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SIA Cadet Pilot - All Batches, Merged

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Old 24th Apr 2006, 09:20
  #561 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by SST77
Tiny Brain,
You've hit the nail on the head. These days, everyone seems to be hankering to fly as a SQ pilot...

In my office alone, I've come across 3 other brothers who've failed in their numerous attempts in getting into SQ's Cadet programme... one even left to join the MFA to get his own training done, but even his efforts weren't successful. Even though they've all moved on to other non-aviation sector jobs, they're still dreaming of being airborne.
I've applied for the programme 5 times now......
SST77,
Ermm.. I think it's a highly paid + stable career + "honourable" job, hence every guys wanna give a try on it. IMHO (again), go for a flying course in Malaysia or Thailand. Many will say they have the passion for flying. But to be honest, not all are suited to make it a career.... I'm a typical example of one of them I must admit. Hence, I'm glad sq given me the chance to try to the extend of jandakot and I respect their decision to axe me eventually. I believe it's for both the company and my own good.
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Old 24th Apr 2006, 10:47
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Originally Posted by TinyBrain
SST77,
Ermm.. I think it's a highly paid + stable career + "honourable" job, hence every guys wanna give a try on it.
frankly i don't think its a stable career at all. On the contrary, one of the more unstable ones around. You have to pass medicals annual/semi annually, base checks, etc, failing which you're grounded

highly paid? above average i should say, mostly cos of the allowances

honourable? it gets pretty mudane after a while
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Old 24th Apr 2006, 16:50
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Which job or career is forever stable in this unstable world?
You can be as highly paid or even better if you are the best in your industry.
Every profession is "honourable" if you practise it with integrity, commitment and passion.

Therefore, the only reason why we all want to fly, should purely because, we just want to fly.

Just my 2 cents worth.
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Old 25th Apr 2006, 03:15
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Wink

hi there,

for those who are seeking a high pay, stable, honourable job,

i will advise to try a business or become a CEO, that will be suitable with the above job description

a pilot is a non-stable job, take a look at the cargo forum, or the recession or sars period, pple seems to think that we earn alot annually, but in actual fact that is not really true. yearly medical criteria etc,

they pay us to leave our family for about 15 to 20 days on a average a month. i envy my frds who earn more then me and work less then me...

we are just like drivers, instead of a bus its just a plane.
love the job and be contented about flying will make us a happy man. for those out there, its worth giving a shot if you truely love flying.it a fun job and its rewarding to a certain extend.

soley my thoughts on a pilot.

cheers good luck to all,
great way to fly
singapore airlines
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Old 25th Apr 2006, 07:10
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I would agree with Airbus_380.

If you are looking for honour, money, stability, go somewhere else. If you have passion, this is the place to go.

Everyone has their own goals, so it's not my place to say who is suitable or not. Many go for the money, they get bounced out during the interviews and complain.


Money makes the world go round... I, however, fly around the world. Which is better? Life is never fair, fairness doesn't live too.
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Old 25th Apr 2006, 08:25
  #566 (permalink)  
 
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I dunno guys...... Yeah sure you could start a business, but many many business fold up, plunging owners into financial difficulties. And how many of you guys have friends who are CEOs of a substantial company? Probably less than the number of pilot you know.

Being a pilot is one of the few jobs out there where one can earn a higher-than-average income by simply being an average pilot. The responsibility is high, and that's reflected in the pay, but on most days there isn't all that much to do. Sure you're going to miss important occasions like CNY, Christmas, BDays etc, but you don't have endless deadlines, projects, business meetings etc which may cause you to miss important family time as well.

It's not an iron rice bowl, of course, no job is really stable anymore. But I don't personally know any pilot who is out of a job at the moment, but I know heaps of pple with marketing/sales/engineering etc background who are unemployed, or who are stuck in some admin or wealth mgmt job.

So I still think that being a pilot is a great job which pays reasonably well, and is reasonably stable. I don't know about the honourable part (haha), glorified maybe, cuz of television. The irony of it all is this....... i think that if you really have a passion for flying, you're going to be bored stiff with flying a big passenger jet. There's so little actual flying. Mostly procedures. How much passion can one have in that?

Anyway, this is just my humble opinion. I'm sure everyone's got a different take to it all.
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Old 25th Apr 2006, 11:28
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Wink

hi guys,
yes i agree totally. we get paid due to the responsibility and the time spend out of town, its a nice job and of cos there are alot of hidden agendas which u will know only when u are in the pilots family,

overall i enjoy my job and for those who seek towards the goal of a pilot, good luck, if i can make it so can alot of people out there.

cheers
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Old 25th Apr 2006, 11:54
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hi airbus380,

Agree to what you said. Its a career path that is less traveled by those who are looking for money, fame, time for oneself and others. It just aint happening in an ideal world. I've been through very rough jobs to very glamourous one, yet the bug of wanting to fly still itch.

I personally took a detour from my very comfortable job with a very comfortable pay because of just one thing; wanting to fly a plane, a very very big plane.

