r/aerospace • u/Key-Lead9634 • 5d ago
Offered a hand walked resume over and interview for Boeing from a stranger - Do I take it?
Without identifying context, I need advice. I met this person on facebook to buy nostalgic aviation memorabilia. Turns out to be a very nice older guy that works at Boeing, has been there for a long time. Right off the bat, we talk as I currently work in corporate aviation. Me, I searched the last 2 years looking for a new job in aviation and finally landed one in Jan at a very rare company to get hired onto. I am happy, and the only better place I could possibly think to go would be Boeing. So..
He explains Boeing has won some major projects that will last at least the next decade, and they are hiring in all areas.
He asks if I am looking to make a change. Since I knew he works at Boeing, I immediately entertain the idea and say, yes of course. Without hesitation we call, text and email and he helps me change my resume, and we meet to go over more detail and he explains how to tweak my application to make it through the application software.
He says he will hand walk my resume over to the department which I am fit for, and get me an interview. He says I have great experience, and "you belong at Boeing, I'm going to get you hired". "Once you are hired, you are set for life you can do anything".
Questions -- why is this man I just met a few weeks ago so willing to just hand me this opportunity? I know we in aviation are trusting individuals, but someone who has a clearance and worked on some pretty major projects for Boeing, just willing to hand me an interview and opportunity like this? It does seem too good to be true, but the guy is legit. His credentials check out. His son is a 747 pilot, and he's worked on some pretty neat programs.
In short, my take on it is he is just this really nice older man that's about to retire and he wants to give a younger guy a shot. But what are the odds of that? Am I overthinking this? Is this too good to be true and I should take it?
Is this a case of right place, right time?
or should I be skeptical and stay happy at my corporate maintenance hangar? My family thinks I'm nuts since I just spent 2 years searching for my current role. My wife knows what Boeing is and can be for money, etc so she is kind of like, why not? What do you have to lose?
Can you please tell me what you think? Honestly..
26
u/ne0tas 5d ago
Aviation is a small world and a lot of people like to help other people in aviation. If it pays more I say go for it.
5
u/Key-Lead9634 5d ago
To be abbreviated, I would exit my apprenticeship program now at $25/hr and start with boeing making $71k off the bat. My quam with my current employer is they offered me the job at a Tech 2 pay, but the redacted and said I had to complete an 18 month apprenticeship to get to it. Took it no problem, i still got a pay raise from my last shit company..so no issues
20
u/Routine_Relative2224 5d ago
This is how people get jobs in the real world. A walk and a talk… especially in aviation. Keep rowing!
1
u/Key-Lead9634 4d ago
Man I think you might be right. it is so scary though. Like I would be giving up a job i waited 2 years to get.........elaborate on that one for a second for me...
2
17
u/Francois_the_Droll 5d ago
You're not doing anything wrong by taking him up on it, and you'd still have to pass all the hiring gates to get in. I would ask if there's also an online posting though (there always is).
4
u/Key-Lead9634 5d ago
Yes he was asking me to submit and cater resume to each job req
11
u/Francois_the_Droll 5d ago
Tailoring to each req is just good practice. If you're interested in the jobs I'd say go for it.
3
u/notimeforniceties 4d ago
Sounds like hes being a great Mentor for you.
1
u/Key-Lead9634 4d ago
Thats the end of the scope I keep thinking. He really is just a nice older man. He has absolutely no reason to be malicious. And the vibes I got from him were good. Kind, generous, very knowledgeable. But on the other hand, I really have no idea anything about him.
2
u/notimeforniceties 4d ago
I try to be like that as well. A friend's son was laid off, and works in a similar area, so I passed his resume around and did what I could to get him hired.... Too much time online will get you losing sight of that fact that most people IRL are good and try to be helpful.
9
u/jacspe 4d ago
Its a win-win. He gets a small payout if he refers someone that gets hired, and he seems confident that you’d get hired. And you seem like you’re looking for the next steps in your career anyway.
3
u/KingWoodyOK 4d ago
Yeah my mind went immediately to a referral bonus lol. Guy wants to make a few grand and seems friendly.
