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[ayz33]

Interesting, wondering if other units do selection after interviews this way?

[goodflightcowboy]

10 minutes ago, ayz33 said:

Interesting, wondering if other units do selection after interviews this way?

Nah, guys that had been around said Tulsa was the only place that announced selection the morning after. 

[Hopefulflyer389]

Any word from Alabama? 

[Sopwith Camel]

On 10/31/2018 at 2:06 PM, Flying Pillows said:

I assume you got rejected from Fresno? Why would you ever spend that much on liquor though? 

Yes. The bottle was under $50 its not that $300 blue label. 

On 10/31/2018 at 7:20 PM, bigdreams said:

Bribing shows interest?

Former members of Fresno squadron told me not to be "that guy" who doesn't bring something. Still was that guy, lol.

[163 FS]

A-10s at Fort Wayne are hiring.

https://www.122fw.ang.af.mil/Portals/21/2019 163FS Application Annoucement.pdf?ver=2018-11-04-153644-340

[BigTex96]

23 minutes ago, Flying Pillows said:

I haven't heard anything, I'm super anxious hearing back from them. Anyone have any insight on when they will send notifications?!

They sent out invites this morning

[dotonfire]

Does anyone know when the AFRC sponsored board is this month? I'd like to be able to better schedule my fretting.

[ASE.K]

Has anyone heard back from PA yet?

[Hopefulflyer389]

4 minutes ago, dotonfire said:

Does anyone know when the AFRC sponsored board is this month? I'd like to be able to better schedule my fretting.

If you have a unit sponsoring you then you should be 98% relaxed. Lol

[dotonfire]

Thanks @Hopefulflyer389. I may be a bit of a difficult sell to big AF despite being sponsored. I'm not certain it's just a formality and my recruiter's not been the most communicative. I'm probably just overthinking.

[Hopefulflyer389]

4 minutes ago, dotonfire said:

Thanks @Hopefulflyer389. I may be a bit of a difficult sell to big AF despite being sponsored. I'm not certain it's just a formality and my recruiter's not been the most communicative. I'm probably just overthinking.

You’re welcome. The board really looks at the whole person concept. I didn’t have the best scores or awesome LORs when I was selected unsponsored. 

[ayz33]

1 hour ago, Flying Pillows said:

I haven't heard anything, I'm super anxious hearing back from them. Anyone have any insight on when they will send notifications?!

I got word today

[Hopefulflyer389]

5 minutes ago, ayz33 said:

I got word today

Good or bad? 

[ayz33]

Good email, hopefully see some from here out there next month!

[Hopefulflyer389]

6 minutes ago, ayz33 said:

Good email, hopefully see some from here out there next month!

Congratulations and good luck!! 

[admdelta]

Just had my first interview this weekend, find out in a couple weeks. Wish me luck everybody!

19 minutes ago, ayz33 said:

Good email, hopefully see some from here out there next month!

Congrats, that’s awesome!

[donkey]

I have nothing constructive to add other than we're on page 69.  Nice.

[admdelta]

19 minutes ago, donkey said:

I have nothing constructive to add other than we're on page 69.  Nice.

[FDNYOldGuy]

49 minutes ago, dotonfire said:

Thanks @Hopefulflyer389. I may be a bit of a difficult sell to big AF despite being sponsored. I'm not certain it's just a formality and my recruiter's not been the most communicative. I'm probably just overthinking.

Don't stress, bro. The board took my old ass, so you're probably just fine; especially if your squadron is behind you and makes a call up there (mine is awesome and pushed hard for me, which certainly helped).  

[WDE11]

Feel free to message me with any questions about the Bama area! Happy to help out any way I can. We'll get the group together Saturday night and hit a bar. 

[admdelta]

9 minutes ago, Flying Pillows said:

Starting to get sick of these rejects, first OK now Bama. Why can't I catch a break?

It'll happen man. Just keep improving that application packet, look for little ways to improve its appearance, the content, etc - just little things that help it stand out. Maybe look at ways to improve your interactions at meetups as well if that's a factor. I was feeling exactly the same way, it really sucks until it doesn't. Have you had any interviews or have you been getting shot down before that point?

There's also plenty of folks (including myself) who'd be happy to take a look at your application and give you feedback. I shared mine with a few people who were super helpful.

[FDNYOldGuy]

44 minutes ago, admdelta said:

There's also plenty of folks (including myself) who'd be happy to take a look at your application and give you feedback. I shared mine with a few people who were super helpful.

+1 on the offer for help. I'm no expert, I never sent packets or interviewed with fighters (interviewed with 2 heavies and got offers for both) ,and just another soul starting off on this adventure, but I'll certainly put my .02 in for feedback on a packet, if anyone wants more eyes on it.

Don't get disheartened. You're vying for a very coveted job and competition is fierce, but we can always improve and keep plugging away. It'll happen when/with whom it's supposed to! 

[dotonfire]

@FDNYOldGuy thank you for the encouragement!

@Flying Pillows I've probably had 15 no's at this point, but all it takes is one yes! Keep at it. Good advice around here.

[mcbush]

1 hour ago, Flying Pillows said:

Starting to get sick of these rejects, first OK now Bama. Why can't I catch a break?

You're not going to like what I have to tell you, but if you take it to heart, it will help you in the future. Your attitude is 100% the opposite of what it should be. You need to debrief yourself on why you came up short. I'm willing to show you how, but only you can take the steps required to make it count.

