RTO,
I hope the information below will help:
1. What is the typical pilot recruited?
Our decision is based on availability, market conditions and the numbers of applications. At present all the candidates we are inviting have at least commercial flying experience (minimum flying turboprop a/c). However, this is not set in stone (depending on the job market).
2. As there are several claims that the recruitment process is without logic, could you perhaps clear that up for us? How does it work? Who is priority 1 for selection?
Basically it depends on 2 things: how close your experience is to our style of operation (the closer the more desirable you become) and what we need. (if you are a jet captain there is no point in inviting you for selection if we our requirement is for FOs)
3. Are your open days still conducted the way I described them in my previous post? In that case, why?
The open days are still conducted the same way. The reason is that, as you said, there are a lot of rumours in the industry and we like to meet people face to face and tell them how it really is. Furthermore, there are also people who would like the opportunity to speak to us in order to decide if they want to apply. We try to give them the information they need to make their choice.
4. What is the current recruitment situation? How many pilots will be hired and from what experience segment, and when?
We are recruiting on an ongoing basis. As we announced at the BALPA conference we will be recruiting in excess of 300 pilots in 2004 (for the Boeing and Airbus fleet). We will be recruiting a mix of commercial jets pilots (A320 & B737 rated and non-rated) as well as turboprop pilots (of course these requirements are subject to market changes and business needs).
5. Personally it seems like I've in the wrong group of pilots, With a couple of thousand hours and multicrew turboprop experience I'm not in a position to join the 190hr guys at CTC and I do not have a B737 or A320 type rating. Am I in the least desirable groups of these three?
Unfortunately I cannot give you personal feedback because our decision whether or not to invite applicants for assessment is not based on a/c type and hours alone. We also take in consideration your work history (employers, how long you stayed with each one of them, gaps, anything that doesn’t make sense…), your interest (has the application form been completed correctly and how much thought has been put into it?). Commercial jet pilots, however, will always be top of the list for us (rated or non-rated) with CTC cadets representing only a small percentage of our recruitment (less than 10%).
All I can add is that candidates do get an interview after their 2nd or 3rd applications (with previous applications not matching business requirements) but clearly if someone last applied in 1999, it is unlikely they will be picked up (my first question would be what has be doing since then?) That’s why we need updates.
6. As Easyjet is an international airline, do you hire international pilots?
We have a multi-cultural pilot population. All we ask is for people to have the right to live and work in the UK, have a JAR licence and a good level of English. However we also make sure that we balance the number of each nationality in each base. At the present time, the pilot population is made up of British, French, Belgian, Scandinavian, Canadian, Australian, Dutch, Swiss, Spanish……to name just a few.
7. Can you please comment on the claims that several pilots have resigned recently? How successful is your recruitment process when a lot of pilots fail to adapt to the LCC lifestyle?
I cannot comment about the number of pilots resigning because I am not directly involved in that part of the business, all I can say is that there has been no requirement for recruitment numbers to increase as a result of attrition.
Regarding the second part of your question. The first day of the selection process assesses a candidate’s suitability easyJet in terms of adapting to the LCC lifestyle and our company in particular (there is no point employing someone if you don’t believe that they have the right frame of mind for easyJet)
Dogma – all candidate applications who we wish to invite are vetted by our Pilot Management team and our selection involves the use of HR personnel, external assessors and Line Pilots with specific selection training (so we are like all other airlines).
If anyone is interested in our selection process it is described on the pilot recruitment page of our website. It is a 2 day selection and everybody, regardless of their experience or background, goes through the same process (so it is fair and consistent – everybody get the same chance)
Finally it is not uncommon for a company that deals with volume recruitment to only contact successful applicants (we are not the only one doing it). Furthermore it is not like we are promising something we are not delivering: it is clearly stated on our website that only successful candidates will be contacted (and I have applied to jobs in the past where I didn’t get a response – it wasn’t an issue because they (like us) stated that only successful applicants will be contacted).
Tailscrape – I would love to delete your details from our database but for that I would need to know who you are. So if you want to email your name I will make sure that your file is removed without delay.