Postal Letter

No flight jobs listed on either FedEx or UPS. Is this the norm?

Out of curiosity, I surfed over to the FedEx and UPS careers websites, and looked to see if there were any openings for pilots, not overly surprised to see that there were no openings. My question: is this because of the recent economic downturn, or is it because they don't really advertise it on their website? I've heard, ironically from an actual FedEx captain, that it's not what you know, it's who you know, which got me wondering if they ever actually advertise open jobs, or if they prefer other channels, like a recommendation from a current employee, and if I should focus on networking and things like that.

Public Comments

1. Yes, they do advertise open jobs, and every time they do, they get several thousand applicants, but why should they waste time and energy advertising for more applicants when they already have several huge file cabinets full of resumes from highly qualified applicants who have already been screened and approved.
2. Like it or not, networking is the way to go. Although there are exceptions, a lot of times companies post a position after they have chosen the person to fill it. Some companies will have open application periods, but may require recommendations from inside to be considered. With that said, UPS is definitely not hiring pilots right now. They announced furloughs earlier this year.
3. That is normal. It is unusual to randomly go to any airlines website and see that they are advertising pilot positions. When airlines like UPS and FedEX do hire, they don't need to do so for long because so many people want to work there. If FedEx announced that they were hiring 100 pilots today, they'd probably receive over 10,000 applications within the first 24 hours (and all of which would be from pilots with thousands of hours as captain of a jet). No pilot gets hired at FedEx/UPS by simply applying through their website. That FedEx captain you talked to is right. The only way to get on their is to have multiple recommendations from FedEx pilots who have flown with you professionally. In the past (not sure if it is still like this today) they also required a sponsor. What that means is that you had to have a FedEx pilot, who you flew with professionally, personally recommend you and introduce you to the chief pilot. A FedEx captain told me that they could only sponsor one candidate per year so it has to be a really good contact. In short, this business is all about who you know. Anybody can fly an ILS approach to minimums and land an airplane smoothly. Knowing the right people is the only way to make it. If you don't know the right people, you'll be stuck at a regional airline (or at best, a "super regional" like Jet Blue) for your entire career. PS: To directly answer one of your questions, when they do hire pilots, they do indeed advertise them on their website. They have an application on their website that you fill out. Word spreads quickly when they are about to hire so people who want to apply generally know exactly when they will announce hiring.
4. ups is laying off pilots at the current time do to lower volumes and using bigger aircraft
5. It's the economy. When there are jobs, they advertise, when there aren't, they don't. But, who you know on the inside helps immensely when they are hiring. It can at least help you get an interview. Think about it. Lets say you managed an airline company and needed to hire some pilots. Wouldn't you consider recommendations from your own employees, particular for pilots they know well and had flown with before? I'll bet you would, because that's how you build a company of people who can get along with each other reasonably well. Think about the kind of people you'd want to spend 14 hours with, 8 of which are in confined quarters, three days in a row. While a given individual may be a good pilot, personality really counts. No one wants to fly with a guy with a stinko personality so it's rare if someone will recommend one, even if they are a friend or relative. A known quantity is a better bet than an unknown one. That's why pilots who have a good inside contact have a better chance of at least getting the all-important interview. After that, it's up to you. aside from the airlines, most of the best flying jobs are gotten by word of mouth. In this industry it's 49.5% who you know, 49.5% experience, and 1% where you learned to fly or went to school. By the way, UPS recently announced a 300 pilot layoff - the first in their history - but it's more political than a necessity. You can look up the stats of any airline here. At last count there were over 9,000 pilots on furlough among the majors, nationals, fractionals and regionals. http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/airlines.html
6. I cant specifically comment on Fedex and UPS but we do not advertise. We usually have referrals from internal sources such as current pilots. A lot of the time it is indeed who you know. We had a couple of openings here and i told a couple of people from this forum that i knew were actual pilots, not pretend wannabees, so network all you can. That helps a lot.
7. Both rely heavily on recruiting directly from the USAF. Pilots, maintenance people, loadmasters, etc. Pilots are not in great demand because there are more qualified pilots than there are jobs. Most pilot have taken pay cuts to keep their jobs.
8. UPS is furloughing, I doubt they'll have any openings.