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Old 08-05-2013, 04:10 PM
  #21  
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Well put Albie. People need to lead turn this vice being reactive the week of their interview. It must be nice to have gotten selected for an interview.

Last edited by aclangkd; 08-05-2013 at 04:40 PM.
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Old 08-05-2013, 11:04 PM
  #22  
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Being qualified and prepared for jobs is of course important: I have the former and do my best for the latter.

It'd be hard for me to convince myself to pay for interview prep when there aren't jobs out there and I'm not getting interviews. As much as I don't like to be the one 'flopping like a fish' at the last minute before an interview, how feasible is it really these days for someone who wants a 121 job but isn't given the opportunity to compete for one to go around purchasing seminars and interview prep?

That's a bit like telling someone they need the most expensive rifle in the world when there are no deer left in the forest, because when the deer eventually come, you'd like to shoot it as accurately as possible. I understand the logic, and it's not flawed, but it's a bit unrealistic.

I've read a lot of good advice in this thread, keep it up and thank you.
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Old 08-07-2013, 11:42 AM
  #23  
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Originally Posted by JohnnyG View Post
It'd be hard for me to convince myself to pay for interview prep when there aren't jobs out there and I'm not getting interviews. As much as I don't like to be the one 'flopping like a fish' at the last minute before an interview, how feasible is it really these days for someone who wants a 121 job but isn't given the opportunity to compete for one to go around purchasing seminars and interview prep?
Feeling you, but in my experience the phone rang and i had 2-3 weeks until the interview. Lets also state that i do believe there will be calls from UAL, Delta, and AA going out over the next year. Not the mythical pilot hiring boom but phones will be wringing more than the last two years. Can somebody go from phone call to successful interview in two weeks? Sure, but i couldn't. If you don't have the tell me about yourself, SBI, and TMAAT scenarios down, you have to do all that plus technical test/sim profile prep, travel arrangements, and get your haberdashery/grooming on. We all have heard of the guy who didn't do anything and got hired, but we all know the super pilot who did that same thing and didn't. Having been on receiving end of both a no thank you letter and a congratulations phone call, you will wonder what else you could have done on the former, and patting yourself on the back for your sagacity on the latter.

Saw a guy on the tube today at the training hotel(hint) who was talking about winning the lottery. He has won multiple times. He said the keys were playing consistently and making sure you had "good numbers" and played them repeatedly. You have to apply where you want to go and update monthly. If you need to fix a hole in your resume, do it. Then hone your answers over and over and over so you are polished. Malcolm Gladwell pointed in Blink that most hiring managers make the decision in the first minute whether they are going to hire you. Willing to just let it all hang out and hope the free to be you and me thing works out?

Take it from a guy who just used the words sagacity and haberdashery in a post on APC, do the prep.
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Old 08-22-2013, 10:36 PM
  #24  
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Johnny, like Dragon I hear you on spending money unnecessarily. However, having done Albie's interview prep, for me a better analogy than your rifle one would be knowing you're playing in the superbowl sometime in the next year or so but not practicing yet because you don't have a specific date. Sure, you may still win, but why make it so hard on yourself?

The things taught aren't rocket surgery, but they do take time to think through and practice. I'm really glad that I now have time to think about how to give good solid interview answers at my own pace; I know that I'll be much more confident and perform exponentially better when I do get the call.

Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, once you pay for the workshop, you can go back and practice, brush up, ask questions, whatever, all you want. So there really is zero reason to wait, unless your budget really doesn't have a few hundred bucks worth of flex in it...while you wait for the interview that will basically define your life for the next few decades.

My $0.02: Do the prep sooner rather than later.
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Old 08-23-2013, 09:54 AM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by mayutt View Post
...things taught aren't rocket surgery, but they do take time to think through and practice. I'm really glad that I now have time to think about how to give good solid interview answers at my own pace; I know that I'll be much more confident and perform exponentially better when I do get the call.

Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, once you pay for the workshop, you can go back and practice, brush up, ask questions, whatever, all you want. So there really is zero reason to wait...
^This. The two most iportant aspects for me. The first time I sat through a seminar I learned how not ready I was. Plus I can go back any time, or do a phone consult, no charge.

I thought I was ready to "interview" when I showed up for a seminar since I've interviewed a few times in my career. Sit across from Aaron when he puts on the "no feedback" hard HR face and see how smooth you feel. It gave me a lot to think about. Now I have had some time to rethink my answers and will be better prepared (not rote) for the real thing.

Being a customer for life, I will schedule another seminar if/when I get an interview call, or maybe even before, as a refresher.

It's another step in the eduaction process for me. Having done it already means I'll stress less in the meantime, knowing I've done everything I can within my span of crontrol.
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Old 08-23-2013, 10:06 AM
  #26  
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Good read!
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Old 08-23-2013, 10:21 AM
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Originally Posted by Hrkdrivr View Post
^This. The two most iportant aspects for me. The first time I sat through a seminar I learned how not ready I was. Plus I can go back any time, or do a phone consult, no charge.

I thought I was ready to "interview" when I showed up for a seminar since I've interviewed a few times in my career. Sit across from Aaron when he puts on the "no feedback" hard HR face and see how smooth you feel. It gave me a lot to think about. Now I have had some time to rethink my answers and will be better prepared (not rote) for the real thing.

Being a customer for life, I will schedule another seminar if/when I get an interview call, or maybe even before, as a refresher.

It's another step in the eduaction process for me. Having done it already means I'll stress less in the meantime, knowing I've done everything I can within my span of crontrol.
This is no joke. See how you feel when he starts playing the confontational games, trying to make you second guess yourself with the entire class watching. All of a sudden you realize how fast your brain stops functioning.

Preparing how to handle those and other interview moments, for a multimillion dollar job, Albie is a freakin' steal. I'll follow up later with whether or not I'm actually able to apply what he taught.
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Old 08-23-2013, 05:13 PM
  #28  
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Thanks for the post!
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Old 08-24-2013, 09:19 PM
  #29  
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Did Albie's prep back in May & I don't retire for another five months. Getting it done early is excellent advice.

OBTW, we had three dudes in the class who were interviewing with United the next week--all three got hired. Not necessarily direct cause-effect, but have to believe the prep had a hand in the results.
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Old 09-02-2013, 07:54 PM
  #30  
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Great info, right where I am at. Thanks!!!
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