Jet 2 Recruitment!
 

Good old Low Cost Jet2 HR Department and recruitment office!

Now offering there own pilots Cash if they can recommend friends that are type rated pilots for the summer season !

Must be deep in the mire for summer then!!!! :D

Dont forget to dust down the compass testing equipment and microsoft sim pedals!! :ugh:

Its no biggy, just a referral scheme! It has been done before by others, and defo not unique to the Airline Industry!

What with easyJet announcing non-type rated recruitment and jet2 continuing to recruit with good forward expansion plans - surely a good thing?

I think it only applies to B737 recruitment. The 757 recruitment isn't that manic... for now...!

The find a pilot and get £1000 is the clearest indication that Jet2's recruting is not going well, I can only ask how long will they continue to persist with the testing that puts more weight behind an hour of computer nonsense that thousands of hours in the log book ?

My guess is that the prospect of aircraft on the ground will sharpen the managnents view of the value of such tests.

Jet2 are not the only ones with a lack of pilots, it would seem that Jet air fly in Brussels are having the same sort of problems getting pilots.

These problems can only be good for the T&C'S that all the company's will have to offer to keep pilots.

So why not open recruitment for non type rated pilots? I know at least 350 pilots who would happily join tomorrow to start a course.

Just a 3 year bond and you are done, you will have a reliable hard working motivated bunch of good guys and girls wanting to do a good job from A to B.

Anyway....

Absolutely! They would fill the requirement in a week! Guaranteed! :ok:

To be honest I think it's a clear indicator that there are very few type rated experienced 737 jockeys available not the recruitment itself (which has its flaws!). The 'behind the computer nonsense' is pretty standard industry wide now if you want to fly a shinny jet! Although I'm not a fan, I had to do it when I joined which was nearly 7 years ago!

I'm sure the non-type rated pilots wanting to join Jet2 will get their chance, but only after there are no more experienced guys out there, hence the referral scheme. The company is protecting itself by employing experience as it grows, there has to be a sensible balance between the two.

All in all Jet2 is expanding faster than any of us ever imagined, and with the demise of other operators has only fuelled the success (ie Globespan, BMIBaby etc...), so you either bitch on here or try to get on the gig and if at first you don't succeed (as many don't), try and try again!

Good Luck:ok:

The sooner the better in my view. Plenty of very experienced non typed on 737 floating about, and of a very high standard to.(obviously it works both ways, but thats for the recruiters to filter out!)

If they re-opened a southern base, all crewing issues could be solved immediately!

All they had to do was offer 100% contracts with immediate start back in the autumn and they would have hoovered up all the Baby crews and filled all vacancies 3 times over with type rated crews.

But HR knew better and we are where we are. My thoughts go out to the training department, who's workload has just gone up.

It is obviously more desirable to have experienced type-rated guys over experienced non-rated guys, they know the aircraft better (especially the -300's which are a little older than most!) and they take less time to get on line. I guess the ideal will be to have as many experienced guys as possible to enhance skill/knowledge in the FD, especially as there are lots of and will be more low houred FO's. Eventually, as the pool of rated experienced pilots dries up, non-type rated guys will be invited to apply. Hopefully then there will be a good balance of experience across the FD!

Jet2 has been successful owing to its Industry renowned flexibility and readiness to react to market conditions. Its Jet2's success story!

Flexibility is 100% at the forefront of our commercial teams armoury, they react quickly especially to Charters and new routes/bases. The company is also very savvy, again contributing to its success, therefore their offer of Summer only contracts is a reaction to current market conditions. If the pilot pool dries up completely, believe you me, 100% contracts would be offered. In fact over the last few years most 70% contracts have been offered 100% at the end of Summer!

It is, after all, a business that needs to make a profit to keep the city and shareholders happy. We are but a small cog in the huge machine that is Jet2!

These jobs start less than a week from now and are for 6 months. Last minute course no shows, extra airframes?

