hi gents,
first of all i would just like to say great posts by akota and vfe. Its really worth it to sit here and read posts that actually helps me in one way or another with my knowledge in aviation and with obtaining a career in this industry.
I recently attended my initial interview for the second officer programme but got rejected due to ( and this is the confusing part ) lack of experience? now i would like to point out why i find myself confused:
Ive got 7 years aviation experience in which i have been appointed head in the following positions just to give you an idea:
1. aircraft maintenance - (2 years)
2. aircraft parts buying and supply manager - (1 year)
3. flight operations manager - ( 4 years )
and just to add to this experience ive recently finished my commercial pilot subjects and ive had my private pilot licence for a year and one month now.
so now my question is...if im already well experienced in various fields of this industry as well as being a qualified ppl...how exactly did they come to the conclusion that i do not have what it takes? i thought about this a lot and for a while now ive felt no less than useless and worthless but i refuse to give up on my airline pilot dream just because some old lady at cx thinks she knows better right? anyway, there were only 3 of us at this interview...the first guy didnt have one hour of flight time...no licence at all and looked like he just finished school...then there was me with a ppl and various qaulification certificates such as ( flight dispatching ect. ) and then there was another guy which wasnt even from south africa...he was from england and he already had his ATPL licence....?! so all my interviews went very good because i went there very much prepared ( i went ahead and studied from books such as : how to ace your technical interview ect ) so all my exams and interviews went flawless. so the only conclusion i can come up with why i didnt make it was because they chose the one guy that was already qualified up to atpl.....
so my only question would be...why whould they have to different application forms : 1500 hrs or below and 1500 hrs and above and also say that you dont need any flying experience...if they are going to put you up against a guy with well over 2000 hrs experience...i myself only having a 100hrs tt now? why invite me and give me hope in the first place if they are just planning to shoot me down anyway?
my background in aviation is soooo solid even my dad was an airforce pilot and later went ahead and flew for british airways so where exactly did i go wrong as we have no way in speaking to anyone to tell us in the cx company what we did wrong in the interviews?
all and all im just letting some steam off because ive had no one to complain to about the Quote: un level playing field that we are on in this industry. Just going to an airline interview was an awesome and very educational experience so not all of it was bad. And i know some guys say that being SO is a bad place to be and so on but hey...in a way its like the army right...one day youll be captain and youll hopefully be a bit less cranky or stuborn with a new so below you because youll remember how you felt when you were there.... it all comes down to who you are as a person i think! but thanks guys for all the great informative posts...i really get to learn a lot from all the guys here at pprune!