so there's no evidence to support that. I would assume like most things at this company it will work out great until it gets taken advantage of and a few ruin it for everyone (ie. recommending a friend who's a dumbass)
(-;

[777LR]

A little birdie told me there is a course on December 8th. Calls are going out now!

[Slappy the Squirrel]

An email was sent to the Pool confirming that a last minute course date was added starting Dec. 8th, most calls have gone out but she said there were still a few people that had to confirm with her.

She also said it was likely a course or courses would need to be run in the New Year, likely in the first quarter but that they have no confirmations on that.

One interesting rumour however is that they are bypassing the normal order of the pool and cherry picking candidates. Not sure if that is true or not, but what's an avcanada post without a juicy rumour thrown in, right?

[groundpilot]

Does anyone know the size of the course?

[snag]

12

[Rowdy]

One interesting rumour however is that they are bypassing the normal order of the pool and cherry picking candidates. Not sure if that is true or not, but what's an avcanada post without a juicy rumour thrown in, right?

I thought that was standard practice? I didn't know there was a seniority list in the pool!

[arcadia]

.

[F-16]

Unforunately this has been the case before, last time around.

Hopefully the hiring will pick up either way.

[altiplano]

I heard 12 new hires. All from Jazz.

[HuD 91gt]

^ Incorrect. Not ALL from Jazz.

[livin']

I know that in the past (7+years ago) it did not matter when you interviewed or how long you were in the pool. Courses were populated by those who had the best scores (interview, testing, etc) out of all successful candidates. Maybe what is going on is nothing more than that.

[AllClutch]

Maybe its the mythical flow Through from the regionals coming together.

[altiplano]

Wouldn't be the first time I was wrong. Hope I am. Just what I heard from another AC guy.