The problem is folk cannot leave permanent stable employment for 6 month only contracts.

Watch this space.

This has to be the greatest all time :mad: up by the HR department at Jet2 and everyone involved from baby management to Jet2 flight management knew this outcome was highly likely and said as much last Autumn, but CP (HR head honcho) was such an arrogant :mad: but hell if you can press a few pedals and buttons why do you need type rated people with thousands of hours of route & classic experience what can they possibly bring to Jet2 that getting top marks in "man on the moon" role plays can't.

I feel deeply sorry for the Jet2 pilot management who have been badly let down by their own inept HR dept, what were they thinking? when class companies like Monarch are happy with sight of licence, log book and a 50 minute informal chat, no silly games & toy flight sims for pilots with 1000's of hours under their belts, perhaps if the hapless HR people ever come before me for an interview i will give them some crayons and ask them to draw an aeroplane then read out aloud from Janet & John books, utter :mad: i'd sack the lot of them.

They are now hiring people who failed the tests, so what was the point?

Facelookbovvered...
 

I'm sorry you failed the assessment and are obviously deeply hurt. But... For a start CP isn't HR Head Honcho, just a very overworked, under resourced person who is trying to do their best and doesn't deserve your very public outburst.

For what it's worth, I don't agree with Compass tests unless it is for a complete rookie. For experienced Pilot's it should be an informal chat to see if you can sit next to them for 10 hours in a cramped flight deck.

You are obviously very bitter - I hope you can get over it.

Facelookbovvered...
 

Facelookbovvered, I can only say that, you hit the Nail on the head spot on. I find my self in total agreement with you, as for any one who is saying failure is the reason behind your comment, he is either don't know what he is talking about, or he is a company boys.

If they would offer FULL TIME contracts I would have applied yesterday !
How can they think that a rated pilot with a full time job (aviation or non-aviation) will give up everything to fly a summer contract....

Facelookbovverd
 

I think you make some very good points, when I was interviewed for a Jet2 job the pilot doing the interview admitted that in his opinion the computer tests resulted in some very experienced people not getting jobs ( largely because the tests are aimed at assessing training risk for non pilots, not skill levels of current pilots). This has come to bite Jet2 in the but as they now scrape the bottom of the bottom of the barrel having rejected qualified candidates earlier in the year.

A few months back I was on a CRM course run by an Educational Psychologist from a Scandinavian university who had done a lot of research into pilot recruiting for both the airlines and military, his research had found that the types of tests that Jet2 employ are valid for non pilots as they are a good indicator of training risk, however once you become a pilot these tests are not good indicators as some of the tests require the experienced candidate to "unlearn" habits that have been ingrained in years of flying to pass the test. Add to this a Mathematics test aimed at school leavers and you have a system that discriminates against the the very experienced pilot.

If this Educational Psycologist is correct it can be proven by simply rostering a few of the older line pilots for the tests, my guess is this the HR people would strongly object to this as it is likely to result in a large proportion of the guys being tested finding that acording to HR they are unfit to do the job they are currently employed to do !

The Educational Psychologist was of the opinion following research that the best way to screen experienced pilots was an interview with two pilots and if considered OK a Sim check.

As always the problem for expanding airlines is getting the experienced pilots who have a lot of command time under their belts not 200 hour flying school graduates. I have no doubt that by offering type 737 ratings that could get some experienced captains from the military and other civil operators but these guys won't be able to fill the seats this summer season.

Finally I would like to thank the HR people at Jet2 as for me the Jet2 screening was a total sucsess their choice to reject the value of 13,000 hours flying (4000 PIC B737) in favoir of the compass test that apparently I failed resulted in me not being committed to a job in Jet2 and being able to take a position with an airline that has newer eqipment, better T&C'S and a base on my doorstep rather than oop north.

