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.