I never look back when I resigned. I never will. I never regret the things that I've done, I only regret the things that I didn't do. Cheers and hope to see you around soon bro.
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Old 25th Apr 2006, 16:32
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Originally Posted by Knightwhosays_NI
I dunno guys...... Yeah sure you could start a business, but many many business fold up, plunging owners into financial difficulties. And how many of you guys have friends who are CEOs of a substantial company? Probably less than the number of pilot you know.

Being a pilot is one of the few jobs out there where one can earn a higher-than-average income by simply being an average pilot. The responsibility is high, and that's reflected in the pay, but on most days there isn't all that much to do. Sure you're going to miss important occasions like CNY, Christmas, BDays etc, but you don't have endless deadlines, projects, business meetings etc which may cause you to miss important family time as well.

It's not an iron rice bowl, of course, no job is really stable anymore. But I don't personally know any pilot who is out of a job at the moment, but I know heaps of pple with marketing/sales/engineering etc background who are unemployed, or who are stuck in some admin or wealth mgmt job.

So I still think that being a pilot is a great job which pays reasonably well, and is reasonably stable. I don't know about the honourable part (haha), glorified maybe, cuz of television. The irony of it all is this....... i think that if you really have a passion for flying, you're going to be bored stiff with flying a big passenger jet. There's so little actual flying. Mostly procedures. How much passion can one have in that?

Anyway, this is just my humble opinion. I'm sure everyone's got a different take to it all.
The important thing pointed out is, financially, a commercial pilot will be better off just by giving an average performance. Rushing projects and deadlines can be as frustrating and missing out on friends and family too.
And yeah you are right! Technically, there is very little "flying".
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Old 25th Apr 2006, 17:03
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Hey guys, is SIA more enthusiastic when it comes to hard copy applications? Submitted my 1st application round May 2005 and waited only 2 weeks for news to attend 1st interview. Went through to the tea party but did not get chosen for medical, suppose that means I din pass the panel and 2nd round.

One year has passed and I tot maybe shld attempt again. Submitted online application a month ago but has not gotten any replies.

Far as I know, people who processes the applications are actually Cadets themselves who returned from Jandakok/Maroochydore waiting for line training. Not too sure if the non reply is due to the fact that SIA hardly consider applicants who have been thru the 2nd round and din make it or HR is in fact receiving too many application.

Was wondering if passing the hard copy application thru pilots I know will help in any sense?
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Old 26th Apr 2006, 05:47
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Originally Posted by JerryMaguire
Not too sure if the non reply is due to the fact that SIA hardly consider applicants who have been thru the 2nd round and din make it or HR is in fact receiving too many application.
Was wondering if passing the hard copy application thru pilots I know will help in any sense?
For the vast majority, SIA will not reconsider you if you've failed anything from the 2nd interview onwards. I don't think that it's in the website anymore, but I don't think that's changed. And I really doubt if passing the application to any cadets there now will help in any way, cuz you have to disclose if you've applied for any position in SIA previously.
If you really want a 2nd chance, make sure that you've improved your own qualifications from the last time that you've applied. It could be academic qualifications or even flying qualifications. Then SIA might give you a second chance.
Good luck.
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Old 26th Apr 2006, 06:38
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Hi thanks for the advice! :o) I was also told by my friend that that's only a very obscure chance that I'll be considered again but well...guess no harm trying. Perhaps a talk with the Chief Pilot might help?
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Old 26th Apr 2006, 08:26
  #573 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by JerryMaguire
Perhaps a talk with the Chief Pilot might help?
yeah sure, why not?. just slot him in right after you speak to Bill Gates (BFG to his friends) about why his next windows is taking so long, and just before the meeting with Bush to get an update on the terrorist situation. or hell just bung them together in the same meeting and create an all-american anti-terrorist game on Xbox for our 777s while getting an interview! Hee hee. Sorry, just kidding, mate. :P

Seriously, unless you know someone in upper mgmt personally, or knows someone who knows someone in upp mgmt personally, they wouldn't show you the slightest concern. Why would they? If they did, they would set up a precedent for all those pple rejected after the 2nd interview to follow.

I'm curious, tho. How did you plan to go about setting up a meeting?
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Old 26th Apr 2006, 09:19
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It's always good to know people in high places.
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Old 26th Apr 2006, 11:06
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yeah one often finds that it's not what you know that matters, but who you know.
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Old 26th Apr 2006, 11:12
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Originally Posted by JerryMaguire
Hi thanks for the advice! :o) I was also told by my friend that that's only a very obscure chance that I'll be considered again but well...guess no harm trying. Perhaps a talk with the Chief Pilot might help?
If you are saying this, it means that you don't know him, and more importantly, he does not know you.

It also means that you don't know that there are as many Chief Pilots as there are fleet types.

It also means that you don't know that they are not involved in the selection and training of cadets.

The selection process is not at all as though you are queueing up outside a club and you go to the bouncer and say I know the owner and then he says OK please come in.

