Toughest Regional Interview
 

:D Alright I have been reading quite a few threads on this website and others ie. willflyforfood.cc. I must ask this question... how would you rank the difficulty of interviews. Are some harder than others and if so how, what are the differences between companies interview styles? This is not a ****ing match and I would appreciate real information and not funny baloney! Thanks and Merry belated Christmas!

No funny baloney!? My baloney just played Reno...I'll stop right there:D

Most companies are different. The basic interview consists of an HR,Tech, Written, Sim, and some are doing CRM scenarios now. Some places do all of the above and some pick and choose. My interview consisted of HR, TECH, and a Computer Test. No written, and no Sim. (Comair). I believe you do all of the above at Skywest, Eagle (-CRM). Read the gouges

I interviewed at Pinnacle, ASA, and ExpressJet. None of the interviews are overly difficult. I studied the gouges very in depth. Don't just find the answer to the question, know why it is the answer. ATP study guide, AIM, Jepp legend, FARs, POH for your current twin are all good study guides. But absolutely positively the most important part of any technical studying IMHO is to know WHY the answer is the answer.

Pinnacle:
Written test, mostly ATP stuff and some high altitude/high speed aerodynamics (probably as a result of their little issue at FL410 a few years ago). They grade the test and then ask you some basic systems questions and HR bull**** questions and then a sim eval. The guys who do the interviewing are "good ol boys" so just play their game and don't make yourself look like an ass.

ASA:
Don't know if they still do it this way but it was kind a long process. After they receieve your resume they phone screen you and ask you most of the HR questions then (failed checkrides, certificate actions, previous employers, etc). If they like you, you get a UPS package with the formal application, flight time break down, federal paperwork, etc. If they STILL like you, they bring you to ATL for a 2 day deal. Day 1 is the sim eval. If you pass that and come back for day 2 you get the technical interview with the standard tech questions (systems, regs, etc) and the "tell me about a time" stuff. After that, they send you home to wait for a call. I was hired into the pool but never accepted a class date.

ExpressJet:
In my opinion, one of the most efficient and straight forward interviews out there. They sit you in a room with all the other interviewees and call you out one by one to go one of 3 rooms. One room is questions about your current twin and some "tell me about a time". Another room is Jepp charts (Enroute and approach. Breif an approach. Don't freak out if you are looking at Mexican approach, they are just like US charts. Also a lot of "what does this symbol tell you" or "what does this mean") and some basic AIM knowledge. Last room is the HR room. This is really the make or break. They want to see some personality and character. You will also be asked the standard "failed checkrides" "faa cert actions", stuff like that. Then you stand in the hall for the longest minute of your life. If they take you down the hall to fingerprint and do paperwork, you're in. If they show you to the lobby and tell you to wait for the bus to airport, you're out.

Last few nuggets of knowledge that will help you at any interview:
- Technical knowledge is important but what will turn off an interviewer more than anything is someone who is cocky. Just be humble. I tried to make each interviewer laugh a little. Show interest and that you want to work for the company but don't come off as an eager, spineless, sucker-punch-your-mother-to-fly-a-jet wannabe.

- Personality. Usually its line pilots who are involved in the hiring. If they can't stand you for 15 mins then they DEFINITELY don't want to sit next to you for 4 days so they won't recommend you for hire.

- If you have any blemishes on your record or failed checkrides, DO NOT lie about them or fail to disclose them. DO NOT blame anyone but yourself. Show that you learned from your mistake and that it made you a better pilot. Saying "I failed my CFI ride because the examiner was a jerk" will get you out the door pretty quick.

Hope this helps.

On the question of "have you ever failed a checkride", how do you answer that. I trained in a 141 school, and if you did not pass a check ride, you had remedial training, and then went up for a recheck. The school does not send anything to the FAA saying you failed, but it says "unsatisfactory" for the checkride in the student logbook. Then "satisfactory" when you pass.

How do you answer this is an interview? Bring a professional logbook instead of the training logs? Technically you failed, but by university policy, you did not.

I went to a 141 school as well, had failed a 141 stage check and I was honest about it. I just said "I failed my XXX stage check and then took it again a week later and passed." If I recall, the way they asked the question was "Have you ever failed any FAA checkrides or stage checks?" You don't need to bring any training logs.

EDIT:
I suppose wether or not you disclose stage check failures is up to you since I think they are technically protected under the "Federal Don't Tell Mommy and Daddy Act" (I can't remember the real name but the one that says you have to give permission to disclose your college course records) as course records. Might be a good idea to ask someone at your school if those records do fall under that act. I haven't had to deal with it in a while.