Dwshimoda
 

You have completely missed the point of my post, for the record I was offered a position, but basing & 70% salary did not suit me, I declined, so no bitterness at all on my part, i think Jet2 are a good company to work for, but what is the point of any assessment if it does not meet the need of the airline, if HR are overworked then they are either a) under resourced b) failing to manage their own work load, if Monarch, Norwegian, BA City Flyer, Eithad, Skymark, China Air post, FlyDubai, Eastern Airways to name a few have all recruited ex bmibaby pilots, some of whom didn't make the grade(sic) with Jet2 it speaks volumes about process rather than pilot quality, the reason that Qatar, Eithad and a number of other renowned international airline sent recruitment teams half across the globe (thanks in a large part to the ex bmibaby Chief Pilot) it was because they recognised a well trained, disciplined pilot work force with amongst the highest safe standards in aviation.

Not one of the above companies is offering a bounty to its staff for recruiting pilots, so draw your own conclusions!, its not about pilot quality, or Jet2 T&C's which are excellent, but rather a recruitment system design by HR who clearly thought that there would be lots of babies looking for adoption, its called arrogance.

A question of leadership
 

Following the above posts I can't help feeling that the Jet2 management have been suckerd into letting the HR department have the upper hand in pilot recruitment, no doubt the reason for this is that they are very aware of the politically correct HR need for an absolute measure of a candidate that is not based on the human perception.

This attitude from the HR department is reinforced by the fear that Jet2 may find its self in court on some sort of discrimination case, using the compass tests gives them a way of fending off this sort of accusation.

The problem is that this system is deeply flawed and has failed to get the pilots into the company, it is clear that it is now time for the management pilots to take back the upper hand in the recruitment of pilots.

HR people are good servants but bad masters !

Facelookbovvered...
 

FLB and most of the above posts I totally agree with you! Hence my line about Compass is ok for rookies but useless for anyone experienced.

I was reacting toy your incorrect comment about CP which in my opinion was uncalled for.

Unlearn habits? What you meant to say was use your great skill and hand eye coordination to pass the test. The test I might add that is pretty easy to pass, as I did, with over seven thousand hours. If you can't scan or coordinate your eyes, hands and feet then you might struggle. Then you're not wanted.

Hmmm, so the very experienced pilot can't do basic mathematics?

Compass testing may be a pain in the a**e, but as a hoop to jump through, surely no worse than learning about stable platform inertial sytems, or doppler nav. (Not that long ago in the ATPL syllabus!).
The real problem is allowing HR to let it get to this stage. When you start looking for summer staff in April, having been offered an ample supply of extremely well qualified and motivated people 6 months earlier, then surely, you can expect a few fairly tense interviews with management...

Lord Spandex masher
 

When you encounter a set of FD bars that work in the opposite direction to the ones in the aircraft your mind has to adjust quite quickly to this, for the young computer generation this might be easy, for us old farts it takes a little more time.

As for the Maths it is much the same, a lot of this stuff I had not seen since I left school at 16 and so it takes time to get the brain into gear, the Maths I have to do on a day to day basis of course is a lot quicker.

16024 above refers to the compass test as a hoop to jump just like some of the stuff in the ATPL, I now understand that these are courses that you can buy to improve your score on the compass test, it is hardly a reliable test if the HR department don't know if the candidate has never seen the test before or has done the compass training course five times !

My opinions about the these tests set by Jet2 & others are largely based on observation of the poor results I have seen over the years in a number of airlines backed up by the research of the Scandinavian academic who ran a CRM course that I was on.

I have no axe to grind with Jet2 about the tests because as a direct result I have a much better job, so from my point of view the result was very satisfactory, what I do have an issue with is the aviation industry management not trusting the judgment of its own pilots and giving far too much time (and money) to those who push these inappropriate tests.

Any how five commercial type ratings including being curent on the B737 & A320 as I write can't be bad for someone who according to you can't add up !

Yes, I know your mind has to adjust quickly, maybe that's the point! I did these very same compass tests not so long ago and despite having five TRs under my belt as well (so you can stick me in the old fart group and I actively hate computers) I managed to get the second highest score of the day.

