As a former chief pilot I would never cut short a meeting or in any way change my schedule to meet a 'walk up' applicant. If they were genuine they would wait.
If the applicant was well presented, had all his licences and logbooks with him and a decent resume, I always found time either at the end of that business day or before start of the next to at least give him/her 15 minutes of courtesy that I believed initiative and persistence deserved. Even if only to tell the wannabe where else to try if his experience was insufficient for our requirements.
I much preferred a direct approach to the time-wasters who could not understand advertisements that we sometimes placed requiring certain minima - when they were nowhere near that minima. They usually applied with reams of supporting material that took time to digest to realise they were faking it or simply trying it on. This only succeeded in having me place them on a black list - not to be considered for any future vacancy. With a notation - "can't read - lacks basic comprehension". Cruel, huh?

@BPA All FO jobs, or single engine. Multi piston that have been advertised recently have required time on certain types. As others have pointed out the ones I am really after don't need to advertise as they are the ones with people knocking on the door it seems, and I agree.
@Clare Prop I am in agreement to try for an appointment, as I haven't always had a good reception when turning up in person cold calling in the past, which is why I am taking the phone route at the moment. ...It is having some pluses, I've saved on a few trips already such as to Alice, as an operator there actually interviews and hires from Melbourne, and a operator in Cairns is not hiring for 6 months, and one in Melbourne has surplus pilots as it is. Surprising how many Chief Pilots are away sick at the moment too.
As for research first, believe me yes I did just that, watching all the masses of ads from the higher ups heating up from Sept to Dec. Getting confirmation from a couple of HRs of lower down companies of stockpiling CVs ready for the movement. However the only evidence of mass shift so far has been the abundance of Instructor vacancies. Maybe I'm just a bit pre-emptive as Morno pointed out.

Who is the Alice Springs operator who only hires in Melbourne? Australasian Jet haven't had a presence in Alice for almost 2 years.

A very fair call IMHO, Mach. A former CP of Pel-Air told me over a beer that he used to do the same thing. Many companies spend hundreds of thousands of $s on psychometrics examinations to see if candidates can read and comprehend written English, yet a basic sieve for these skills is available at the application stage.

I agree with you too, Mach.

On the first page I have described how I look at it, and I am in such a role.

However, from the amount of rationalisations and tone I sense an unhealthy level of cynicism / sense of entitlement from the OP for a pilot looking to do some GA time...

@Pilotchute Ayers Rock Flightseeing, P68s etc, owned by a Helicopter outfit at Moorabbin

@Flying Bear, wow, from what I have said you get that? Geesh.

It's tough out there.

Some places tell you to turn up not ring up, next door will tell you the opposite.

It is no wonder some folks get confused.

I think the experienced people should remember what is was like when they were looking for a new job and the job hunters should put themselves briefly in the employers shoes and hopefully all meet somewhere in between.

Misty, just out of interest why do you begin all your scentences with @?

If responding to a particular person, as in @=at <username>
A lot of other internet forums use it

I see, thakyou