WestJet Mainline/Encore Hiring pool

[Heisenberg666]

No news is good news.

[FarEastFlyer]

Had my interview with WJE a month ago and I haven't heard anything from them yet, is it PFO?:)

I just wanted to let you know you aren't alone and to hang in there. Been 5 weeks for me and no word. I think they are pretty swamped. That combined with maybe some extended holidays around Christmas and New Year's means we will have to wait longer than most. I hope that we, if successful, are pooled in time for consideration for both the courses in February. Stay positive though. WestJet is expanding the wide-body fleet which means more positions for advancement for all.

[JAHinYYC]

No news is good news.

+1

Waiting is the hard part. The "thanks but no thanks" comes fast.

No news is good news.

Keep the faith. This is going to be a fun ride.

[landshark]

Hi Dave P,

A first-time poster on this forum. Will WJ Mainline application be open again to OTS in 2017, or was the one that closed Nov 1st going to cover the hiring for 2017?

Thanks

[FarEastFlyer]

Unfortunately I received a PFO today. It was 6 weeks after my interview. I hope that you guys have better luck.

[jroblespinilla]

Hi
The resumes are steady with WJE - the purpose of the flight path program is to interview and place you in a pool until you get your atpl. We are simply trying to get ahead of the curve with all the 2017 hiring that is coming.
Typically I've been pulling resumes with over 1000hrs and flying in some kind of twin turbine from that posting. We haven't called anyone for interviews yet (from that posting) but it should be soon.

Cheers

Hi, Dave P

I applied for WJ mainline for Flight Attendant at YYZ , and got an interview for Dec 7, passed the interviews and references. I received a sucessful pooling email, but during the hiring event they told us candidates that we would get a call for training in the end of Jan 2017, so far none of us candidates have not received no calls , should I be worried? Do you know when the next training session is?

Thank you

[matthew.oommen]

No news is good news.

+1

Waiting is the hard part. The "thanks but no thanks" comes fast.

No news is good news.

Keep the faith. This is going to be a fun ride.

What's the average wait time after an application before you can expect to hear back for an interview?

[CharlieKilo]

Just wondering if anyone has received offers for interviews for the coming months? Left or right seat at Encore.
Thanks

[FAD3C]

No news is good news.

+1

Waiting is the hard part. The "thanks but no thanks" comes fast.

No news is good news.

Keep the faith. This is going to be a fun ride.

What's the average wait time after an application before you can expect to hear back for an interview?

It can vary depending on how busy recruitment is. Mine was 2 weeks back in October. One of the candidates doing the interview the same day said he got a call within three hours. I've heard others up to a month.
Good luck

[SteveWhite]

Does anyone know if that last mainline FO job ad (that closed a few months ago) for YYC? Or a combination of YYZ and YYC.

Thanks!

[DaveP]

Hi Guys,
Just a quick update. Sorry for the late reply here - it's been pretty busy.

I'll start with active postings - we currently have all the WestJet Encore postings all up and active - there is a Direct Entry Captain, First Officer and Flightpath program.

The Captain posting (if you meet the qualifications) typically gets an interview and course pretty fast due to the number of flow candidates leaving Encore to WestJet. Encore is upgrading as fast as they can - however the FO's must first meet an upgrade matrix which has been discussed on the forums previously.

The FO applications are fairly robust now and it does take some time before one can expect a call to interview. TT average if I was to guess is around 2000-2500 maybe even a bit higher... I simply can't recall what the exact number here is as I'm at home.

As for the flightpath program - there has been what I would consider to be good interest! A fair number of applications are coming in with tt between 1000-1500 and IATRA written or Frozen ATPL's in hand. We are doing interviews fairly regularly for those applicants and pooling the successful candidates. Once the ATPL is in hand we can now consider them for a course.

WestJet Encore courses are running twice monthly and we expect to hire around 250 pilots in 2017.

