Have you ever been asked your AvCanada @ an Interview?

[MrWings]

I either say I'm Hedley or Widow, depending on the situation and desired outcome.

[scopiton]

alti2d,
I strongly agree with you on that statement

So, moral of the story, check your privacy setting, don't allow just anyone to be your friend, and don't post pictures (or let others post them of you) that you wouldn't show your mother.

and the guy Ditar helped not to be hired could have very good professional performances.
private life and professional performances are 2 different things. they come to be connected when it prevents a person to act accordingly with its profession's policies. when no rules are boken i don't see the problem.

it hits the fan when you consider this situation - I hope I'll be ok to demonstrate what I want: during a party with friendly pilots Mr.Y starts saying Mr.X is having too much wine. He says that just for fun, because he wants to tease someone and it appears that he wants to tease Mr.X. Mr. X has very civilian manners, a sound grammar and is acting correctly; obviously he's not drinking too much. But then, with such a kind of jokes Mr.Y suddenly focuses assistance's attention on how much MrX. is having wine. Therefore if Mr.X doesn't want to be looked at as an alcoholic, he'll have to monitor is single glass of wine with lots of caution. It's not true, Mr. X is just drinking like others, and this kind of joke can have very sad consequences. This single remark made by Mr.Y, can give MrX. a reputation he might have difficulties to deal with if someone like Mr Ditar was in the assistance.

"private life behavior" list for being eliminated during a hiring process can go on with smoking, Xtra wedding dating, gambling etc etc...which in any case are not good reasons for not hiring someone.
hiring is a hard responsibility for employers and they don't want to make mistakes, but above all I hope they're conscious to be interviewing human beings and not saints.

[Siddley Hawker]

They take one look at my application and ask "Are you that p***k from AvCanada?"

[Meatservo]

So now it's politically incorrect to take a person's character into account when deciding whether or not to hire him? You guys really will whine about anything. ("Blade" is a verb now, apparently. Maybe it means something like "backstab", or something.) Personal character traits have so much to do with whether you're fit to command an aeroplane, or anything else, I don't even know where to begin. For one thing, Ditar didn't mention exactly WHAT it was he saw on Face-book that turned him off this guy. I'm afraid I have to take his side here. If you can't behave like a gentleman on your own time, and then crow about your behaviour by posting it on a public website, this is not only crass but it speaks to your judgement as a professional. There is a lot of moaning here about professional respect from people in other walks of life, and now at the same time you people are indignant about being held accountable for your personalities.

Let's take a guess that the individual in question is in his early twenties. His frontal lobe is incomplete, and most of what he calls a personality is the effect of incomplete cortical hookups and impulses related to hormones. He's learned to operate an aeroplane but his brain is still developing the qualities it's going to need to become a successful adult. This malleable proto-personality is more of an obstacle to his finding gainful employment than anything else. Absolutely his lifestyle should be held in scrutiny to the extent possible. You guys in your twenties can sputter angrily about this all you like, but I'll bet anyone over thirty-five can look back on their twenties and know exactly what I am talking about.

Basically, simply put, if you act like a @#$& in public, you don't deserve a position of responsibility. Posting pictures of yourself acting like a @#$& in private on a public utility like face-book IS public. You have some growing up to do, and you won't be doing it in the cockpit of any aeroplane I am responsible for. Sure everybody knows a young person's life is going to be punctuated by drunken good times in his spare time. But if you've created a situation whereby your new boss can look at photographs of you acting like a fool, then you haven't cleaned yourself up enough for public presentation, and haven't displayed the judgement required to occupy the position of moral and legal responsibility of the professional aviator. Grow up.

[ditar]

Thanks Meatservo, I couldn't have put it better myself.

I was planning on staying out of this from now on, but since everyone is curious, what I saw on Facebook was closer to Doc's example of someone woofing their cookies on a street corner, held up by hookers than it was of some friends having a few beers at the pub. And not just one photo, but numerous. If one posts material like that about themselves in the public domain, they have no basis to get indignant when I don't treat them like the professional that they claim to be. My point all along has been that it's not what they do that I care about. It's the fact that they feel it necessary to display it for all the world to see which I find unprofessional. To me the notion of being a professional goes beyond one's skill set. It also involves how they present themselves in public.

