I don't totally agree with DP on this one. I have been to 4 interviews. All of which I studied my but off for by using the gouges – a.k.a., studying and trying to figure out what I thought they wanted me to say. This eventually got me stressed out, I would lose sleep, and it would all eventually snowball on the day of the interview.

But, my last, and final interview, I did not study. (With the exception of the ATP written) I took the attitude that there is going to be 1 of 2 outcomes: They like me, or they don't. And in the end, I didn't care. I looked at it as another learning experience. This allowed me to relax and be confident, and to be totally honest - meaning, I answered questions from my gut, and did not second-guess myself.

The moral of the story is...Be totally honest with the people you see in the interview, and most importantly, be honest with yourself. Confidence/competence...NOT cockiness will get you the job.

Lax

How true. My last interview was the best. I flew out the day of the interview @ 5am, sat until the afternoon for my first session, was tired, relaxed and honest. Still got the letter but felt alot more relaxed than the others. By the way, I do have current work flying freight, but just want to see the dark side! Regional flying ! Tx.

I'd say hire a pro to interview you and get some advice. At 0 for 5, I'd guess there's something that's not comin' off like you think it is.

My advice is to apply to a regional that you really don't want to work for. Go to the interview cocky as hell and make it clear too them that you don't want to work for them. You find them beneath you and you only came to the interview for the airplane ride. I will guarantee you get the job.

P.S. I am dead serious. I figure that it would be either 1 for 6 or 6 and 0 on job offers. What is there to lose?

Go to TSA........they will hire ya in 15 minutes.

I am not suggesting this is a good place to go ........ but .... send in a res to Mesa if you haven't already. You wouldn't have to worry about any interview...they hire pilots over the phone now. Good luck! As said before a professional interview prep is what you really need to look into.

0 - 5 in todays environment indicates something's up...

- Get some interview prep, like the others said.

- I'm ASSUMING your background is pretty clean?

It is remotely possible that there is something showing up in your background that you do not know about...

1) Criminal record in your name: Unfortunately some states do not reference criminal records by SSN, so if someone with your EXACT name has a record, the potential employer would have to PAY someone to go to the courthouse and pull the records and look for DOB, physical description, periods of time spent in prison, etc to confirm that it's not YOU. They simply won't spend this kind of time and money when they can just hire someone else instead. I have this exact problem...if you KNOW about it, you can give the intrviewer a letter with all the details which should eliminate their doubt. You hire can someone or use the internet to check out your background.

2) Bad reference from past employer...is there maybe someone in your past who's out to get you? Maybe change all of your references, just in case? If it's a previous employer, you will have to confront the issue because you can't pretend you never worked there when you do the background check form. Your best bet would be to try to smooth it out with that past employer. If not possible, then you will have to address the issue pre-emptively at the interview with your side of the story....accept some blame for the situation.

I had a girlfriend who was an HR type...I actually had her run a "simulated" background and reference check on me using all the info that I provided to the airlines. She pulled my criminal record (that I didn't know I had ), and called my references. One reference was kind of luke-warm, so I changed that reference to another manager at the same company.

You could probably hire a service to do a thorough background check for a couple hundred bucks. If you do find something that really was not true, then send a certified letter to the airlines who interviewed you explaining the situation...maybe they will reconsider.

There is no "industry-wide" blacklist unless you are a scab. I don't know how old you are, but if you're 40+ and your name matches someone on the scab list that might be a problem, but you should be able to solve that by documenting where you were in 1983...

Laxrox43 is absolutely right.......I had the same attitude and it worked...feel that you are interviewing them also and that you are not sure they would be the best for you and that you are there to do an evaluation on them....meaning......meet them at the same level....know when to be dead serious and when to make a joke...........study them and how they are looking at you.......they will tell you a lot by their body language.......use the gouges for the tech questions but check the answers because there are many that are wrong. For the HR.... forget the gouges, if you answer the same as the one before you they will know you are just being a "parrot", find your own answers and stick to what you say even if they start question you, be honest and be different in your answers and give them some they would not expect. Good Luck!

1) Prepare as normal. DO NOT OVER PREPARE. You are right that overpreparation causes stress and anxiety.

2) Practice talking without "Um's and Er's" You can do this during your normal day.

3) You don't know it all, so don't pretend you do. If you don't know an answer tell them so.

4) If you have anything sketchy in your background, DUI, DWAI, Misdemeanor, etc. . . . tell them when they ask. Have a written 1 pager to explain the situation and that you made a mistake and that you have not had an incident since then. . . . eg. Back in 2000 I got pulled over and charged with a DUI, I'm not proud of it (blah, blah, blah, ), but for the past seven (7) years I have not had one incident or even a parkng ticket . . . Admit your mistake and move on.

5) Organize ALL the information that you are required to bring. Put it in a nice binder/packet. Make it look like a professional Sales Presentation (because that is what it is).

6) Arrive early to late morning the DAY BEFORE your interview. Check in to your hotel and RELAX. Review general basics, ATP questions, etc. while watching t.v. Eat a good dinner, review your sales packet (at hotel of course) and GET SOME SLEEP! (8-10 hours if you can)

7) Arrive early to the interview., glad hand everyone, and enjoy the interview. It's a fun process, get to know them, ask them questions (remember people like talking about themselves. If you ask them questions, they will talk and you can listen. That means less time for them to ask YOU questions.

Ellen

One note about this area. If it is a reference then they will say whatever they want, but it will be different for a previous employer that you had to list but are not using as a reference. These people have to be very careful because companies mostly outside of aviation have been sued in the past for trashing past employees. Basically it should just be the PRIA stuff coming from another company.