Originally Posted by
whitsunday
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.
That's not at all what I said. Being accepted into the cadet program is
NOT the same as being offered a full-time role as a pilot. If accepted, cadets still need to go through ground school and flight training. And I'm sure the instructors will realize sooner or later if someone lacked the necessary communication or language skills to succeed as a pilot. ICAO English assessment is also required prior to being interviewed. It's not like they are accepting illiterate people into the program, are they? Seems like instead of accepting only the top 1% of all applicants, they are expanding the program and accepting the top 5% or perhaps even the top 10% of applicants. I think that's part of the reason why they partnered with PolyU to offer ground school locally - so they can increase the capacity of their classes and eliminate subpar cadets before spending big money to train them in Adelaide. And, of course, to reduce training costs in general like all corporations concerned about their bottom line. I have no doubt the standards have been lowered, but let's not pretend they are hiring random, incompetent people to fly their planes. Being accepted into the cadet program is more akin to being offered an internship as a college student with no work experience. If you suck as an intern, you won't get a full-time offer. If you suck as a cadet, you will be cut. Perhaps it's not the ideal way to recruit in your view, but it is what it is.
Originally Posted by
whitsunday
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.
I don't think I took it out of context. You implied prestige = competence. Harder to get in = better. A Harvard graduate = a better employee. Please correct me if I misunderstood. And by the way, schools like Harvard already do lower their standard in test scores for underprivileged students. It's called affirmative action.
(Or if daddy donated a building.) The goal is to look beyond the numbers and take an applicant's soft skills, passion, and background into consideration. The ability to pass exams and memorize things from a textbook is not everything. You said it yourself.
Originally Posted by
whitsunday
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.
Like I said, they are expanding the program, which means they need more bodies. Since their pool of candidates in HK hasn't increased (one could even argue the pool has shrunk...), their standards naturally decreased. The question is by how much? Some people here are implying any random moron on the streets of HK can be accepted, which just isn't the case. There are only so many applicants in the top 1%. If they want to double the number of cadets, they have to accept applicants in the top 2%. So on and so forth. Are applicants in the top 2% or 5% really that awful? At the end of the day, being an airline pilot is just a job. You don't necessarily have to be the absolute cream of the crop, one in a million, and Capt. Sully's
"Miracle on the Hudson" kind of applicant to be a safe and competent pilot. There are plenty of competent aspiring pilots out there.
And no, I am not naive enough to think a corporation is doing this out of the goodness of its heart. I know they are motivated by profit, stock prices, and executive bonuses. We all know foreign pilots at Cathay cost them an arm and a leg. Since 1,000+ have left due to ludicrous pandemic restrictions courtesy of the brilliant HK/Beijing government and worsening compensations/ work environment in the past few years, Cathay sees this as a rare opportunity to replace them with cheaper local pilots in the future. And when they are barely flying at their pre-pandemic level, they have most of the bargaining power in terms of compensation. At least for now.
I have no doubt many experienced foreign captains and first officers at Cathay feel betrayed and see little reasons to stay, but their circumstances are not the same as local HKers looking to get a foot in the door. Believe it or not, the current deal is still attractive to many locals even as a stepping stone, assuming the situation doesn't improve in the next few years.
As long as people understand what this program is and what it isn't, it's nowhere near as terrible as many veterans make it out to be.