Attend TPNx to network to the job of your dreams
Author: Adam Uhan, Co-founder of The Pilot Network and Avgeekery Guest Contributor
This serves as a no holds barred sales pitch. Why try to couch it in something else? My name is Adam and you have probably never heard of me or The Pilot Network before. I have done the professional piloting thing for 22’ish years now and I have to say, it’s a pretty good gig. But you know that already. Whether you fly for fun or for funds, flying airplanes is something that is an all around wonder of the human race. I mean we went from looking up and thinking ‘what if’ to flying anywhere and everywhere (Antarctica, anyone?). That is pretty mind blowing when you sit back and think on it. Maybe most people don’t feel like we do, but pilots of every walk of life seem to still revel in the magic of flight. At least the ones I know seem to, but I digress. This article is a sales pitch, right?
About 12 years ago I started a group on a large social networking website. It was completely self-serving; can I get hired by a major airline, specifically one that carries boxes? And can I do this a little faster and easier than my predecessors had? I put a few hundred people I ‘knew’ into this group, asked a few questions about all things hiring at the airlines, and gave it a name – The Pilot Network.
There was only one real goal, besides my personal one, for the group: To pay it forward. To take the collective knowledge of us as aviators and pass it along to one another. The idea was to avoid the old way of ‘I had to go through blankity blank, so do you,’ and start to streamline how we do business when we weren’t slipping the surlies. Lots of people liked it. Lots of people thought it was kind of dumb. I didn’t really care. I only wondered if we could, as a group, help each other? Only time would tell.
One of the most unique parts of starting this on an existing platform was that it was pretty turnkey. Unlike the first iterations of forums and other information sharing platforms, we could actually see pictures and names of the people in our group. As a military pilot it kind of felt like how we connected in a military squadron, except online. This was something different and unique. Pretty sweet deal, if you ask me! Thank you enormous social media platform that was pretty much the only one of its kind at the time. After that, the next 12 years pretty much whizzed by.
“Ok, ok…history lessons are neat, but what are you trying to sell me” you may be asking. I guess I am not selling anything really. I just wanted to tell you about our group. Plain and simple. I want you to take away from these words that there is a group of over 30,000 pilots, from aspiring to retiring, who believe in the mantra ‘pay it forward’. What started as a small social media group has blossomed into an organization that wants the best for pilots in every stage of their career. With a podcast, a premium platform, and an annual conference things have changed since the early days of TPN. If we can continue to add fresh perspectives and ideas we can shape the future of aviation. Any which way you slice it, I think our entire aviation loving cohort can achieve a lot together, as long as we continue to work with one another.
A quick shout out to the Avgeekery.com team: They are huge supporters of The Pilot Network. Likewise! We love what Avgeekery does and the unique part of aviation the staff explores. We have tons of their articles posted in our group. Jeff Gilmore, founder of Avgeekery, has attended our expo, TPNx. When I want a fresh perspective on aviation news, history, or events I turn to TPN’s friends at Avgeekery.com. Thanks again for all you do!
The future of piloting airplanes is going to change a lot, and the best thing we can do is support our fellow aviators. I appreciate you taking the time to hear my little pitch. If you’re interested, check us out and let us know what you think. Hit me up at heyguys@thepilotnetwork.com if you want to chat, fire some slings and arrows, or just make a new friend. Fly safe!
PS-I failed with my original intent of The Pilot Network. I never got hired at the box carrying airline. Instead, I get to fly passengers all over the world and it is pretty cool. In fact, it is probably the place that was right for me all along. Who knew?!
