Cathay Pacific Cadet Pilot Programme

[whitsunday]

Originally Posted by flying_melon

What's the obsession with perceived prestige? What is your mentality? Are you afraid people are going to think less of you and your time at Cathay because the cadet selection process is not as rigorous as it used to be? I get it. Your interviews were tougher. You jumped through more hoops to earn your spot. You were the great chosen one. Congrats! You can pat yourself on the back every morning to remind yourself how special you are, which I have no doubt you are already doing. But with that out of the way, let's give the less special ones a chance to prove themselves. If they are as awful as you claim, they wouldn't pass their exams, wouldn't get their licenses, and wouldn't be flying any planes. As much as I agree Cathay is a ****ty employer, they have a lot more to lose if an unqualified pilot caused an accident than you. So something tells me actual pilots are being held to the same high standards as before, but more cadets are being given the chance to prove their worth. Thank goodness cadets aren't flying their planes, eh?

Using Harvard and Stanford as examples is also absurd. Just because someone went to an "elite" school doesn't mean they are more capable than someone who didn't. Similarly, just because someone was offered a role at Cathay prior to this supposed decrease in standards doesn't mean they are more capable than someone who was offered a role recently.

1. While most students in elite schools worked very hard to get in, most of them also came from extreme privileges that gave them ample opportunities to succeed. I know quite a few of these people personally.
2. Some of my high school classmates who were at the top of the class were rejected from these schools despite having similar stats as those who were admitted because schools like Harvard simply cannot admit every single qualified student. Hence, admissions often come down to luck and other non-academic factors.
3. What's taught at Harvard is not all that different from what's taught at nearby Boston University or UMass Amherst. Harvard just has the better brand name and connections, which has very little to do with the ability of its graduates.
4. People are more than the name of their school and employer.

There's enough Cathay bashing (which they deserve) in this forum. So when someone interested in becoming a Cathay cadet asks for advice, either be helpful or be quiet. There's no need to repeat what's already been said a thousand times. If they are still interested after reading this forum, they don't care - and neither should you since you've clearly moved on to greener pastures. Good for you, but many locals don't have the same opportunities as you. Stop looking back and move on.

I love this. So if we go by your logic, companies should fire their Talent Acquisition department and let everybody comes in regardless of their skill sets, experiences and most importantly their interpersonal skills, as long as they have a college degree meaning they have the ability to pass exams and memorize things from a text book right? Because to your point, we need to give those less special ones to prove themselves right? For many good companies out there, reputable companies out there, they can forget about finding the best talent, because to your point, they should just open the door wide, no need to choose the good ones from the bad ones, and hoping those who got through the door will turn out to be Okay, right?

Have you actually compared the previous process with the current one? Did you know, every assessment we went through in the previous process was designed to assess a specific skill set? Think about that, if somebody knows how to pass an exam but sucks at communication, cannot covey his or her ideas through English, not being able to work as a team, how good this pilot can be? Remember. Soft skills are just as important as Hard skills. I agree with you. Just because somebody managed to get through the door doesn't mean he or she will excel at the job, likewise, just because somebody has a bachelor degree, a master degree and a phd doesn't mean he or she will be a good pilot. There are many variables that will change the outcome. But at least the standard could filter out the bad ones at the early stage.

I use Harvard and Stanford as an example because people know them and they can easily relate to them when it comes to the standard, but you have completely taken it out of context. I should have just used Parkenshop choosing apples and oranges and lemons etc etc instead.

The CX Cadetship is a fantastic opportunity for the locals to step foot across the door, no question about it, I certainly benefited from it myself, so you cannot really say they weren't giving less specifical ones a chance. It's just the less special ones were not strong enough to compete with other strong candidates at that time. (Source from previous recruiting managers) If you think what they are doing now is giving more chance to people, how come they didn't do it 10 years ago or 5 years ago? Why have they waited for so long? If CX is not getting desperate, do you think they would be still doing what they are doing now to the program?

Common sense.