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

 

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.