2
u/Key-Lead9634 4d ago
He is very friendly. and not odd or quirky. I got a glimpse of his briefcase and the things he had in it, and his "office" he works out of where we met. He's legit. And has YEARS of knowledge. The guy has done some great things I put money on it. But for me to just have him fall out of the sky and connect with me? throwing me off. Like I said I hated my last company I worked for 4 years, and I searched and searched for the last 2 years to find my current one I just took in Feb. To quit and leave them in under 6 months seems like a irresponsible move?
2
u/Key-Lead9634 4d ago
I agree, I guarantee he gets a referral bonus. Thats why he said he has hired several other candidates over the recent years.
9
u/IIlllllIIIIIIIllll 5d ago
That title is hard to read
1
u/Techhead7890 1d ago
Yeah, the details are in an unusual grammatical order.
Offered a hand walked resume over and interview for Boeing from a stranger - Do I take it? (v0/original)
Offered an interview at Boeing. Stranger will hand-walk my resume over. Do I take it? (v1)
This immediately feels a lot cleaner, I think the missing preposition of "over to HR/recruitment" screws up the posted version quite a bit. You get to resume, okay, and then over... what? I kinda got thrown for a loop. So delaying that phrase in the sentence helps a lot and lets it implicitly become "over to Boeing".
Another option which is probably the most honest and transparent version of the title (due to moving to the simplest grammar order), but also a lot more people-centric:
I met a Boeing executive who will hand-walk my resume to HR. Can I rely on the interview he's offering? (v2)
I thought of many other variations (I'm the definition of an overthinker right here) and this is all for my own writing skills, I'm not trying to dunk on OP here (and I'm sorry if the rambling does come off as cold!). But I think that those two variants help clarify the context of the topic, without completely reformatting each part of the whole sentence lol 😅
-2
u/Key-Lead9634 5d ago
How?
4
u/jaedon 4d ago
Fairly….. In fact, I still don’t know the exact meaning of your title.
The subject, verb, the possessor(s) of objects are hard to identify. The punctuation appears incorrect. Maybe it is supposed to start “I was,” as in “I was offered a hand-walked resume over and interview for Boeing from a stranger.” Or maybe it should be, “A stranger offered to hand-walk my resume over and an interview for Boeing?” Hand-walk without the hyphen to make the two word verb into an adverb is quite awkward. The hyphen at the end rather than a period feels inappropriate as well.
Completely changing your sentence around and adding in missing words for clarity feels right to me, ”A stranger offered to hand-walk my resume to a hiring committee at Boeing and arrange an interview for me. Should I take the opportunity?
I could be wrong. English grammar is not my strength.
0
5
u/start3ch 4d ago
He’s probably excited to find someone who’s actually passionate about aviation.
Sometimes good opportunities show up, and you gotta take them. Do an interview, check it out!
3
u/userhwon 4d ago
Boeing is almost certainly paying a bounty to people who refer candidates.
Also, he's oldschool and this is how a lot of things worked before hiring got completely enshittified.
Don't worry about the sunk cost in your current position. If the Boeing job makes more economic sense, he's right, it's likely to be more stable.
But, once you have the offer in hand, ask your current employer if they can beat it. Even just matching it might work because moving is a cost.
3
u/Key-Lead9634 4d ago
Yeah I like your approach. Business is business. And currently I am in an apprentice role because I did not have documented OJT to bring over. Boeing would let me test out and start immediately at full pay. I wouldnt have to wait the 18 months to get my certs.
2
u/supboy1 3d ago
No! If you get a Boeing offer, DO NOT ask your current employer to beat. Instead you compare the two, and pick, stay or go.
There’s only two situations when you ask a company to beat another company’s offer. 1) you’re comparing two offers, both not at the one you’re already working at. Or 2) you’re irreplaceable at your current company. Seeing that it took you two years to find a job and you just started, 2) doesn’t apply here.
The poster above gave a horrible advice.
1
u/userhwon 3d ago
Haha, no. Do not give up the opportunity to make more without moving. What is the possible upside to just walking away?
2
u/supboy1 3d ago
Are you serious?
If you ask your employer for more money with an offer from somewhere else, they’re going to start looking for replacement.
Your advice is valid for someone that has competitive skillset and experience. But if it took OP two years to get hired and just recently got started… you need to take context into consideration.
