Sirecks

I'm gonna be there on the 10th for the interview. I'm currently in OK for my Instructor upgrade training in the C-17. So I have to leave here, go to Miami for the interview, and come back to OK to finish. I've had little time to prepare for the interview as I've been working for the last month plus out here to get my IP course done. Any advice, help, tips, etc. would be really appreciated. Meaning, after I finish reading back a few pages in this thread.

NightIP

Get a cup of coffee (a big one) and start on Page 1...

...just kidding. Don't do that.

Honestly, I think they're looking for you to be a good fit for the lifestyle, and that you won't run off once the reality of a 17 day trip sinks in. They'll ask you 50 different ways to try to see if you're really sure it's right for you, and also make sure that you're the type of person they wouldn't mind sharing a cockpit with.

Of course, the tech interview is a straightforward evaluation of your knowledge, but everything else (okay, except the writing assignment) seemed to be personality-oriented.

Sirecks

Getting beat up by the Air Force as a pilot for the last 7 years, and 5 years before that as a Flying Crew Chief is much worse than anything Atlas can throw at me. At least, the guys I work with who fly for Atlas say, anyway. LOL! The lifestyle will be just fine. Especially since they actually give you a schedule, in black and white, on paper. And that's what you work.

My worry is the knowledge part. I've never operated a plane where I had to look up an FAR, and I've seen a Jepp approach like twice. I have no idea exactly what questions I missed on the test, so this leads to me being worried that I won't get hired because I look like an idiot when it comes to FAA knowledge.

DC8DRIVER

Unless you somehow misrepresented what you posted, you are mistaken about Atlas keeping to a schedule. In fact, it is just the opposite; you will bid and be awarded a schedule which is essentially an approximate footprint of what you will fly for the month. I fly out of CVG where the schedules change the least of all of our bases and I ended up two continents away from my awarded pattern last week.

In addition, several questions in my tech interview centered on the Jepp plates. Not so much on FAR's.

Many of the guys I know who had good successful interviews had done professional interview preps, had really studied the company, and had taken the time to research resources like this thread.

So, do yourself a favor and come prepared. They will spot you in a minute if you come to the interview and you are not.

8

NightIP

I took his post to mean the footprint.

spitfire1500

Where did you hear this whopper?

Talon1011

DC8 is right on the money with this one. If you meant that you know what days you will be gone and what days you will be home (for the most part... one can always be extended a couple days) then that's OK. If you meant that you get a schedule and THAT'S what you will fly then by all means read through this whole thread. All your awarded schedule provides is something from which to deviate. I enjoy the adventure of not really knowing where I'll end up when I walk out of my door to go to work but please, PLEASE know that you will not find a schedule set in stone here. If that's a problem, now is better to find out than later.

captainv

I wouldn't even go that far. You're bidding on a potential footprint, nothing more. At least on the 767, we have often seen a patterned trip or a long stretch of R-2 magically disappear a few days before it starts, to be replaced with R-1 and a huge loss in credit. Things seem to be getting better now, but the smart move is to bid for your days off (or days on) and assume every trip is min guarantee, all R-1, until proven otherwise.

YMMV

Crusoe

...and then they gently & ceremoniously place their copy of that piece of paper on top of all the other paper schedules they give everybody else each month, load the whole ginormous pile onto a full scale wooden replica of a Viking ship, soak it in gasoline and set it adrift. Then before it disappears over the horizon (or at least from a safe distance) - and after repeating a few solemn words, a high priest strikes a match which is used to light a flaming arrow which an archer skillfully launches in a beautiful arc through the fading twilight and sets the whole thing ablaze in a magnificent bon fire. And they laugh and laugh. Also, s'mores.

Ps- Just out of curiosity - those guys you know from Atlas - are they paying you back for something you did to them? Or do they just enjoy messing with you?

Pps- Best of luck at the interview. Just make sure you understand the nature of the beast. It's a good gig with some great folks to work with - just different than the typical airline.

CallmeJB

Me too, in which case, it's much much more reliable than what the Air Force gave him (as I understand).