As for WestJet - we are still interviewing candidates from the last time we opened the job posting. I'm starting to get near the bottom of that "to be interviewed pool" so I'm considering opening that posting later in the spring for a couple weeks or a month. Applications are no issue here. Our hiring numbers keep going up in 2017 and are currently sitting around 166. I keep hearing rumour of more pilot hires on top of that number, but it has yet to be confirmed. The reason for hiring is due to a number of things including growth, NPA rules and fatigue mitigation. Flow from Encore will remain (at a minimum 50%) - but more when able. We hope as advertised (and proven) many times before to reach a point where a consistent 100% flow is from WJE. It's always tough when they (WJE) are growing - and (WJ) Westjet is growing. The last time I checked there was still 9 or 10 more new tails arriving for WJE this year.

Bases for WJ are typically YYZ now and WJE is typically a combination of YYZ and YYC.

The next wild card will be the wide body growth. It's no secret we are shopping pretty hard now and that will likely edit our numbers before long. The good news is that Encore should be close to maturity by the end of 2017 or early in 2018. That will definitely facilitate more flow imho.

To address the questions on the "successful interview or not" - I've asked our recruiting facilitators to provide the "negatives or not right now" answer back within a week to 10 days - simply so you aren't sitting on pins and needles too long. It's a huge stressor and we totally understand that. No news is typically good news as someone mentioned. It always takes time to background check, security check and evaluate etc. We provide guidance in the interview that it could take as long as 3-4 weeks before you hear from us. Don't be afraid to call or email if you haven't heard anything after 3 weeks!
As mentioned some of the direct entry captains are getting processed much faster due to the demand.

I hope that helps with any questions you have.

Take care,
Dave

[CharlieKilo]

Thanks DaveP for the reply. Sounds like exciting times ahead for the company and those working there or hoping to!

[yxu737]

Any idea how long its taking to get back to candidates whether they were successful or not?

Thanks

[Ancient]

.

[FurHat]

I've also heard they ask inside the company if anyone knows about you so basically anyone can throw a wrench in your application if they want. As I'm sure you know it's a very social place. You gotta be friends with everyone.

Nope. Completely untrue.

[wirez]

I've also heard they ask inside the company if anyone knows about you so basically anyone can throw a wrench in your application if they want. As I'm sure you know it's a very social place. You gotta be friends with everyone.

Nope. Completely untrue.

It has actually been known to happen. I wouldn't say it's untrue.

[Propclear]

Hey Dave P

Thank you very much for the detailed update - we always appreciate hearing from you.


Any word on what the average timeline has been for candidates that were placed in the pool to being offered a GS date ?

Though you try not to focus on it, anxiety often shows it face

PC

[DaveP]

Hi there,
It's tough to say the average wait time is. For Encore, the courses are being filled with a majority of DEC's - that leaves only a few FO positions.
As for WJ I would guess it's about 2 months for the wait, as offers are starting to speed up for courses in April. We have two courses slotted that month - the first course is 18 on April 3rd. The pilots were notified this yesterday and today.

Cheers!
Dave

[Mirage]

Hi there,
It's tough to say the average wait time is. For Encore, the courses are being filled with a majority of DEC's - that leaves only a few FO positions.
As for WJ I would guess it's about 2 months for the wait, as offers are starting to speed up for courses in April. We have two courses slotted that month - the first course is 18 on April 3rd. The pilots were notified this yesterday and today.

Cheers!
Dave

HI Dave,

What does the following status in the profile indicate?
"Your application is currently in progress".
The status was there in the profile for last few months. Haven't received any call or email for an interview.

Thanks

[DaveP]

Hello,
Depending on the job, I suspect the resume has been reviewed and sitting in a "reviewed +" or "reviewed -" subgroup or you could be in the "sent to manager" subgroup which is the "to call for interview" subgroup.

When resumes sit in the reviewed positive subgroup - I'm simply watching updates or waiting for a little more time with the eventual intention to call those candidates for an interview.

Resumes that are in the reviewed negative subgroup will eventually get a "thanks but not right now" type of email.

If you would like to pm me - we can see where you are in the system if you are comfortable with the dialogue.

Take care,
Dave