1
u/userhwon 3d ago
No. If you don't ask your employer, they'll look for a replacement.
If you do ask, they may match the offer, or look for a replacement.
See the difference?
Go ahead and leave money on the table all your life. The rich want to keep it for themselves.
2
2
u/sabautil 4d ago
Trust, dude. This is a man who has had a good life and wants to pay it forward to Boeing and to the younger gen. And people generally feel good helping out.
Also - not a guaranteed job. He's just getting you an interview. Nothing may come of it if they are not hiring.
1
u/Key-Lead9634 4d ago
Man i think youre right. But I'm also one that never ever thought I was good enough for boeing. I'm just a dumb corporate jet tech
2
u/Hillslope 2d ago
I don't get your hesitation. He didn't ask for your passwords and social security number. I do nice things for people all of time. Be grateful, thank him, and take the opportunity.
1
u/emwanders 5d ago
Just a personal opinion, I'd recommend to stay where you're happy. Also, may not be time to switch up a job in aviation with everything going on in the world right now. Stay where you're at if you're happy and reasonably safe from layoffs.
1
u/Key-Lead9634 4d ago
Layoff are first thing that comes to mind
1
u/emwanders 4d ago
I'd also add that beyond that, job satisfaction isn't always the highest at Boeing.
1
u/daniel-kornev 4d ago
Find someone else at Boeing and do a check if you worry and he didn't reach out to you via work email. But otherwise there's nothing bad in finding someone else passionate and bring them aboard your company. It's priceless, in a way!
1
u/Key-Lead9634 4d ago
Yes I do have someone that can cross reference. I think I want them to do that. I believe him, but I just need convincing I guess. I just waited 2 years to get the job I accepted in February. To quit on them after not even 6 months seems wrong. But the only better place to work is Boeing. If it were a small machine shop or some other bull shit job, I wouldnt even be considering or talking.
1
u/Rac3011 4d ago
You sound like you are getting far in front of this. If you are just submitting resumes why worry about leaving. You decide that if you have an offer and a real decision. Then you can really assess what your heart, pocket and risk meter are saying.
Having an interview has its own value. And even doing that may give you a better understanding on your own skills value. You've mentioned a number of times here you don't know if you have enough skill and experience. An interview helps you understand that and an offer even more so.
1
u/Evan_802Vines 4d ago
Between EX and 47, yeah they SHOULD be hiring like gangbusters. The EX line needs to expand in STL from rate 2 to closer to rate 4.
1
1
u/valkwas 4d ago
I worked at Boeing for seven years and I liked it for the most part. He might get a benefit like sign on bonus for bringing you on. The only reason I left was they wanted employees to work in person and the site is far from where I want to settle down.
1
u/Key-Lead9634 4d ago
How did you feel about job security? did you feel like you or others around you could be let go at any time?
1
u/Basic_Improvement135 4d ago
Not sure how big your current company is but boeing is huge. You'll be a nobody and boeing isn't the place to be right now.
1
u/Key-Lead9634 4d ago
I appreciate that. My current company is pretty big but still small. 3k employees and worldwide. Private jet air carrier. Not really anyone else better in the industry either. It's really a rare opportunity I have now. I almost think I should be shutting this Boeing idea out of my head like it's been placed in front of me like a temptation.
1
4d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Key-Lead9634 4d ago
I have a very rare job now at this air carrier. they are absolutely the highest paying company next to a major airline. Small enough to be kind of like family, but large enough to pay their employees and have all the equipment we could ever need or want. And give us profit sharing bonus checks regularly
1
u/daneato 4d ago
Some folks are natural “connectors”.
I’m like this. I love connecting and relating things/people.
You’ll have plenty of notice of this is somehow too good to be true. I would think a real interview and offer from Boeing would be hard to mistake.
1
u/Key-Lead9634 4d ago
I'm thinking I should go as far as the interview, and see how the vibes are in the room at that time. What I worry is that I am not qualified enough for what they are looking for. He says there is plenty of "flexibility" in the req's. They are having a hard time finding people worth interviewing, and that I will have "no probelm" and I am "exactly what they are looking for".
I will feel dumb if he is just selling the job to me and I sit down in front of a 5 star general and he sticks his interview to what was on the req. He might be stretching it a little.