[BoostedNihilist]

So now it's politically incorrect to take a person's character into account when deciding whether or not to hire him? You guys really will whine about anything. ("Blade" is a verb now, apparently. Maybe it means something like "backstab", or something.) Personal character traits have so much to do with whether you're fit to command an aeroplane, or anything else, I don't even know where to begin. For one thing, Ditar didn't mention exactly WHAT it was he saw on Face-book that turned him off this guy. I'm afraid I have to take his side here. If you can't behave like a gentleman on your own time, and then crow about your behaviour by posting it on a public website, this is not only crass but it speaks to your judgement as a professional. There is a lot of moaning here about professional respect from people in other walks of life, and now at the same time you people are indignant about being held accountable for your personalities.

I bet ditar was just jealous.. he seen a picture of some young dude out having fun with a bunch of hot chicks.. while poor ditar is stuck at home webstalking extraneous facebook friends so he can shine to his employer.. edited You old relics might not understand that when this generation is not working for slave labor wages we like to go out and get drunk and chase girls and do 'debauchery' because we are stressed... we are stressed because people like DITAR will use any photo (no matter what the context) to !! us out to perspective employers, to the same perspective employers who would use every advantage to screw us over once under their emply. It is more than likely that these pictures depicted a strong individual who would be competitive and morally centered enough to not fly overloaded when the pressure is applied, edited.

It's like war out there and when we return from battle we like to drown our sorrows while we have the time.. and then continue the battle.. because those who work hard earn the right to play hard.

I was planning on staying out of this from now on, but since everyone is curious, what I saw on Facebook was closer to Doc's example of someone woofing their cookies on a street corner, held up by hookers than it was of some friends having a few beers at the pub. And not just one photo, but numerous. If one posts material like that about themselves in the public domain, they have no basis to get indignant when I don't treat them like the professional that they claim to be. To me the notion of being a professional goes beyond one's skill set.

edited

[Meatservo]

Wow. I guess you really are a Nihilist.

See, your life isn't a M.A.S.H. episode, or "Top Gun". It's not like a war out there. It's business. If you need to act like a jackass, fine. We all do sometimes. What us "old guys" (I'm 36 btw) don't understand is the current need displayed by you young idiots to PHOTOGRAPH AND POST yourselves acting like jackasses, and then cry foul when none of us "old guys" wants to give you a job because we're reasonably certain that we can keep looking and find some young buck that's LESS of a jackass.

If you really want to be a nihilist, here's a piece of nihilism for you. As a twenty-something, your "personality" is a mishmash of hormonal responses (mostly angry), half-baked judgements, opinions gleaned from your upbringing, an instinctive desire to fit in with your peers, prurient interest in mating, more or less education as the case may be, attempts by your brain to make sense of thoughts mis-firing across incomplete neurological structures, and possibly some kind of "soul", although this is debatable. What this means is that because your frontal lobe is still forming, your ability to tell right from wrong is questionable. The only clue anyone else has to the existence of any kind of logical or responsible processes occurring inside your angry, self-pitying mind is the behaviour that you choose to put on display for the world to see. Better make it good. I'm not sure that chasing girls and drinking beer till it runs out of your nose, fun as it may be, screams "Competitive and Morally Centered".

Nobody over the age of thirty is interested in why you're so angry about having to work on the ramp or be a co-pilot. We all had to do it and now we're making pretty good money, our minds are fully aware of themselves, and we can't remember what the fuss is about for you younger guys. It seems as if you spend more time whining and less time working than we used to. We all used to block out the horrors of a day at work with beer, and girls, and irresponsible hobbies, but you seem to be taking it to the next level by suggesting that some kind of existential crisis is driving all you younger guys into an ever-deepening spiral of self abuse. Give me a break. Just go back to Facebook and delete the photographs of yourself acting like an jackass. Your future self will thank you.

[Sulako]

I got this job because the guy who hired me wanted to know who Sulako was in real life. I used my sulako@gmail email addy on the resume and it's what got me the first interview. Then again, I present a fairly sanitized version of myself on this board...

[Nark]

So what some of you are saying is that your online persona's are a facade and not your actual likeness?


Guess what: Your personal life is no longer separate from your professional life; nor has it ever been.


If you havn't figured that out yet, I have some oceanfront property to sell you in Arizona.

