Originally Posted by
Coopmeup
Well, I'd like to know what their "non-specified" criteria is!! Just got my rejection email. I applied for ab-initio...
So, I must be too old or too male. Either way seems like discrimination to me.
...yes, I'm feeling a little sandy.
I am female. I have a degree in aviation, a respectable number of flying hours for a recreational flier, and overseas experience in flight operations.
I applied for Virgin's inaugural program back in 2012 and subsequently got to the final round. I knew of one of the young women who got in and she performed excellently in the group work exercises and public speaking. I have no doubt she performed well in the other stages too.
However, I didn't progress past the first stage the following year. To say I didn't have "it" would be at odds to my performance the year prior. After some thought, I came to the conclusion that I had not shown self improvement during the time that had elapsed. However (and perhaps more importantly) there didn't seem to be any sort of prejudice given my gender or past performance - I had to prove myself just like everyone else.
At the time I was with the military (and later joined a paramilitary company). It was here that I spent my time reflecting upon the skills that a pilot needs, and then went about developing said skills. These included (the list is no way exhaustive): strong communication skills, the ability to work in a team, able to work under pressure, able to take criticism on board, ability to self reflect/assess, etc. I deliberately picked a career path within the organisations so I could get the exposure and challenges that I need to grow. I also spoke extensively to aviation experts and enthusiastists to get their inputs, opinions, etc.
With a few more years of work experience under my belt I applied for another Australian based cadetship as well as overseas cadetship. I got offers for both cadetships and am due to start training soon for my chosen airline. I don't think these successes came about being the owner of a vagina - I know I performed strongly in the group exercises as I have plenty of practice. I also had quite a lot of interviewing experience by then, and I had a number of real world examples to expand on.
End of the day would not say I am an excellent pilot (I didn't break any records when soloing!), or that I am particularly smart or talented. But I took on the lessons learned from going through the recruitment process of Virgin then set out gaining valuable life skills that would serve me well in any job.
I guess my point is that you have to roll with the punches and stop playing the victim card (dare I say "man up" :P). Because while you spend your time complaining, people like me are working away....