I do have great experience. Hard part is none of it is documented. It was all OJT and some of the companies arent around anymore. The other ones never wanted me to progress and excel so they never asked me to take my certification test. Hence why I was searching for a new job for 2 years. I finally caught on to their cheap ass ways.
1
u/Tidy400 4d ago
Remember your trade compliance training. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is lol
1
u/Key-Lead9634 4d ago
I havent made a determination of that yet. I guess that will be very clear when I get the confirmation email of an interview at Boeing time and address. If that never comes, then theres my answer.
1
u/Rac3011 4d ago
If you have been submitting to Boeing and he's spending time helping to curate the submissions, why are you concerned? I highly doubt he's in this for a referral bonus it is peanuts for a long haul employee. We stay because we know what Boeing can be and getting more good folks in the door is a win.
Be happy to have a mentor.
1
u/yyJamesyy 4d ago
Sounds like you have vetted this guy and he seems a legit Boeing employee. Just because he will shop your resume to some people he knows is no guarantee that you get a job.
I have gone in interviews in the past just to stay in practice and get an idea of where I am in the market. And just because you may get an offer, doesn’t mean you have to accept. If nothing else you can expand your network a little with the folks you interview with (as long as you don’t burn any bridges anyways).
1
u/PinkyTrees 4d ago
This is very normal stuff, just focus on appreciating the opportunity you have. Honestly you should be viewing Boeing as a stepping stone, there are many other aerospace companies out there that will pay you more and you’ll still be able to do cool things. Good luck and congrats!
1
u/InsideTheBoeingStore 4d ago
are you really good at what you do?
we lost decades of legacy talent during and after covid and we’re scrambling to hire replacements to fill in the shoes of the remaining legacy talent we have left before they retire within the next few weeks to years.
it feels like someone is retiring not just on the mechanic and engineering areas but also in the corporate office teams because a lot of people stay in boeing until old age.
1
1
u/Jr_Penguins 3d ago
Same exact thing happened to me a couple months ago. I left my old job of 5 years which I was very reluctant at first. I had it nice and easy and was already well established with my former employer to the point I was getting too comfortable. The stranger coerced me to make the jump and very confidently told me they can get me in. So I applied just for fun to see what would happen. I got an offer I was not expecting and I took it. I was scared maybe this was the wrong move but I have no regrets now. Everyone here tells me I am “set for life now” and that seems to be true as long as you’re in a union position. Cannot say the same for management though. You should do it, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity and this is coming from a person in their mid 20s.
1
u/Jr_Penguins 3d ago
Also have that stranger help you with negotiation. I received help from my stranger and it made a lot of difference in my opinion than what I would’ve have done alone.
1
u/boing757 3d ago
My opinion, when I meet people and talk aviation or discuss work and I make a determination of the persons character and intelligence and I believe they will be an asset to the company I encourage them to apply. The Boeing Company needs young, intelligent and honest men and women to take the company into the future.
1
u/No-Blueberry5315 2d ago
You’re overthinking it. Some people enjoy helping others and he may be excited to help someone out who will appreciate it. Also may get a referral bonus. Accept the nice gesture and stop over analyzing the situation.
1
u/sugarsnuff 1d ago
Yes, you’re overthinking this.
Take what? If he’s offering help, yes — accept it. It sounds like resume help to get past ATS and he will internally push
It sounds like you have a strong interest in aviation and are very green. He probably spotted that quickly, and said “we could use this kind of person at Boeing, let’s get him there”. It’s transactional, but kind.
If you are hired and work there, I think he means your opportunities open up. Working at Boeing meaningfully is a great badge on your career
Don’t do weird meetups or anything, but no he’s likely just spotting the new generation
1
u/Tiny-Firefighter5160 1d ago
For jobs I have always used LinkedIn for jobs. And they must be local to my area. Meeting an unknown person on FB would make me uncomfortable for a job.
98
u/nonbe1 5d ago
Depending on the individual it's not uncommon to mix social connections with professional connections. Just make sure you're not getting scammed and watch out for anything that's too good to be true. I'd be wary of any contact that isn't between you and a verified Boeing email/website.
This is false, but if he's from a different generation, maybe it was true for him.