DeltaboundRedux

Suppose I’m dating myself a bit.

2 days, 2 suits.

But Big D has streamlined down to a one day process?

Disregard then.

Best crazy-like-a-fox interview story from pre-NWA merger DAL was a CA who not only had multiple suits for the two day interview, he did a trial run with a specific taxi driver one day early to make sure he wasn’t late for the interview.

It’s a multi million dollar paycheck. A grand or so out of pocket getting ready is a pittance. (This includes the 1st year pay, no uniform allowance, and the no-longer-applicable no paid company hotel…I think).

Whoopsmybad

True, company pays for new hire hotels now.

TripleSpool

Thanks for the reply. It took longer for you to smear than it took me to skip to the next useful post. I’m sorry but I don’t spend much time on this or any other forum. This is all new to me as it is for the few of us that got called so don’t get all wrapped up. Peace ✌️

Thanks for all that reply and share their experience.

Whoopsmybad

I actually did give an answer to your question, with a couple other nuggets. I also owned what I said instead of just erasing it.

gloopy

LOL!

Did he rehearse his haircuts as well by buying tickets to fly in to visit local barbers to vet them for emergency touch ups? Test various shaving creams for closeness?

Testing the cab with dry runs is just paranoid. Its easy to see how far somewhere is, then leave an extra half hour early beyond that. Done.

jaxsurf

Perhaps this was before it was actually as easy as it currently is to see how far away things were and how long it takes to get there?

The bottom line is that anyone who is up for an interview at a major airline (or any job they actually want) should prepare as much as possible and do the things necessary to feel as comfortable as possible the day(s) of, so that they can focus and perform well. If that means bringing two suits because you feel more confident that way, do it. If that means doing a test run on the taxi ride before hand, do it.

Each little item of preparation is removing a pebble from your pack, which is important because ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain. Lighten the load by doing what will make YOU the most comfortable and most at ease.

And **** what the gloopy’s of the world have to say about it, because they’re not the ones who will lose out on the job if you’re not ready, rehearsed, calm, and collected when you walk into that panel interview

gloopy

The GOTW's, lol nice.

Many of the "pebbles" you remove by going to those extremes are imaginary pebbles you put in there in the first place that never actually existed.

I'm a strong proponent of preparing for something like that. I can't imagine anyone not paying for professional app review, test prep and a nice fitting suit and stuff like that. I roll my eyes at some of the convos about which cheap janky hotel to get instead of just springing for a better and closer one. All that said, the (by far) least prepared pilot I've ever seen or even heard of got hired. I'm talking a red tag clearance suit, over ironed with shiny seams and a taped up helmet bag instead of a briefcase. Not only didn't prep for the knowledge test, but intentionally skipped (guessed) at all of the hard questions because the odds of missing those relative to how many there were was minimal. Big bloody steak and potatoes dinner with beers the night before the (at the time) NASA physical. Still got hired (and I'm glad he did because he's a great guy). Im obviously not advocating any of that. He jumped with a single chute packed in WWII and lucky for him it opened. I wouldn't make that jump without a nice modern square canopy with a reserve packed by a professional.

My point is that at a certain extent, stressing about and trying to joust at every imaginary logistical windmill becomes counter productive; those who stress over things like that to that extent typically fall apart with a light "bad cop" press to test or when any part of their overthought plan doesn't survive the first point of contact.

Its a BFD. Prepare for it by spending the time, effort and money. Dry cab runs and things like that are just silly. And if they aren't, then there is an unlimited amount of other things to stress about and you'll never get ready because you'll be preparing for the wrong things.

jaxsurf

Okay so all of those words just to say that the prep that makes YOU comfortable is what should make everyone else comfortable? Minor logistical problems can have an outsized effect on the rest of someone's day; things can snowball. Not practicing how to tie a tie until the morning of can make you late to call the uber/walk over, which can make you late (or later than you wanted) to the interview location, which can make you sweat on the way over, which can make you self-conscious about sweating through your suit, which can affect your self-confidence. These "pebbles" like how to tie a tie, and how long does it take to get there, and what should I wear, and how many days beforehand should I get a haircut, etc, can absolutely mess with your head if you don't consider them and have a plan.

Your Donnie Dip**** example is neat for that guy, but not everyone will be able to pull off the CJO under those circumstances. Nobody is advocating to exclude professional interview prep in order to focus on dry taxi runs, but for some people, ensuring that the minor logistical details are suitcased allows them to focus on the things that really matter, like knowing your TMAAT stories and 5 minute intro, etc. Nothing wrong with that, especially in a time when iPhones and Google Maps didn’t exist.

You are right in that it's all for naught if you fall apart under a little "bad cop" or you go to pieces when one facet of your tightly suitcased plan doesn't come together, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't plan in the first place. All of that expensive interview prep can also be for naught if you don't consider the nuts and bolts of actually getting there on time, well dressed, and confident. Especially for mil guys who are out of their element and in a totally new environment and possibly really interviewing for the first or second time in their entire lives.

tripled

Come on guys

Stratapilot

Thank you…