How did you get hired?

How did you get hired?

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For paid flying, 100% from friends/networking.
 
my first flying job happened when I was working in the oilfields in the middle east. Thc company had some surplus O2's they used for pipeline inspection and flying parts between job sites. I was supervising a crew and driving a truck. The boss had a pilot who had an alcohol problem so after a couple close calls he swapped us and I learned to fly on the job while flying pipeline. Had grown up in my neighbor's aeronca champ so it wasn't entirely new. After that job I went to south africa to fly with the same company but there I got a real license with tests and checkrides.
 
1st job - recruitment fair on campus when I was about ready to graduate with my degree.

2nd job - listing of openings on the shipyard

3rd job - head hunter

4th job - job fair

5th (and current) job - My boss at Tandem said there were a couple guys from Intel who would be in the area who were thinking about building a lab like the one I had built at Tandem. They didn't know anything about them and would I please give them a tour. The wheels started turning. These guys were from the Pacific Northwest. They would need someone who understood this lab to build and run it. My wife and I had been looking for a way back to the PNW for 20 years. You bet they got a tour. And copies of the specifications. And a copy of my resume buried in the middle. About 6 months later I changed companies. And, no, that job was not (to my knowledge) advertised. I know they interviewed at least one other candidate (I wasn't supposed to find out, but I did) who would have been excellent for them as well.

What haven't I done? I haven't responded to an add in the paper. And, over the past several years I haven't looked, but have been contacted by prospective employers, either directly or via recruiters. I'll get more active when I retire from Intel and become a consultant until I'm ready to fully retire from work.
 
Most of mine have come from knowing someone. Currently I run an agency, but I started out here as a graduate intern. Got that gig because a friend of mine worked here. After graduation they hired me, and then I left for some other jobs. When the previous director retired, she recommended me to come interview for the position.

I would say the connections you make are extremely important. I don't think I'd have the job I have today without them.
 
For me, it's been a combination of knowing the right person and being in the right place at the right time. Assuming you're out there doing a good job, the goal is for people to think of you once a seat becomes available: "We need an FO for this Hawker - do you know of anyone that'd be a good fit? Tristan? Great idea - give her a call!"

That's how it happens. You want to be the person people think of when a position becomes available. And that happens completely through networking.
 
My first job out of law school was through a friendly reminder from the U.S. Army about a certain scholarship and active duty commitment as an undergrad. Didn't mind since in 1981, there were few jobs for lawyers and as it turned out with jump pay and other special pay, I was near the top of my class in terms of income. Since then, all of my jobs have been through networking except the one I have at the present time. I applied for it as something of a lark (was tired of traveling the world for a global company virtually non stop) after reading about it in a bar journal. So I am currently the General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer for a generation company in the Pacific Northwest. We are a non profit, municipal corporation and we generate electricity at cost and provide the power to the ratepayers. It is very different working for a company that does not have a profit motive.
 
I've been fortunate to not have to do much job hunting.

I've only held two official jobs and both were through connections with my schools.

After high school, I worked for about a year with an electrical contractor but prior to that, I came into this company at the age of 17 (31 years ago).

Was one of two students from my high school's electrical shop class, selected to participate in a work/study program at KEWR. Gaining valuable hands-on experience working with the airport electricians working with 4160V runway lighting systems.

Two years after high school (while attending DeVry and working with the contractor), I received a letter inviting me back as an electrician at KEWR & KLGA. By then, I had forgotten that I even applied:lol:.

Two weeks ago, I celebrated my 28th anniversary (14 as a Systems Controller-13KV). :)

Oh, almost forgot, I worked with the airport gardeners(summer job) before graduating. Driving lawn mowers, picking weeds, planting, trimming hedges and all that crap, while baking in the summer sun! HATED IT but was thankful to make a little pocket change,lol.
 
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Flying jobs have all been because of who I knew.

Engineering jobs have been because they found my resume. However, I got several offers that I turned down as a result of who I knew. Good offers, just not what I was looking for for some reason or another.
 
I applied for the position I was just offered via an online posting, but I also had an "in" there in a former colleague at my old department. I don't have any previous experience applying for jobs to share as I've been in the same department for my entire career, until my position was eliminated this year.
 
Jumpmaster said:
My first job out of law school was through a friendly reminder from the U.S. Army about a certain scholarship and active duty commitment as an undergrad. Didn't mind since in 1981, there were few jobs for lawyers and as it turned out with jump pay and other special pay, I was near the top of my class in terms of income. Since then, all of my jobs have been through networking except the one I have at the present time. I applied for it as something of a lark (was tired of traveling the world for a global company virtually non stop) after reading about it in a bar journal. So I am currently the General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer for a generation company in the Pacific Northwest. We are a non profit, municipal corporation and we generate electricity at cost and provide the power to the ratepayers. It is very different working for a company that does not have a profit motive.
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Was this a return to the PNW, or your first time living in God's Country? :D
 
No. We were fortunate having moved back several years prior from the Carolina's. Love the PNW - won't live anywhere else although I do sometimes miss hush puppies, southern barbecue, and beach music. My current job doesn't leave a lot of time for aviation, one of the reasons I am still a student after 14 months. Just starting pre-check ride flights so the end of this phase of learning is (hopefully) in sight.:yes:
 
My first out of college job, applied on the college job board. Ended up being the only schmuck dumb enough to take the job. Current gig, had an acquaintance on another pilot board send my resume in, in addition to calling the heck out of the hiring person.
 
KSCessnaDriver said:
My first out of college job, applied on the college job board. Ended up being the only schmuck dumb enough to take the job. Current gig, had an acquaintance on another pilot board send my resume in, in addition to calling the heck out of the hiring person.
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Oh, right. I forgot about the phone calls and notes. For every job except the last, I wrote a thank you note for the interview the same or next day. Then I wrote a follow-up note saying how much I wanted the job after a week. Finally, a phone call after another week. Don't know whether that was a tipping point, but never got a job (except the last one) if I didn't go the extra mile. On that last job, I was hired on the spot during the interview.
 
I had two interviews this year. First one, I wrote a thank-you note a few days afterward. Got a rejection letter two weeks later. Second one, I didn't write any follow-up. Phone call with the offer came less than 48 hours later. So it varies.

Though I should say that the second "interview" barely qualified as one, as it was just me giving a talk, answering some kid-gloves questions afterward, and spending the rest of my 2.5-day stay relaxing, hiking, and getting wined and dined. I had the distinct impression that the search committee chair had me in mind as his first pick even before I showed up, and the other committee members were just along for the ride. All I had to do to get the position was to not screw up, and apparently I didn't. :)
 
I guess that my first real job, I walked into the Navy Recruiter's office and told him I wanted to enlist. OK, but the job that became my career, I found an ad in the newspaper and applied. It also took almost a year to land it. Of course, that was over thirty years ago. After I retired from that job, which was seven years ago in August, I've had three other jobs. All three of those came from people who I had met over my career, and someone either called me up and asked me if I was interested, or I ran across them somewhere and we got to talking. It seems to me that finding a job is much easier when you are not looking for a job. I got a job offer last week in fact, which I turned down.
 
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