I was only talking about having to pay for the type rating

inav8or,

Ditto what last guy said. All "Tell me about a time"....at least that's what I've heard. I haven't interviewed yet either but also haven't gotten called yet.

Was hoping you might answer two questions of mine: 1. How long have you had your app in? and 2. What was your availability date?

Just trying to figure out if/when I might get a call for an interview or if I don't have quite the PIC time (1900) needed to get the call without the type in which case I'll get it knocked out.

Also, WMU grad: The one word answer to your question regarding the type rating issue is: Entrepreneurs. Southwest is big on hiring them, spending 10K at a 50/50 shot at a job shows a personality trait SWA loves in people. Until I read NUTS, i couldn't understand it either. After you read NUTS, you'll likely have an entirely different perspective on the subject.

herc, I have no idea why they called me. I have been applying for about 6 yrs. I have updated about every 2 mons. on average. The people that I know that have had an interveiw w/o the type have been IOE guys mostly, or guys that went to AirINC. I was selected to do IOE, but never was trained do to 9-11 and less hiring. I put that on my app, so maybe that had something to do with it. And my avail. date is always set 2 mons after I update.

Crazy. Thanks, who knows the magic of the ouiga board? Seems like you would've gotten a call a long time ago. Maybe it just takes that long to get through the apps? Either way, best of luck. I know quite a few guys that have gotten hired at SWA and every one of them says to just be yourself in the interview.

P.S. By IOE, do you mean you were in the hiring pool pre-9/11? I'm the first to admit I'm a bit illiterate when it comes to all the acronyms. The only IOE I've ever heard of is the Initail Operating Eval everyone does after their 6 weeks of ground training. Is that what you're referring to?

IOE = Line check airman.

At Piedmont, there were 5 guys within the last 3 months to get hired at Southwest. All were captains less than two years, none of them IOE guys, and none had types. As far as I know, only one had a walk-in. The must be hiring a lot right now, cause there are others who just put in their apps and already are scheduled for interviews. It seems that what "used to be" the norm for who got hired and how long the process took, has definitely changed.

Strike: I posted a first hand account of my interview experience that was 180 degrees out from the stuff you reported you heard from someone else. I didn't think that was good gouge, so I responded. Normally I don't bash people on their spelling, but if you try to read your first post you will have to agree that it is pretty hard to follow.

Getting career advice on a web board is hard at best, and you need to take everything with a grain of salt. I would tend to go with those who at least were able to pound out a coherent response to the question.

I apologize for using your typing skills to emphasize the fact that your info could be suspect. So could mine, that is for the readers to determine, but I think that my experience is more than validated by the responses of several other posters.

Yes I make mistakes and yes I even miss radio calls once in a while. But I do try to proof read my posts and try to ensure they make sense before I hit the submit reply button. I am by no means perfect, nor was I trying to imply that I was. I was simply cautioning the original poster about the dubious nature of rumors about SW's interview process.

By the way, I somehow passed the interview, got the continue letter, and waited 25 months for a class date. During that time I was lucky enough to find other employment and decided that I should stay there rather than jump ship to SW.

I didn't have the type when I interviewed, and I don't recall the subject coming up, and certainly not to any extent implied by your post. I have no idea what the process is like anymore, but I doubt that it has changed that much.

Why would they interview folks without the type if they were then going to turn around and make it an issue in the interview?

I don't know either.

Anyway, good luck to the original poster, I hope your interview goes well, SW is a great company.

FJ

If I were your friend, at that interview, and the HR guy told me "why are you wasting our time showing up for the interview without the type rating", I might have lost it and asked him "why are you wasting MY time. After all, you knew I didn't have the type rating when YOU invited me back to re-interview." If that's what really happened, what a bunch of jerks SWA must have in their Human Resources department.


So it's your opinion that once you're offered a job at SWA, the fact that you have to get the 737 type rating on your own dime, is not actually paying for your flight training? Seems to me that all SWA has done is allowed guys who, for whatever reason, didn't make the cut, to not waste a small fortune on a type rating that will only be of value at SWA. That's sooooooo big of them. I hope they can afford it. In fairness, it bugs me no end that FedEx charges applicants a fee to apply for a job. That stinks too, just to a much lesser degree.

I sincerely doubt that the interview went down this way so it is not worth futher comment.

Thank you for not flying with us at SW. You are exactly the type that our friends in Dallas try to screen out. Thank you Dallas! I'll have a nice 3-on, 4-off schedule this month without this guy/gal with a chip on his/her shoulder.

I was only responding to that other post. If the interview went as he'd said or not is always open for question. However, just because you spent $$ on a type rating so you could work for SWA, doesn't mean it's the correct corporate thing to do. Without question, SWA does that for the same reason a dog licks its balls. Because they can. SWA is a great company and as long as they can find people willing to invest the money for the type rating, they will continue to make that a pre-employment requirement. I have no chip on my shoulder, and as far as working for SWA, thanks, but NO thanks. You guys work too hard for me. I'll stick with my little two 30 minute flights a day for the 12 days a month that I work.