Originally Posted by
hvydvr
Couple of things for guys coming out and getting ready to interview.
Emerald Coast or some other prep. Do it. Just do it, genius. No buts.
Your suit. Try it on. Try to be comfortable. A lot of you probably haven't worn a civilian suit in awhile. You may even need to hit the salad bar a little more tubby.
The job interview begins when you leave your house and doesn't end until you get home. Keep your game face on because you're never entirely sure who you are talking to. Don't **** off or talk down to people. Be positive. Avoid negative people.
Clean up your language. The f-bombs may go down in front of the corn machine with the bros....not so much with someone from HR at your target company.
Technical stuff. Know your jet....they may surprise you with questions about it. Checkride resistance procedures in full effect. Answer questions completely but never miss an opportunity to shut up or to ask a counter question to get them talking...they are human after all.
Network. The definition of networking is taking advantage of personal relationships to make sh!t happen. I would humbly submit to you that if you're at the 10 year point of your career and CAN'T pick up the phone and get someone on your side, you probably have wasted the last decade of your life.
That's it off the top of my head. YMMV. Good luck to all of you. It is an insane ride that you're about to begin.
Great post! Here's what I just put on the airlineinterviews.com website for SkyWest:
As everyone else says on here, the gouge is pretty good. We had 6 dudes interview, at least 3 and maybe 5 of us did not complete the interview due to poor performance in the simulator.
Travelling to the interview: they will set up the travel for you, you have to go online and pick the flights, they will confirm them and send you the paperwork to use at the check-in counter. Many of the guys I interviewed with didn't fly in until late the night before - in my opinion a bad idea. I'd strongly recommend choosing a flight that will get you into SLC around lunchtime/early afternoon. That way you can get final prep (get your suit squared away, final review for test/tech interview, etc). Those who got in late were behind the power curve and it showed.
If you don't read and follow the instructions exactly as they are sent to you via the e-mail, they won't let you even start. Attention to detail, ability to follow simple instructions, etc. If you can't do this, maybe you shouldn't be trying to get a job where you're responsible for hundreds of lives.
One thing that really confused me - most of the guys that I interviewed with had done little prep. They were unaware of how to handle the CRM scenarios, hadn't done any simulator prep (guys were not happy with the simulator, but SkyWest sends you a PowerPoint thing that shows the cockpit layout, how to use the avionics, etc.), had not done any prep on how to do the "interview" part of the interview.
Here's what I would strongly recommend you do to prep:
- Read all the gouge you find on here, and STUDY what they tell you to study!
- Do a frickin simulator prep!!!! 3 guys within 30 minutes sent packing due to simulator failures. PAY FOR A FEW HOURS IN A FRASCA 142 SIMULATOR!!
- Read and memorize "The turbine pilots manual," and the FARs.
- Completely understand Jeppesen. I mean EVERYTHING. Every single symbol on the low charts, approach plates, high charts, EVERYTHING!
- Know EVERYTHING about every TAF and METAR symbol, meaning, etc.
- Understand turbine engines completely, high speed aerodynamics completely, large aircraft systems completely
- Do an interview prep course so you know how to handle the CRM exercise and the "interview" part.
- Bring your required paperwork in to them in a binder. This is a PROFESSIONAL job interview, and throwing a stack of rumpled up and stained paperwork at them in no particular order, forcing them to have to dig through this mess to find what they need is UNPROFESSIONAL and puts you behind the power curve before you even start
Here's the deal with SkyWest: they are not hiring warm bodies to fill seats. They are not desperate, they don't offer signing bonuses, they will cancel flights before hiring unprofessional/uncapable pilots. They are right up front about that at the start of the interview. They also make it quite clear that you have the job walking in the door, it's yours to lose. The guys who lost it (they were gone before lunch) had not prepped, had not done a simulator, didn't study the gouge, weren't aware of everything that was going to happen during the interview. It's real simple, if you want a job as a professional pilot, BE A PROFESSIONAL PILOT! Just wearing epaulets and being an instructor at a Part 141 school doesn't mean squat in that environment. If you want to be in the big leagues, YOU need to step up your game.