FedEx Hiring
 

Starting with internals.

Hiring anticipated through the next year. Application window will open up again in October so ppl can update.

Good Luck Everyone !!!!

I got lambasted for making an argument for hiring this fall... glad it's coming finally!

You are so prescient! :D

Haha, coming from you I'll take that as a compliment!:D

Ah, come on. Speak like freight dogs and not like college professors, for crying out loud.:D

I thought it was a typo and I was trying to figure out what he was really trying to say :D

Does that mean thinking ahead goodly?

Any info on what the hiring/interview process might be like?

Nope, none.

You'll come to Memphis, Day one take a test. Day two if you get past day one use to be an SBI, sim ride and personal interview.

Best to get in touch with Emerald Coast Consulting! If you want to work at FedEx, they are the best gouge. Spend the money on the consulting, get some time booked in a sim and search on gouge.

Best of Luck!

If it's anything like it was last time we hired a couple of years ago, it's 3 tests on day one. ( psych eval, cog skills and pilot knowledge). They send you home and call you back a few days later to let you know you passed those test, then schedule day two (SBI, sim and face to face interview.)

I second the Emerald Coast endorsement. Money well spent.

I think the sim ride is going away.

I think it's unanimous. INVESTING in an interview prep by Emerald Coast and if necessary the sim prep with pay off with INTEREST. (Yes I'm using caps) :)

Never said it was not. Just stating the sim ride is going away so it may not be the same schedule.

For what it's worth, in my First Officer Course (yes, there's one), Billy Mac said the DC-10 sim was going away since the 727 is retired. He said it was expensive to keep the sim operating only to screen new hires for actual hand flying skills.

Don't shoot the messenger if they're still sending new hires to the sim.

Had an internal interviewee on the JS this week. He said about 18 internals (Pros) are eligible. Interviews in late October. Day 1 as you said. Day 2 - SBI and Panel interview. No Sim. Didn't specifically mention the 'call you back for Day 2' angle, but I didn't know enough to clarify.

Because 1 trip on your dime to Memphis just isn't enough… Hoping they will consolidate the event in a single day, or at least trip. Delta and everyone else seem to manage to do it in one trip, so I'd expect what we do to morph into something similar to what Delta does.

Same thing I heard! Just had din din with 2 other guys, they heard the same thing.

That's why I said "if necessary".

Plan for success.
1. Do the Emerald Coast Seminar. Now is better than later.
2. Buy "Everything for Professional Pilot" and "Aero for Naval Aviators". Read them over and over. Know it cold. General knowledge test is hard. Really really hard. No other gouge but Delta Test gouge is decent prep on top of two books.
3. Not sure how to prep for cog or personality. Don't get frustrated and focus until your done on Cog. And be consistent on personality and do not mention the voices you sometimes hear.
4. Sim is interesting question. They still have the Bus sim which they used in the past.
5. Interview is straightforward with two retired Captains. See number 1.

Good luck. Patience....

Great advice. #1 is already done and doing it again later this month.

Hey Albie,

D was 2 days in 2008.....has that changed ??
Regards,
B

No, but FedEx was diving the process is day 1 then day 2 two or three weeks later. Two trips to Memphis, associated costs, stress, etc. Seems it could be rolled into one trip for a 2 day Delta type experience.

Albie,

They're hiring PILOTS. If they were hiring managers, then the process would be one trip. But since they're hiring pilots, they don't care if it's a hardship. In fact, it's good training for the Fedex management/pilot experience.

And for applicants: the hiring process is a good indicator of what FedEx management thinks about you... It's not what they SAY, it's what they DO.

Just curious... How many of you that have taken/recommend Emerald Coast are non-military?

I'm non military and didn't do the Emerald Coast prep and slipped through the cracks. However, from what I've heard it's worth the $$

I went to Emerald Coast BEFORE I had an interview lined up. Sure glad I did! They prep you for any airline so it certainly isn't just a FedEx prep place.
I have a complete non-military
background, to answer your question.

Also, in regards to the testing I found this free book to be most helpful. Lots of the Delta Aviation Knowledge Exam seemed to be quoting from this book.

http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/pilot_handbook/

I also did the interview prep with Emerald Coast, and sim prep through one of E.C.'s contacts in Memphis, absolutely worth it -- civilian background as well.

questions
 

Most likely what base(s) and fleets will new hires be going? Uprooting and having to move to Cologne or Hong Kong (If you've been watching the news) might be an issue fir quite a few applicants.

