ExDubai,
"...now a days they want to see community service! That is the latest pet peeve from the HR departments..."
The Dominican wasn't kidding. I can't speak about all US legacies but DL allegedly thinks seeing some volunteering (as opposed to "community service"...still laughing about that one) makes a better candidate. I doubt everyone they interview and/or hire has been ladling soup at the Lighthouse Mission for years but word is...it'll help set you apart from the vast, roiling masses. And that's what counts; it's their party so they decide who gets invited.
There are sooooo many qualified candidates in the USA that the HR people are grasping at ways to differentiate among them.
I suggest that people who part their hair on the left and have one green eye and one brown eye would make an even better airline pilot. But, that's just a theory.