Tell them exactly what happened. They're not going to turn you down because of a failed stage check, but they will turn you down if you don't say anything and they find out about it later. Talk about how you learned from the experience.

from my understanding, if you are in a 141 environment there are some things you have to disclose and others that you do not.

Disclose the info about a failed check ride if the that particular ride will be for the issuance of an FAA cert. PPL, Comm, CFI etc.

You do not have to disclose a failure if you do not get a cert. from it. An example would be a check ride that needs to be completed to start a new block of training in a course.

at UND a particular course might have 3 checkrides but only one will get you an FAA cert. and that is the one you dont want to fail.

Exx

P.S. Go Sioux

Well let me ask you this: If I fail my checkride at the end of the instrument course (222), does it constitute failure of a checkride for issuance of an FAA cert? You don't receive your instrument rating at that point, but it is your Instrument-SE checkride.

I was an instructor there for 2 1/2 years and I am still a little foggy on it.

it is only a checkride for a certificate or rating. So if you messed up your private stage 3, but passed the checkride the first time- you did not fail. The issue is that many 141 schools can use an "I" -Incomplete- for a bad stage check. So if you passed every checkride the first time you get to mark "no" for failures. Thats at least how I understand it.

What if you got a deferrance on a checkride because of a small overlooked item, then came back the next day and picked up where you left off?

A discontinuance does not constitute a failure. Checkrides are discontinued all the time because of weather or aircraft malfunctions (almost had to discontinue my MEI checkride when the engine wouldn't restart:eek: ).

freezingflyboy:

That is a great question and one that strikes home for me. I just happened to fail that exact checkride (lucky for me it was my only one).

all i can say to answer your question is I Dont Know.
I have been told by both people at UND and people on interview boards that i do not have to disclose that. Generally I tell them about that one anyway. When they ask me if I received a rating or cert. upon completion I tell them that "I did not imediately receive a rating upon successful completion of that checkride." Then i have to explain how UND works their system. That is usually when they tell me they dont care about that check ride and i dont need to tell people about it.

Exx

Correct me if im wrong, but dont failed checkrides and completed checkrides show up on your FAA records at the offices in Oklahoma City. If they do, then perhaps that is a better indicator of what info to disclose. So if its on there tell em about it, if not then no worries

I can see it both ways. On the one hand, you don't fill out an 8710 until your Commercial, Multi, Instrument checkride. But if you look at your certificate, you are now a Commercial Single- and Multi-Engine, Instrument Airplane pilot. So my question is this: When did your Commercial Single-Engine checkride take place? The entire checkride took place in a Seminole so it can't have happened then. Did it happen the previous semester when you finished your commercial-single engine course even though no 8710 was filled out? Any thoughts?

If you take your initial commercial ride in a twin, you don't get your commercial single until you take the checkride for the add-on.

At UND, when you finish your multi-engine course and take the checkride, it is for Commercial Multi- and Single Engine, Instrument Airplane.

If you go through the entire course at UND you will only fill out 4 8710s:
Private
Commercial- ME, SE, IA
CFI
CFII

Looking back in my logbook, Stage checks (except for end of course checks) weren't sat/unsat events. They were complete/incomplete events. The only failures that you need to report (IMHO) are the ones which 8710s were filled out, or failures/unsats in an advanced training environment (like SIC airline checkride)

i see your point and you have me totally stumped. I never taught there so my knowledge of the UND machine is mostly limited to the perspective of a student.

again, i was just offering up some of my own experiences and what i have been told in the past. hopefully im not too far off base

That is correct. Only Checkrides. Stage checks are NOT checkrides.

Excellent question. I am usually of the "disclose everything if in doubt" philosophy, however 141 checkrides conducted IN HOUSE may not need to be disclosed.

I was a 141 DE at one point. Unless something has changed dramatically a 141 "checkride" (Final Stage Check) cannot really be failed, rather it is merely incomplete.

The details of 141 training do not go into FAA files, including "Incomplete" stage checks.

The school retains the records for 3 years. Technically the PRIA does not apply to initial pilot training, so there is no reason or legal basis for an airline to request or recieve 141 training records. I suppose they could call and ask, but the school would NOT be immune from liability if they bad-mouth you.