You really do need to demonstrate how vastly different you are from the last time you were interviewed to be reconsidered.

Like maybe how you have a patent in your name to manipluate the genes of an oil plam and you can get the plant to produce kerosene at $20 per barrel instead of palm oil.
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Old 26th Apr 2006, 15:20
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I'm not absolutely sure but recall reading in Captain Lim's website that there were some chaps who got thru a 2nd chance after flunging the final interview.

I'm aware that each fleet has its Chief Pilot but really, my helpful friend was merely saying he can speak to his Chief should he happen to bum into him in Flight Ops Dept, no promises at all. Speaking of which I'm really glad that there are actually many such amiable and helpful pilots around. Bunch of them who graduated in 2005 I think. Apologies for causing misunderstanding that I'm gonna talk to the Chief Pilots personally.

I do know that the chiefs dun actively take part in the selection process, the Management (usually a snr CAPT) and HR people do that. However, having a recommendation and validation of passion from someone senior should help eh? At least I hope so...

As for the precedence to follow thingy, I suppose it's a case by case basis and really, SIA would not be obliged to entertain any complaints/comments or watever even if applicants make noise rite? Hmmm

Much as I do not agree with the policy to permanently eradicate passionate ppl who for some reasons or other did not perform in the 2nd round (I've gotten to know quite a few in this forum by the way), I am helpless and can't do much aside from trying and still trying which in the end may turn out futile anyway.

I know there's the usual explanation that SIA receives a wide pool of applicants and the vol is probably daunting. Moreover, they must have accessed that the applicant who flung the 2nd round is really not suitable but well...isn't all this subjective? The death sentence is kinda hard to swallow. Even Major Consultant Companies like Mckinsey and Bain offers 2nd chances coz they believe people mature and will change in the course of time and by going through life experiences. And no, they do not have to be so radically different such as in coming up with scientific chemical patents to curb the insatiable rise of fuel prices. Haha!

Perhaps someone senior enough in the management reading this forum might wanna offer an alternative explanation?
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Old 26th Apr 2006, 23:47
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Hey Jerry,

Im in a similar position as u in some ways. Failed my final round 4 years back, still eager to fly for SIA but im currently tied down with a bond. So im waiting.

Met an SQ pilot fren of mine a couple of weeks back. He happens to know a few HR executives personally. He called them on the spot to ask about my eligibility and the good news is that they do accept final round rejects like us for 2nd chances. But i have to agree with the earlier posts with regards to improving yourself since the last time u applied. I am working on that now and hoping for the best on my next try.

So don't lose hope, manage your expectations and keep on trying!

Cheers.
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Old 27th Apr 2006, 03:45
  #579 (permalink)  
 
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What is this PASSION people always talk about??!?!

So many people claim to have a PASSION to fly, but honestly, how much about airplanes and flying do they know? I don't want to put anyone down, but when I think of PASSION, I think of someone who permanently changed his life, lives the passion or spends significant resources (time & money) to pursue his dream.

Think of the guy who quit his job to become a flight instructor, or someone who shelled out $20,000 of his savings to learn to fly without the prospect of recouping the money back because he simply likes to fly that plane.

I am sure there are people out there who are passionate about aviation but do not have the means to pursue it. Perhaps the fuel guy who pumps up the planes or anyone on the apron at the airport took that job to work with airplanes but couldn't afford to learn to fly one, or the mechanic who hangs out at seletar airfield learning to fix aircraft engines. Some of the line guys working in the small airport I fly out of work there to pay for their flight time, and I respect those guys because they truly have the passion.

I just think guys should DEMONSTRATE this passion to work with aircraft. Surfing www.airliners.net or reading FLIGHT magazine DOES NOT COUNT. I see people claiming passion all the time, it has become so cliche, and it makes it even harder for SIA to differentiate the true pilots from the wannabes. It really muddies the waters for the guys out there who have devoted their lives to flight. Of course knowing someone in high office might help, but come on, you're going to need more than a letter of recommendation to get through the years of training. Seriously, after I got my PPL, I realised that flying might not be for everyone, regardless of this PASSION. It sure is easy to talk about planes but it's a whole different story when you are out there as the PIC of your plane.

I haven't applied to SQ, I might eventually, but right now, I just enjoy zipping around in my rental 172 and building up my time, so I am by no means like some of the guys here who have much higher ratings. I truly respect the guys who get to fly the big heavy jets, and perhaps one day I might get to fly the sticks in the Airbus.

Anyway, to end it off, I've got a dumb question to add, for those B744 pilots transitioning to A380, how's the difference in your tactile feedback changing from a yoke to a stick??

Last edited by carlvinson; 27th Apr 2006 at 03:57.
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Old 27th Apr 2006, 04:33
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I believe passion comes from all directions. Be it a guy who picks up a magazine or a guy sitting there at the airport watching planes. It's not about the sacrifice but mostly about the initiative you take. It's the road you travel with your passion and not the result.

I think for the transition should be pretty easy as many had started off with airbus long time ago.
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