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Hey! I got the March 5th class date...anyone else?

I figured I would post my mid-january interview experience...

Pre-interview
I received a call about two weeks in advance for the interview date. The Pilot recruiter briefly explained the logistics between ASA and the ExpressJet merger (open spots for only the expressjet operation and the available bases). I was also briefed on how each day would play out and what it consisted of. I received a total of three e-mails each containing a travel itinerary, a more detailed explanation of the interview process and a list of paperwork copies required and a final email with the ExpressJet pre-employment paperwork with instructional checklist.
They recommended Motel 6, which really worked out well. It is a hotel with all of the required amenities and is very close to both interview locations. Its no 5 star hotel but is clean and simple. The Motel Shuttle drivers, as well as the desk clerks are very aware of the many ExpressJet applicants that stay at their motel and provide you a ride to both locations while they drive to the airport for others. They left every half-hour.

Day 1
I met up with one other applicant on the shuttle as we were dropped of at the main ASA building. We walked in and waited in the small lobby area, where many employees were entering to start their day. As one of the pilot recruiters entered, they escorted us into the cafeteria area where we waited for the interview time. We arrived about 40 minutes early and were able to purchase breakfast if we wanted. At 8:00, when the interview was to start, another pilot recruiter came to get us. They took us (now a total of 6 applicants) upstairs into a conference room where they gave us there briefing of their company vision and future goals. They also talked about some employee benefits, airport bases, fleet information, etc. We were then escorted to a break room on that floor so they could set up a 30-question knowledge test. We were escorted back in and took the test. Basic questions about fog types, winds that keep wake turbulence around longer, the MSA radius on an approach plate, Heavy, Clean, and Slow=more wake turbulence, holding speed limits, etc. all questions at a commercial level. After we completed the test we were given a paper with an essay question on it and one with various HR questions. My essay was to describe and define hydroplaning. Some of the HR questions were list 3 adjectives to describe your work ethic, describe your best day of aviation, define your worst, what attributes would you want in your crewmembers, etc. After completing that segment, we were then escorted back out and back in for the tabular speed test. This is a test where there is an x and y coordinate grid numbered from –17 to 17. Each grid box has a number within it. So, for example, a question would be : (-13, 2). And the applicant would have to visually scan the top left quadrant to find the coordinate’s number. That number would then be the answer. It is 50 questions and timed for 9 minutes. The results ranged from 16ish completed questions to all 50 completed with time to spare. Most applicants seemed to range in the high 30’s. (I heard somewhere that you have to get above a particular number of questions completed to be considered) We then had a lunch break. The next step was the technical oral interview portion where all of the applicants waited on a different floor of the building and waited for a pilot recruiter to come out and call a name to begin an interview. I was the third one to be called. I went with someone named Jared. He was a nice guy that introduced himself and asked me a couple of questions about my interest in aviation. He reviewed my paperwork and asked me a couple of questions about my schooling and past jobs both aviation and non-aviation related. He pulled out an approach plate and asked me to brief it. He asked me a couple of scenario questions about it. For example, what is controlling RVR or visibility? What if we have autopilot and a flight director can we have a lower RVR? What is the highest obstacle? Tell me about the descents you will have to make down to the runway? What if a T-storm was in the area, you were 300 feet above the ground and received an immediate performance boost, what would you do? What does the MSA guarantee you? He then brought out an en-route chart and asked me questions about the symbology. For example, he pointed out various numbers and symbols and wanted me to define them: MSA’s, MOCA’s, COP’s, DME distances, Distances between VOR’s, shaded VOR boxes, published hold patterns, Bravo/Charlie speed limit rules and characteristics on the chart. He also asked me what I would do If I lost comms and there was an ETA I knew I would be early for, what would I do? He then asked me to explain some factors that affect Vmc as well as define and describe what the critical engine is. Being that I am an MEI, this was a very easy question. I defined critical engine and mentioned about 3 or 4 factors and he stopped me to continue the questions. He then asked me what aircraft a have been flying most often and I told him the Beechcraft Baron. He asked me to describe a system on the aircraft and I explained the anti-ice boot system we have installed on one of our aircraft. He conveyed the fact that he had never flown an aircraft with that type of system and began asking questions about it to learn more. He noticed a portion of the answers on my HR worksheet and had a couple of questions about experiences I have had regarding maintenance/emergencies in the past and was curious about what they were more in depth. He was mostly just curious about them. After that he gave me the opportunity to ask any questions that I had. The technical interview was over for two of us so the recruiters got the intern Josh to help us find our way to their second corporate building across the street to get fingerprinted for our background check and we also got a taxi voucher to travel to an urgent care facility to get drug tested also. I recommend calling the taxi and verifying that they are on their way and that the voucher has a legible representative’s name on it from expressjet. They almost did not except our voucher and we had to wait about an hour and a half before a taxi came (it was only a 15 minute walk back to the hotel).

Day 2
We all received a shuttle ride to the Delta headquarters in the morning from the Motel 6 shuttle and was dropped off across from the security gate. We had to get visitor passes and entered. We waited for Karl who was our proctor for the remainder of the Delta testing. We were all assigned a computer where we took a cognitive test that included about 13 different sub-tests. These were just fun exercises to test your reaction times, problem solving skills, and multitasking abilities. There is no way to really practice them, just make sure you understand the instructions and practice rounds before you go on to the actual test portion. The next portion of the testing was a 150-question personality test that was pretty self-explanatory. There would be a phrase like: I believe that I am better than everyone else I know, and you would have to Strongly disagree, disagree, be neutral, agree, or strongly disagree for each one. The next test was an ATP level 60-question written test that was pretty challenging. I did here that this was more of an experiment rather than an actual determining factor for your employment. It had a lot of jet system questions, advanced weather questions, and a lot of 60-to-1 DME descent calculations also. There is I believe a 2,000 question bank of questions so I do believe they are from the ATP knowledge test. After this test we were able to have a lunch break. During lunch Ron the Sim evaluator came in and guided us to the simulator room where an older B-737 simulator without visuals stood. He gave us a very basic briefing of the cockpit layout (this is the attitude indicator, this is the speed bug, etc.) and gave us a defined profile of what he wanted us to do. He also gave us power settings and also told us that we would be holding on a published hold and defined it for us. He then escorted us back outside and took the pairs of people that had the earliest flights. Each group took about 30 to 40 minutes long. I was able to maintain the airspeed and climb profiles well. The power definitely lags, even in relation to a CRJ. It also has a tendency to sink below the level-off altitude after a descent more than you would think. After that, that was it. we were told that we would hear something in a couple of weeks and we were finished.