Being placed in a pool means.................
Lucavdh,
In this case a “pool” means that the airline has already screened a number of applicants and would like to hire them, but cannot at the present time. The applicants are told that they are in a “holding pool” or “pool” and that when the airline needs to hire pilots they will be contacted. Unfortunately there is no guarantee of a job, nor is there any time frame. A pilot can be in a “pool” indefinitely and never receive a job offer.
The “screening” I mentioned could just mean they have looked at their CVs and are interested in interviewing those applicants, or it could mean that those applicants have already gone through the interview(s), testing, simulator evaluations and background checks and are ready for a class date.
The applicant has no job offer, nor do they have a date when they can expect to be given a job offer. All they know is at the point of being placed in a “pool” they had the qualifications to be considered for a job if one was available at that time.
On the other hand the Airline has no guarantee that the applicant will still be available should they call and offer a job at some future time.
Remember the only stupid question is the one that you do not ask. I hope you found the above explanation helpful. I wish you the best of luck on your continued search and on your flying career. I spent 10 years on the MD80 and remember it fondly. I think Saudia is recruiting pilots for their MD90s perhaps that is an option for you (realizing the MD80 & 90 are different airplanes). Seems to me I saw it on the Saudi Arabian Airlines recruitment web site linked to by “Mutt” here on PPRune.
Respectfully,
Northbeach