Originally Posted by JDFlyer

I have posted this comment before, but it is again worth posting.

DO NOT use a professional "interview prep" service. It will strongly work against you in the interview.

Guaranteed, you will be asked if you went to a prep service. They ask everybody this question.

You have two ways to answer. One, you lie, and say 'no'. Now you have lied in your interview and the People Department has just about a 100% reliable "lie" detector and you will be guaranteed to not get the job. Lying about anything, no matter how small or insignificant to you it may be, to SWA it is unrecoverable and will absolutely guarantee you to not get the job.

Or two, you say 'yes' and confess your sin. Now you have told them directly that the "person" you are presenting to them at the interview is groomed, prepped, and canned. Congratulations, you have now just made their job exponentially more difficult because they now must figure out if what you are telling them is sincere. Your interview will now automatically get exponentially harder because they will alter their style and questions in an effort to figure out who they are actually interviewing. Congratulations on making your interview substantially more stressful on yourself and difficult on SWA.

Making it more difficult for SWA to interview you and find out who you are only accomplishes one thing - it makes it easier for them to figure who not to take a chance on hiring.

I fly regularly with one our Captains who actively works on the interview team, and we have had this same conversation may times. Including last week on our last 3 day trip together.

Originally Posted by JDFlyer

I have posted this comment before, but it is again worth posting.

DO NOT use a professional "interview prep" service. It will strongly work against you in the interview.

Guaranteed, you will be asked if you went to a prep service. They ask everybody this question.

You have two ways to answer. One, you lie, and say 'no'. Now you have lied in your interview and the People Department has just about a 100% reliable "lie" detector and you will be guaranteed to not get the job. Lying about anything, no matter how small or insignificant to you it may be, to SWA it is unrecoverable and will absolutely guarantee you to not get the job.

Or two, you say 'yes' and confess your sin. Now you have told them directly that the "person" you are presenting to them at the interview is groomed, prepped, and canned. Congratulations, you have now just made their job exponentially more difficult because they now must figure out if what you are telling them is sincere. Your interview will now automatically get exponentially harder because they will alter their style and questions in an effort to figure out who they are actually interviewing. Congratulations on making your interview substantially more stressful on yourself and difficult on SWA.

Making it more difficult for SWA to interview you and find out who you are only accomplishes one thing - it makes it easier for them to figure who not to take a chance on hiring.

I fly regularly with one our Captains who actively works on the interview team, and we have had this same conversation may times. Including last week on our last 3 day trip together.

Originally Posted by fishforfun

I was just thinking about this. I even looked at it this morning and saw an option to decline to answer.

Originally Posted by JDFlyer

I have posted this comment before, but it is again worth posting.

DO NOT use a professional "interview prep" service. It will strongly work against you in the interview.

Guaranteed, you will be asked if you went to a prep service. They ask everybody this question.

You have two ways to answer. One, you lie, and say 'no'. Now you have lied in your interview and the People Department has just about a 100% reliable "lie" detector and you will be guaranteed to not get the job. Lying about anything, no matter how small or insignificant to you it may be, to SWA it is unrecoverable and will absolutely guarantee you to not get the job.

Or two, you say 'yes' and confess your sin. Now you have told them directly that the "person" you are presenting to them at the interview is groomed, prepped, and canned. Congratulations, you have now just made their job exponentially more difficult because they now must figure out if what you are telling them is sincere. Your interview will now automatically get exponentially harder because they will alter their style and questions in an effort to figure out who they are actually interviewing. Congratulations on making your interview substantially more stressful on yourself and difficult on SWA.

Making it more difficult for SWA to interview you and find out who you are only accomplishes one thing - it makes it easier for them to figure who not to take a chance on hiring.

I fly regularly with one our Captains who actively works on the interview team, and we have had this same conversation may times. Including last week on our last 3 day trip together.

Originally Posted by e6bpilot

Complete and utter BS about not using interview prep. It helps and is well worth the money spent. Our interviewers are living in a fantasy world if they expect guys not to use it. The captain who "actively works on the interview team" needs to get over himself just like many of the pilots working at the GO. We are just another airline now and one that a lot of great guys and girls are passing on for those who appreciate them more for their experience.

Originally Posted by Learflyer

Agreed. Especially since HR are the ones that created this TMAAT monster. Hence creating this interview prep industry. Although ECIC has been around a long time.

"Get prep."

"Don't get prep."

"go to job fairs."

"Don't go to job fairs."

What an industry we're in. *shakes head*

Originally Posted by BetterCallSaul

I interviewed a week and a half ago. Got the email to call them a couple of days later and was told I passed the interview team portion and now on to the hiring board. Got instructions for drug test and my references have been called. Now just anxiously waiting for a phone call. They really don't like emerald coast. When walking back to the interview room with one of their pilots we were chit chatting and I asked him a question about his past. He immediately stopped and kind of got angry. He said something like "stop doing that emerald coast thing where you try to interview me." Went on to say how they hate people coming in and acting like robots and giving the same answers. I was caught off guard cause I was just asking him a question since we were having casual conversation on the way to the interview room. I was asked if I'd done the prep and that I better not "do any of that emerald coast stuff while I was there". Anyway just FYI. Have a good personality, smile, be talkative and I think you'll be good. Try not to be a robot and don't over practice your answers with them.

Originally Posted by Dragon7

Southwest is the only airline currently still interviewing with the looking for a reason to not hire you mentality. A great company and still a very good job, but sometimes some of their interviewers are pretty full of themselves. And that can make for a very bad day. I used the other interview prep with a previous SW manager and it was pretty generic. Crossed a lot of T's and dotted a lot of I's. And the HR and Admin people were great. But in a the interview and SBI and logbook check it was 5 annoyed and aggressive SW folks. In the rooms besides me I could hear the interviews I expected. Pretty unprofessional, and a quick TBNT. Went to EC and got two jobs in two interviews. And probably would have had an approach to deal with that interview situation. SWA invited me to reinterview but I declined in writing. They called me and asked if I meant to decline. The nice hiring board FO and I chatted for a while and both parted a bit wiser. Bottom line EC or anybody else doesn't make or break you if you don't personalize it. But at SWA, you need to be ready for the hostile interview. As I told my new hiring board friend, 15 years to Captain and commuting to Oakland isn't worth placating hostile....interviewers.
Better jobs out there.