Best way to prep for interview?
 

Hi everyone, has anyone gone through the interview process recently? I’ve purchased emerald coast and centerline to prep for my delta interview, but have heard good things about RST. What company y’all use to prep for the interview? I feel honored to have gotten a chance to interview. Working here has always been my dream and delta is where I plan on working for the rest of my flying career. I really don’t want to screw this up. My interview is about two months away, I’ve pretty much read through all the threads on this forum and would like some recent reviews of some that have gone through the interview. I barely meet Their turbine requirements which is adding a bit of pressure/stress and I want to make sure I am as best prepared as I can be when the time arrives. I’d appreciate any sort of feedback, advice, words of wisdom, or anything that may be useful in being successful in the process. Thanks

I’ve used Emerald Coast. Not familiar with centerline. RST more useful for the online assessment than the interview.

I only had less than a month to prepare, so only did one webinar, one rapid fire and a top off. That was enough to get confident.

Most of the work you have to do on your own. Mainly involves dusting off old stories from flying and trying to fit them into the different categories of questions. Look through your logbook to jog your memory. There are interesting flights that I completely forgot about.

Spend some time on your introduction. Make it clear and concise and interesting. Tendency will be to make it to long. You’ll end up cutting a lot of it out. Run it by your spouse a few times and get feedback.

The Delta Air Lines interview was a very enjoyable experience for me. The panel was friendly, interested in my story and non-conformational. It was more a natural conversation with colleagues, than an interview.

My impression was that they want to hire you once you step in the door. It’s yours to lose.

I’ve heard that they don’t like over-prepped candidates who sound like they’re reading from a script. They don’t like overly nervous candidates. Just natural confident but down to earth. Someone you’d want to spend 17 hours on a plane with flying to JNB. [emoji3]

What he said. Same experience I had. Though I had just prepped for Alaska using Rainier Flying a short time prior so I just used those techniques. Smile and make sure every story has a beginning, middle, end, and a lesson. Don't be afraid of a little humor, if appropriate. I had them laughing at one point. They told me when I walked in for the panel that canned answers are a red flag and they don't want canned speeches either for the 'very very short under 2 minute self intro'. They want to know in that speech what makes you unique. They want the natural you to shine through.
Aviationinterviews.com had all the scenarios used, but I only get 3 of them.
My logbooks were printed and tabbed, but no idea if they even looked at them. One thing I've seen from those that bombed: they missed a detail. Attention to every listed detail on the app and interview invite is key. Best of luck!

I’’m 99% sure interview prep as been talked about numerous times in the New Hiring process thread. :https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/d...w-process.html

yes there is! But a lot of it was outdated, just wanted to see what those that went through it recently had to say!

If you've never had a major/legacy airline interview before, consider Emerald Coast. They will teach you how to deliver a proper introduction, help you find flying stories from your logbooks, and help you organize those thoughts into the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action Result), which is required.

I didn't prep for this interview, because I've been interviewing lately, and felt fine (I got a CJO). I've also done some interviewing in the past. I think the interviewers at any airline can tell where you prepped, and how much, and they dislike both unprepared and over prepared candidates. An underprepared candidate will be overly anxious, and tend to ramble, or be unable to answer situational questions. And over prepared candidate will seem insincere and robotic, which leads the interviewers to think they aren't interested or are insincere/hiding something. So you want that "just right" level of prep. The best advice I'd give is work on the basics I mentioned above, but don't overdo it. Definitely don't memorize any answers or scripts. Go in there, be yourself, and show them what kind of person, pilot, decision maker, and leader you are. Don't tell them what you think they want to hear. They definitely want to see the real you. If you get a hard question about your application (missed something?) or something in your past, don't go down a rabbit hole. Just deal with it calmly and factually, and move on. This goes for any airline, not just Delta.

There are others too, scour these threads for data points. Some info might be dated as far as the precise details after they tweaked the process post-Covid. But a lot of it still applies.

One thing I’ll emphasize though, not everyone gets the “friendly” interview. Some folks get what I believe to be an intentional “bad cop” or two just to see how you’ll react. If that happens to you, stay calm and don’t get rattled. Good luck.

That is a fact: I definitely got the bad cop experience, but being patient, not getting flustered, and above all else not getting defensive seems to be the key.

I’m pretty sure they find a problem with every single person’s employment history or flight records.

Be prepped for an aggressive interview and then be pleasantly surprised when it isn’t.

How is the Day 1 stuff at home being done now and what does it entail? I have a buddy that just got the email So trying to help him out if I can.

It's all one day. JKT has been eliminated. Now it's an assessment at home and if you pass it's a 1 day interview with personality test, HR panel and interview with a psychologist.

Does anyone have an experience showing up to the interview over prepared that didn’t get the CJO? That seems like a strange concept in aviation.

What they probably mean by over prepared is a candidate with canned answers or sounding rehearsed. When interviewers ask questions they aren't looking for everyone to give the exact same answer, as most of their questions have a range of good responses with no perfect solution.