Others who coped on the day included a Ryanair mate with six years experience and a BBJ captain with over twelve thousand hours on Boeings.

Notwithstanding the fact that I'd rather not have to do them and would rather have a chat and a coffee with the main man, like 16024 says, it's just a hoop to jump through.

There are those that can...

Putting Compass Testing aside, the point trying to be made with which I agree with is in Mid-March Jet2 are looking for pilots to start on April 03rd! Commercial added another line of flying or someone cocked the numbers up - either way, a good Flight Ops management team should have the ability to look at someone's CV and be able to judge whether the individual is a "known quantity" - hoop jumping yes, but in these circumstances given its a summer contract only, a complete waste of everyone's time IMHO!

The only person who thinks HR is a good thing is Mr. Qatada. Let's bring back Victim's Rights and Personnel.

Oh dear, sounds like a serious stuff up by Jet2 here!

Good ol' Monty offered them all the Baby guys and gals on a plate and they stuffed it up then. What's that about chickens and roosting?

My view has always been do whatever tests they need to tick the boxes. However, if you are an experienced pilot and fail, then into the sim for a check, that has the balance of keeping costs down and satisfying HR!

Just my tuppence worth.

It probably didn't help that jet2 tried to be clever with start dates for the ex-baby pilots, meaning they ended up going for a sure thing elsewhere (Norwegian, the gulf, etc) and not telling jet2. Jet2 only found out that they weren't getting the pilot they thought they were when calling up with a start date, leading to scrabbling round for people to fill courses.

The just like the last time!
 

I have seen this happen twice before, HR departments confidently telling the management that they have 400+ CV's on file and pilots are two a penny................... What the bright young things in HR fail to realise is that all the airlines in Europe and quite a few in Asia & the Gulf have the same CV's on file.
It only takes a small upturn in the industry to result in the CV pool drying up very quickly, the older members of the Jet2 pilot management would no doubt have known this but the veiw that the situation was as planned from the HR department clearly prevailed at board level.

Just like last time the HR department has shot its self in the foot, the only diference is that by inappropriate use of testing the HR luminarys seem to have left the gun selected to full automatic this time !

I'm back on the Fylde Riviera on April 5th for a couple of weeks. Maybe I should bring my logbook home with me this time.

Agreed JB007, A and C and Flying Wild.

Jet2 (and most others to be fair) have been asking for this scenario for some time and have taken advantage of an excess of somewhat desperately unfortunate pilots. The desperation has now swung 180 degrees. Some really good guys getting bizarrely rejected, many offered positions followed by subsequent attempts made to d*ck them around (hence them going elsewhere at the last minute), and a set of poor T's and C's has reaped it's results.

These first signs of the pilot pool drying up can only be a good thing.

Silverhawk

Don't bother Jet2 will never be that desperate !!:E

Hmm, yes but what if you have done the 777 thing, seen the midgets boxing in Manila and now just want to come home? I imagine the people talking about flying in China haven't tried it. There lays madness.

We all have our reasons and not all of them desperate. I wasn't.

Monarch and Easy are still too excited about CTC guys and Jet2 can be a refreshing change. It's not in the south I grant you.

The pilot managers at Jet2 are turning it around and away from HR and it'll be for the better :}

Nearly Man couldn't agree more.:ok:

I think that the pilot management are more than capable of sorting out this mess just so long as they not hindered by HR.

Ok I'm rated and current, and have 5000 pic on 737 cl. Im in full time job but could be available but would have to look closely at what exactly is on offer? Anyone? I've seen a proposal sent by Parc but that didn't excite me much. Has any one got the definite T and C,s. is this summer only ? And I've heard they have dropped the compass test for experienced guys is this the case?

Nitefiter
 

There are other airlines who might fit your bill but what you need to avoid is Parc, this once reputable agency has let its game fall way behind the rest of the contracting industry.

Cheers, I wasn't going down that road!