[SeptRepair]

I post here as if i would to any persons face. In the same breath I also choose my words carefully and hope they do not get used against me in the future. We all are entitled to opinions. Its how we conduct and release these opinions that forms others opinions of us.

[scopiton]

...

[Captain_Canuck]

I did end up being offered the job but turned it down because one I really wanted came though.

Interesting how this post has progressed. I think the topic of AvCanada came up when the CP and HR Manager asked me what I know about CMA. I said aside what I heave read on your website and AvCanada.....and thats where the question came up.

[ahramin]

You have a point scopiton. In my experience people who harp about the morals of others usually have a severe lack of integrity. They think "Morals" = "My Way".

But, to stay on topic, while I couldn't care less if an employee participates in drunken debauchery, if they are stupid enough to make the less salubrious moments of their private life public for all to see, then in my opinion they are too stupid to be trusted with an airplane. It's not about a moral compass, it's about brains and judgement.

Then again, I also don't hire people who can't spell.

[Cat Driver]

How you post on Avcanada can portray something about yourself.

If you are using an assumed name you may think it gives you protection from being identified which can lead to typing things you would never say in public or person to person.

That being said posting questionable behavior and your real identity in an open public forum such as facebook that may reflect negatively on your future employment brings stupidity to a new level.

[. ._]

Before I start looking for a pilot job, I'm pullin' a I am Birrdog.

-....

[The Old Fogducker]

Well written posts Meatservo.

When I was still in "the pilot hiring business," behaviour off the job was almost as importatnt as on the job performance.

In a small town, news travels fast, and rightly or wrongly, if you are a drunk, neer-do-well, card cheat, general all-round jerk, etc it reflects upon "the perceived quality" of the flying operation.

Therefore, I would indeed take my staff aside and speak to them about the impact their personal life was having on customer relations, and given the choice ... wouldn't hire them in the first place regardless of how good they were reputed to behind the control column.

OFD

[macbainz1]

Of course it is legal. And while personally I wouldn't care, the answer above seems like the perfect one.

Many prospective employers are now checking Facebook accounts. If you are stupid enough to put compromising stuff about yourself up for the world to see, shouldn't employers take that into consideration?

A big +1. A friend of a friend of mine on Facebook regularly uploads photos of him and his buddies engaged in all sorts of drunken debauchery. When this guy's resume came across our chief pilot's desk I was asked about it, and pulled up some of those photos for his perusal. The prospective candidate didn't get the job.

I've been asked if I have facebook at an interview before. I Kind of thought it was strange. As soon as I was out of the interview I changed by Privacy so no one can see it (like not even add me as a friend) Just incase they saw anything 'bad' (yes a few drunk evenings in photos etc)

[Wilbur]

Off the job behaviour is no business of an employer, unless that behaviour impacts on the employer's reputation. Doesn't matter what you do for a living, if your employer needs to maintain a certain public image or reputation and your off the job conduct erodes that image, you're going to get a talking to or be looking for a new job.

One of the hard lessons some of the "younger" generation will be learning in the years to come is how digital images and things they write and post on the internet will come back to bite them on the ass. Once you've put something out there, you've lost all control over it and you can never know when it might re-surface. There was an NDP hopeful in the last BC election that learned that lesson the hard way. An old photo of him grabbing hold of some chicks tit had been posted on facebook and surfaced during the election. The NDP dropped him like a hot potato with no discussion of who it was, context or anything else.

For the tin foil hat crowd, I can tell you for fact that law enforcement and intelligence agencies extensively use facebook and the other social medial for monitoring people and establishing links between individuals.

[BoostedNihilist]

Wow. I guess you really are a Nihilist.

See, your life isn't a M.A.S.H. episode, or "Top Gun". It's not like a war out there. It's business. If you need to act like a jackass, fine. We all do sometimes. What us "old guys" (I'm 36 btw) don't understand is the current need displayed by you young idiots to PHOTOGRAPH AND POST yourselves acting like jackasses, and then cry foul when none of us "old guys" wants to give you a job because we're reasonably certain that we can keep looking and find some young buck that's LESS of a jackass.