A good way to prevent sounding rehearsed is to not try and memorize different TMAAT/ WWYD questions and answers. Instead, really study your own resume/app/logbook/stories so you can draw from your experiences comfortably as it relates to the interview.

That's always been an interesting element of pilot interviews across pretty much all companies. By the time anyone gets a shot at a brass ring job, they clearly have the potential TMAAT stories simply from the experience it took to get to that point. But instantly remembering the perfect story, then seamlessly telling it with the perfect beginning/middle/end (SAR format as some say) can result in the false apprarance of not having the stories or experiences in the first place. Or at least appearing "over-prepared".

Perhaps they should give TMAAT questions in advance. There would still be more than enough quick response opportunities, "bad cop" pressuring, etc. But to really get to know an applicant from TMAAT stories is more challenging that it needs to be.

The interview sites have the questions. You just don't know which you are going to get. Study those to help bring out your stories. I remember at the beginning of my HR panel they said 'if one of our questions reminds you of a story from your past, let's hear it. If you don't have something, tell us how you'd work through it.'

Back in the day, Cage Consulting was the gold standard. I have no idea if that's still true.

Raven career development was amazing

very early in the interview process and researching, I am looking at possibly doing Emerald Coast but am going to look at other options as well.

If I decide to use one of these companies is it necessary for me to spend the $80 for Airline Interviews?
I used them before to get hired at NetJets and was happy I did. But I don't know if I need to do it again for Delta if I plan on doing interview prep.

$80 vs multi million dollar career. Hmmmm, you decide.

wasn't really the point of my question, I was wanting to know if I am already planning to do an Interview prep (whatever it might be) if Airline Interviews was necessary and was a waste of my money if I already plan on spending hundreds of dollars anyway.

Snarky responses aside…. I used ECIC and was happy I did. They have raised their prices since, but I also know it works (worked?) like a lifetime subscription. If you later need to brush up for an interview for something else (other job, sim instructor, whatever), it’s free.

You won’t regret it.

I say skip ECIC. They're geared toward an f-teen driver who's never interviewed at an airline before.

Do a month subscription to airline interviews dot com, download all the sample questions, cancel your subscription, then come up with personalized answers to those questions. Be open and honest in the interview, and if you've made any mistakes, admit it, talk about what you've learned, and move on. you'll do fine.

I wasn’t an f teen driver, but I enjoyed ECIC. Thought they put forth a good product and were knowledgeable on the various processes at different airlines (I was targeting all the majors). Not familiar with airline interviews, but any prep is better than no prep (my .02). If anything to help you organize your thoughts and a little peace of mind. Good luck.

There are two very important parts of interview prep.

One is your app review/test prep. Highly recommend assistance in getting a look at the questions and your app can’t be reviewed by enough people but should at least be reviewed by someone who reads airline apps a lot. An interviewer will get a pretty clear view of who you are by reading your app, let it make a good first impression.

The second part, prepping your verbalized answers, is much harder to determine for pilots especially. You may think you are a good conversationalist, I guarantee, you use more filler words than you are aware. A good prep service will help you structure your answers so they follow a path that the interviewers can follow, not some rambling that has maybe even a correct answer in it. They will also highlight the words you use in answering a question says more about you than your answer. How you answer and come across is about 70% of what the question is about. If you aren’t sure I highly recommend going to as many prep services until you feel over prepared.

I didn't find the EC videos very useful, but the ability to do unlimited rapid fire sessions was incredibly useful. Especially if you are a nervous interviewer, and you have enough time until the interview to get your money's worth.

Just call Miss Cleo from psychic friends network and she will prepare one for the interview .

I would skip the professional prep as well. I’ve done 3 major airline interviews, and was successful at two of them. The one I didn’t get was the one I used professional prep for. I did not use any professional prep for Delta and I think I actually benefited me. They want to get to know you, and they want genuine answers. Even if you do professional prep, you will still likely be asked a question or two that you weren’t ready for, and you’ll have to be able to adapt. My best advice is to use aviationinterveiws.com and get a sense for the type of questions you’ll be asked. Come up with a handful of QUALITY stories that show leadership, CRM, good customer service, etc. Rehearse your answers into the mirror or to other friends who have interviewed. Be yourself, be honest, make sure your application and logbook are tidy, and you’ll be just fine. Best of luck!

I completely agree with this. Similar experience.

Prep will help you if you've never used the STAR format and aren't sure how to organize your thoughts well. The trade off is that no matter what they tell you otherwise, you'll seem canned and insincere. Delta is especially sensitive to this, and unless they feel like they saw the "real" you, you'll get a TBNT.

I used EC and like others have said, the videos and audio files weren't the best. But the unlimuted rapid fires are worth their weight in gold. They teach you how to structure yours answers for the differsnt types of questions. Once you understand how to break down and answer each type of question it gives you a good foundation to answer even questions you weren't expecting. The foundation they teach you keeps a little voice in the back of your mind to hit the gates and fully answer the question so the interviewers can easily check the boxes.