If they were hiring pilots don't you think they might want to validate their flying skills? If they're getting rid of the simulator... they're hiring managers...

They have not announced. Most likely your choice of 757 Mem/CGN/HKG. Expediting hiring if you go somewhere other then Mem would be logical.

++1!!!!
Also- for cog test prep: a daily dose of LUMOSITY. Get the app and get to work on as many games as you can.... Made that portion of the testing much easier- hands down. Don't wait- it will all come very quickly!:eek:

I have a hard time believing that 20 minutes in a sim validates much (other than the guy got the profile from Brand X prep course and practiced it on his own dime a day or two before he came in).

99% of the guys we hire are coming from a mil cockpit or a 121 gig. That probably tells you about as much as the sim snapshot - i.e. they can fly an airplane and they're trainable. Looking at past training/recurrent issues via training records is probably a much better indicator than 20 minutes doing climbs, turns, holding, etc.

Don't get me wrong. If there was a good way to validate someone's skills, I think that would be important. Doing it effectively would probably be cost and time prohibitive. Unfortunately, since the sim is such a brief look, I think the occasional "toad" could prep enough to mask his deficiencies. On the other hand, someone we would benefit from hiring might have a bad day and get shown the door after a "false positive".

Or.......maybe it's just another wicket the hiring gurus can use as an excuse to can someone they just didn't like.

Are you talkin about me???? :D

Did you do any prep at all?

Other than Emerald Coast, what preps are recommended for FDX?

I helped develop the sim prep and probably bought more DC-10 sim time than anyone else in the country for several years. The idea originally was to help the "toads" like me who came from a fighter background or that young RJ pup who never flew a round dial jet to work on a basic cross-check and get the feel of the a heavier aircraft.

In 2004-06…most guys did a sim prep. One. The evaluators were supposed to be able to tell if a guy had a good cross check, and I think they probably graded on a subjective scale based on a guys background…but I cannot be sure.

The issue was as everyone started doing preps…even the heavy drivers, I'm sure the "average" performance started to creep up. I know the evaluators probably tried to be objective, but when 9 out of 10 guys have gotten some practice I'm sure the 10th guy who didn't' probably stood out.

When the 2011 hiring came back, after a 4-5 year hiring wait, most guys said "screw it" and did 2 (or more) prep sessions. I think the bar was progressively inched up higher and higher. A few did 3. One guy--out of the cockpit a while--did 10. I think getting hired without doing a sim prep became a big crapshoot, and I don't think that was the company's intent. It certainly was never mine…I just wanted to help a few fellow toads. But change is inevitable, and nobody wanted to be left behind, and thus I think a sim prep became dang near a requirement to effectively get hired.

So--the elimination of the process…while eliminating one of my business interests, was not all bad news to me. We want a fair process, and I think a guy having to spend 2-3k to prep for the sim ride was a tough nut. Would I have done it in 2001? You bet! Its been worth it. But the price of admission to FedEx just went down a couple grand, and that's not all bad. Honestly, with the legacies hiring I also think a few good pilots out there when faced with a Delta or American interview without a sim and a FedEx sim with one might even skip the prep these days… For more than a decade FedEx could pick who they wanted. They are now going to see a more 1998 type environment where a few guys hired never show up for class but instead go elsewhere. I also expect we'll see a few guys leave their first year after some A reserve in the 757 when Delta or AA give them an offer…but that's a different subject.

What does need to happen, however, is that schoolhouse IPs need to call it like they see it and if someone isn't capable of flying then use the probation period for what it is designed for. Nobody wants to see another pilot lose a job, but none of us here--especially those of us on the cusp of captain--want to see another mishap on our watch. Even a good pilot can have a bad day, but we don't need anyone who cannot get the job done putting the rest of us at risk or into the spotlight again. The consequences of any mishap are bad, but in our situation it could be even more detrimental to our long term careers.

This +10000

You nailed it

I still believe that 20 min in a sim with immense pressure to perform to a standard is a better measurement of skills than knowing the order of the planets. Every part of the FedEx interview is rehearsed before hand weather it's a sim or face to face.

Is their a grammar test?