I can guarantee that you will never, ever hear a CAF pilot say "why can't I catch a break?" in a debrief. If you ever hear a MAF pilot say that, punch him in the face and tell him to fix himself. Asking a question like that is a way of absolving yourself of ownership of the situation. You are the only one who can control your performance, which means that you need to figure out why you failed to reach your goal, strike your target, execute your airdrop, or get hired by a squadron.

A good debrief is the most important part of any sortie. It's an opportunity to actually learn lessons, rather than just observe them, in order to be better next time. Doing that requires brutal honesty, and often requires admitting and owning your failures and shortcomings in front of your peers. You don't have to do that yet, since this is a personal exercise, but realize that if you're going to be a successful AF pilot, you should be the type of person who can put his ego on the shelf and take a good honest look at his performance, good and bad.

Learning from a debrief usually starts with a question, called a DFP or debrief focus point. Your DFP is NOT "why can't I catch a break?". Instead, your DFP is really "why wasn't I good enough (in the eyes of the only people who matter, i.e. the ones hiring you) to land the job this time around?". That is the question that will drive your future actions and spur you to be better if you can fix it.

Once you have your DFP, identify your contributing factors, or CFs. No one knows these better than you. What are your weak points? Maybe you stayed up too late drinking before the interview, or maybe your grades weren't very good in college. How much flight time do you have? Is it less than your peers who are also applying? Remember, the people you're competing against are shit hot, top-1%-of-Americans kind of people. If you have 45 hours and a PPL under your belt but they all have 200 hours and an instrument rating, then this could be a contributing factor to the overall outcome. I realize that you don't know everything about everyone else, but you know what the weaker areas of your application are. List out 3-4 of them, ideally ones that you can improve upon moving forward. 

Step three: identify a root cause. Usually, there's one CF that's more important than the others, which led directly or indirectly to the chain of events that caused mission failure. What is your biggest shortcoming? Put yourself in the shoes of the hiring board - what part of your application would cause you to look at other applicants rather than snatching yourself (sts) up right away? Usually in aviation, everything can be done better the next day. That might not be the case for you - your college GPA is probably pretty set in stone, for example. However, there are always things that can be done to improve your application and, more importantly, yourself.

That leads straight to the fourth and final step: the fix. What can you do to improve your odds next time around? What concrete actions can you take to prevent that root cause from holding you back in the next interview? Map it out on a piece of paper and post it somewhere where you'll see it often. 

Use this framework anytime you fail and you'll find yourself succeeding more and more. No pilot has ever flown a perfect sortie, but the good ones work hard to get a little bit closer the next time around.

 

[herkbum]

You're not going to like what I have to tell you, but if you take it to heart, it will help you in the future. Your attitude is 100% the opposite of what it should be. You need to debrief yourself on why you came up short. I'm willing to show you how, but only you can take the steps required to make it count.
I can guarantee that you will never, ever hear a CAF pilot say "why can't I catch a break?" in a debrief. If you ever hear a MAF pilot say that, punch him in the face and tell him to fix himself. Asking a question like that is a way of absolving yourself of ownership of the situation. You are the only one who can control your performance, which means that you need to figure out why you failed to reach your goal, strike your target, execute your airdrop, or get hired by a squadron.
A good debrief is the most important part of any sortie. It's an opportunity to actually learn lessons, rather than just observe them, in order to be better next time. Doing that requires brutal honesty, and often requires admitting and owning your failures and shortcomings in front of your peers. You don't have to do that yet, since this is a personal exercise, but realize that if you're going to be a successful AF pilot, you should be the type of person who can put his ego on the shelf and take a good honest look at his performance, good and bad.
Learning from a debrief usually starts with a question, called a DFP or debrief focus point. Your DFP is NOT "why can't I catch a break?". Instead, your DFP is really "why wasn't I good enough (in the eyes of the only people who matter, i.e. the ones hiring you) to land the job this time around?". That is the question that will drive your future actions and spur you to be better if you can fix it.
Once you have your DFP, identify your contributing factors, or CFs. No one knows these better than you. What are your weak points? Maybe you stayed up too late drinking before the interview, or maybe your grades weren't very good in college. How much flight time do you have? Is it less than your peers who are also applying? Remember, the people you're competing against are shit hot, top-1%-of-Americans kind of people. If you have 45 hours and a PPL under your belt but they all have 200 hours and an instrument rating, then this could be a contributing factor to the overall outcome. I realize that you don't know everything about everyone else, but you know what the weaker areas of your application are. List out 3-4 of them, ideally ones that you can improve upon moving forward. 
Step three: identify a root cause. Usually, there's one CF that's more important than the others, which led directly or indirectly to the chain of events that caused mission failure. What is your biggest shortcoming? Put yourself in the shoes of the hiring board - what part of your application would cause you to look at other applicants rather than snatching yourself (sts) up right away? Usually in aviation, everything can be done better the next day. That might not be the case for you - your college GPA is probably pretty set in stone, for example. However, there are always things that can be done to improve your application and, more importantly, yourself.
That leads straight to the fourth and final step: the fix. What can you do to improve your odds next time around? What concrete actions can you take to prevent that root cause from holding you back in the next interview? Map it out on a piece of paper and post it somewhere where you'll see it often. 
Use this framework anytime you fail and you'll find yourself succeeding more and more. No pilot has ever flown a perfect sortie, but the good ones work hard to get a little bit closer the next time around.
 

Great, solid answer. I feel like I just sat thru an initial IPUG ride.


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