Airline interviews is great for building a question bank but does not give you the tools to answer questions the way they like to hear them answered for grading purposes.


At the end of the day if you show up prepared and they can see that you have put in the work then it shows them you care and are willing to put in the work. I have a few friends that got hired without any prep, but they have salesman type personalities, I on the other hand don't so the prep was needed. 500 bucks is a small price to pay for a multi million dollar career.


Side note, I had a second time interviewer in my group. I asked that person if a prep service was used this time and I got the response, heck no, thats a waste of 500 dollars. Needless to say that person didn't get a cjo on their second attempt either.


Do 4-6 rapid fire sessions and you will walk in there feeling like you have the tools to be successful. Good luck to you!

Completely disagree...there are lots of pilots interviewing at the legacies with less than 2-3 years of flying experience post CFI or degree completion, including many without any 121 PIC time, that lack the experience and the situational knowledge to really develop good stories or answers to WWYD questions. Many have never truly dealt with an inflight emergency or an a conflict with a passenger or crew member to have a relevant story at an interview.

counterpoint:

I did emerald coast and was 3 for 3 … and declined 2 other interview offers with majors.

do the app review as well … you can’t see your own errors easily.

The process is meant to make applicants feel uneasy and question their worth so they feel more gratitude toward the corporation renting their labor. It also helps to create a sense of superiority to anyone not on property, because successful applicants can tell themselves they did something or showed something exemplary to set themselves apart from everyone else not slotted in. Because we adhere to a process we are inclined to believe in the process. The existence of a process implies an egalitarian outcome which implies an egalitarian system, no matter how absurd. So the regional model keeps kicking and pilots still deadhead and jumpseat on metal operated by pilots they earnestly don't think are competent enough to do the same thing for more money. Mea culpa for the thread drift. May you all be blessed and chosen. I think they literally have to pretty soon.

Ditto. Did ECIC and Checked and Set for app review. Went 4/4 (DAL, UA, FedEx, SWA) and declined my AA interview. The amount I spent is not even a rounding error in what my eventual 401K balance will be.

To further make your point, one month of 401k contribution from the company on year 2 FO pay covers what I paid to prep for my interviews. ECIC, app review, and av interviews.com profile. Well worth the investment.

Wait, what?
WTF is a TMAAT question?
YGTBSM! JFC! WWJD? FUPM!

Can we possibly get more acronyms in here?

Oh….and what did they actually ask you?

thanks i really appreciate all the replies. I'm definitely gonna do the Emerald Coast and begin prepping. spending money wasn't an issue I was mainly curious about what other people have done to be successful.

just so i understand the process :

Emerald Coast for interview prep
Checked and Set for application Review (do they look over log books as well?)
apply and set up an interview after I'm ready?

TMAAT= "Tell me about a time..."

Tell me you haven't gone on a job interview since 1997 without telling me.

Fixed it for you.

That's funny stuff. :D

Back when Timbo got hired, your squadron mate got you an interview (he knew Plato), and if you passed the physical, JKT, cog test, and psych test, the interview was just a BS session to see if they could stand to share a cockpit with you for 4 days.

The STAR format and performance based questions you actually had to prepare yourself for wouldn't be along for a decade.

Whether you are using a prep service or not, a prep technique that hasn't been discussed much here is a review of your own history, both flying and non-flying. After you've gathered all the examples of questions and scenarios, look at your own resume and logbooks.

If your flying career is in its infancy (i.e. second career flyers or less than XXXX-hrs. FAR 121 (just a number), look at your resume for non-flying jobs where you were in leadership positions or had to deal with customers. I did non-flying military and found some good stories of dealing with "co-workers" and some good leadership examples. I did retail management before flying and that had a good amount of co-worker, problem-solving and boss/subordinate work scenarios. If you don't have a good 'flying' story for a particular question, but you've got applicable real-world experience, use it! It'll show the interview team your flexibility and that you reviewed your entire history during your interview prep. They want to know you as a 'whole.' They'd rather know how you acted from personal experience rather than a theoretical 'what if'.

For your logbook review, look for memory-joggers. You'll look through a dozen pages of nothing-burger-boring flights and then stumble across a "I forgot about that one"-flight that you can add to your 'tell me a time when' question database. Many pilots have notes in their logbooks to remind themselves about 'events'. Go find them. Even if you don't find specifics, maybe you'll find a tail-number that jogs a memory: "man, what a piece of junk that plane was. It almost killed me by..." or "that was the plane I almost flew through a thunderstorm in". The whole point of the personal logbook review is not the hours contained within, but the memories. Fill up a notepad of your memories. They're the best information to build your stories.

Also, I can not agree stronger with the posters stating to get your app reviewed by as many eyes as are willing to review; either paid service or not. After you've scrubbed through your own application a hundred times, there's no way you'll see errors. Little things like punctuation and consistency throughout the app show 'attention to detail' that you'll miss after getting bleary-eyed looking it over.