Well, I'm not asking any of you for a job, I don't need your charity, and I wouldn't work for judgmental folks like yourself anyways. You see, I know my life is not top gun, or mash. I'm not crying foul as I have never had a hard time acquiring employment despite the fact that indeed, I am a jackass, and I do post those photos. If someone is willing to do themselves the disservice of not hiring me because I like to share the fact that I know how to have a good time, then yes, that is your prerogative (if you were in the position to hire me) However, my reputation as both an asset, and an ass precedes me wherever I go and I still have calls at all hours of the night to work and rescue people who need my particular skillset. Sure.. you probably could find someone who is LESS of a jackass then myself, but you would not find a better person for the job (in my field) so edited your personality judgments, they just don't work.

If you really want to be a nihilist, here's a piece of nihilism for you. As a twenty-something, your "personality" is a mishmash of hormonal responses (mostly angry), half-baked judgements, opinions gleaned from your upbringing, an instinctive desire to fit in with your peers, prurient interest in mating, more or less education as the case may be, attempts by your brain to make sense of thoughts mis-firing across incomplete neurological structures, and possibly some kind of "soul", although this is debatable. What this means is that because your frontal lobe is still forming, your ability to tell right from wrong is questionable. The only clue anyone else has to the existence of any kind of logical or responsible processes occurring inside your angry, self-pitying mind is the behaviour that you choose to put on display for the world to see.

Okay meatservo, here is a little piece of information from me to you.. you should take some windex and clean your crystal ball. Though well written and potentially apt your dissertation on the psycho-physiological development of a twenty something is irrelevant as I am closer to your age than a twenty something. You have obviously went through some effort to judge my character and make an extrapolation that my frontal lobe is not fully developed.. this is the kind of laughable logic I would expect from the type of person I described in my unilateral decree.. you know, the type that is jealous of those who know how to have fun and chase women WHILE maintaining the ability to function professionally at the highest levels.. there's a lot there for you to be jealous of.. and your ad hominem attacks hint that I might have hit a nerve.

Nobody over the age of thirty is interested in why you're so angry about having to work on the ramp or be a co-pilot. We all had to do it and now we're making pretty good money, our minds are fully aware of themselves, and we can't remember what the fuss is about for you younger guys. It seems as if you spend more time whining and less time working than we used to. We all used to block out the horrors of a day at work with beer, and girls, and irresponsible hobbies, but you seem to be taking it to the next level by suggesting that some kind of existential crisis is driving all you younger guys into an ever-deepening spiral of self abuse. Give me a break. Just go back to Facebook and delete the photographs of yourself acting like a jackass. Your future self will thank you.

Well, acting like jackass comes down to your characterizations of such actions. You and ditar.. to me, that is a few guys acting like jackasses so it really is a matter of perspective. I would rather be a professional that can be secure that a picture of a bad moment (or a good moment others think is bad) is less important than being a judgmental $%^&*.

If I loose a job because someone sees something they don't like on my facebook then my crystal ball worked and I saved myself from a huge mistake.

Which is kinda beside the point.. there will always be some jerk like the OP or perhaps yourself who would rat someone out to protect their own employ. It's what it always was, beta males protecting their environment from the alphas...

i have a question that has been bugging me for a long time.. is a Meatservo the same thing as a edited?

[Dust Devil]

Character and attitude are by far the #1 hiring attribute. Everything else can be taught. Like it or not but google and facebook and any other means will always be used for hiring potential employees and nothing can be done to change that.

Prove an employer googled your name or prove he saw a pic of you on facebook.

[Doc]

Must wonder how "analbumcover" would deal with that question. LOL

[ywgflyboy]

Must wonder how "analbumcover" would deal with that question. LOL

[Meatservo]

My nickname, since you ask, comes from an old joke favoured by engineers. It goes something like this:

A pilot entered an autopilot snag in the journey log. After checking out the autopilot, the engineer couldn't find anything wrong with it. Since the first pilot had gone home, he asked another one to do a test flight with him. The autopilot functioned perfectly, so he entered "Changed meat servo. Flight tested serviceable."

Get it? It's funny, because a servo is a device that moves the flight controls, sort of like a pilot does, and pilots are made out of flesh, or "meat".

[Braun]

While we are on the subject we should make a list of people we can pretend to be in interviews and state which member is best for each situation. That way we can cover all our bases for ATC: I vote JERRICHO!

[Meatservo]

This has got to be a joke. You win. You're funnier than me. Happy New year.