Note: If you train at a school and subsequently work there as a CFI, airlines can and will do a PRIA request, and that request could end up including your training records. This is not required, and when I responded to PRIA request for former CFI's I included records related to their employment proficiency checks, but I specifically excluded records from their initial rating training (student records).

If processed correctly there is never a pink slip involved in a 141 stage check. Occasionally an ill-informed DPE who is called on to perform a 141 Final Stage Check will erroneously issue a pink slip...in this case it may be in your FAA record. Try to get your school to correct this immediately.


My recomendations:

1) Do not disclose intermediate stage check "incompletes". Part 91 students don't have to disclose that they had a rough lesson halfway through their instrument rating...why should you?

2) You don't have to disclose Final Stage Check incompletes if they ask "did you ever fail a check ride?" If you want to tell them about it just to show you're honest, go ahead. But if you had multiple failures, you may want to exercise your 141 privilege and not say anything. If they ask specifically about 141 training, better be honest in that case.

I used to do stage checks/checkrides for a Part 141 school (everything from Pvt to MEI). You never ever took a checkride at a 141 school, you merely "graduated" from an approved course. Sure, they called the last lesson a checkride, you showed up and treated it like a checkride, and you did everything to PTS, filled out an 8710, etc...but it still was just the last lesson in the course. So, if you failed it, the FAA has nothing on your airman certificate indicating that. When I got asked that on my interview, I told them all my training was 141 and that we had stage checks and end-of-course rides (proper terminology). They then asked if I failed any of those (I did fail stage checks, never EOC's). Take it for what it's worth.

Edit - Basically what rickair said...only shorter ;)

Military checkrides?
 

Alright, how would you address military checkrides during initial training (T-37)? I didn't complete UPT so I got out and earned my CFII SE and ME certificates. I failed some checkrides in UPT was washed out and reinstated but I lost my medical. I haven't failed any checkrides w/ the DPE or FAA so far.

well the examiner sure took my 250 bucks like it was a checkride

What's the Computer Test?:confused:

Be honest about your UPT experience and accept responsibility. Put it on the table - show them you moved on and learned from the experience. You've obviously moved on - for some it can be a real confidence blow and one from which they never recover...

I've worked with guys on active duty that didn't make it thru UPT. 90% of them blamed the system or some women that got away with the same thing and was allowed to pass...Woe is me...

10% accepted responsibility for their actions / experience and took it as a learning experience. Less than 1% of them stayed in the military - the rest served their service commitment and moved on to corporate america / regionals.

-LAFF

Checkrides in UPT dont count for anything but UPT. The only real rides that count are Form 8s. Since you didnt take any or complete UPT they dont really count as real checkrides. I would just say you didnt make it through UPT

Yeah, I never mentioned the down I got on Fam-13, which is the safe-for-solo check in T-34's. It was 12 years ago. Who cares? I still got winged and never had a PRB.

Interviews: the computer test at Comair is like a 2 hour brain teaser exam. Think souduku on a computer while doing the Iceman pen-flip with your left hand at the same time. I think the key is not to overly concentrate on one item. I supposedly did "very well", whatever that means.

I totally tanked a Horizon interview. I got a bad vibe from the get-go then got my butt kicked by the FO/tech interview girl who was visibly flustered (frowning and started chewing on her pen) when I was painfully slow finding stuff on a Jepp chart. Hello that's what the freakin' index is for. (we use NOS in the military). Anyway, I let that knock me off my script and downhill we a'went. (Eagle didn't care how long I took, actually Jim gave me $hit as I was trying to find stuff). In the end, I was happy they sent me away before the sim. Erin (recruiting girl - very friendly/helpfull) was the only one I ever saw smile there, the CRJ I flew in to PDX in was trashed (way worse than any military plane I've been in) and I missed the last empty seat to get home that night....$240 and SWA got me home and to work the next day. Not a good experience, and totally my fault. Ughh - I hate thinking about it.

All three I did: Comair/Eagle/Horizon were right on with the gouge.

Hints for the Eagle sim: first, I've got 1700 hrs in the E-2, and the ATR flies like a weaker version of that so I crushed it. Anyway...remember, add power = right rudder and nose down trip. Take power off = left rudder and nose up trim. Use the IP - ballpark the power and say "set power for 150kts at 1/3 flaps please" and he'll sweeten it up for you. Ask for him to set the Flight Director one step ahead of where you are - speeds, heading bug, etc. so you are flying towards the FD. And don't get flustered or shaken. You'll be fine.

HTH
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