Interview
 

Hey all. I’m 21 coming from a part 135 outfit and have my in person interview coming up September 6. I’m extremely excited to have been given this opportunity at such a young age. I’ve been told by recruiters and a chief pilot that you need to be 23. Although I secured a phone interview a few weeks ago and the recruiter was amazing. Very nice guy, but unsure if I’m hirable due to age. He called me back and gave me the in person interview. Should I be nervous about my age being a problem or am I in the clear since I got the in person? I’ve been studying aviation interviews and formulating my answers to questions in a notebook to practice. Any advice?

Im not aware of anyone getting on at Spirit with an R-ATP. Most likely you’ll need to be 23 but never say never. It’ll be great interview practice regardless. Goodluck!

Lots being hired with only a restricted.

Only ratp people I’ve heard of being hired are those who at the very least qualify for the full atp. Have heard of several people being given a cjo only to be told to reach out when they qualify.

Guess the LCAs that have confirmed this for me are confused then?

I didn’t say it wasn’t true just that I’ve only heard it happening in particular circumstances.

I have all the minimums met for full atp. I am just not old enough for unrestricted. I’m 21
1820TT with about 650 hours in a beechjet

take what I’m saying with a grain of salt. The recruiting department and policies have changed drastically over the last several months. Several people I know are no longer working on that department because they’ve changed practices from using line pilots.

having the hours vs being qualified are two different things. The hours aren’t what matters when they’re hiring street cfis that meet all the requirements. I’m sure you already know hours are only one aspect of being qualified for certificate. If you don’t qualify based on age and if their policy is you have to have or qualify for a full atp you wouldn’t qualify till you hit 23. Personally don’t know of anyone who got hired with an ratp. I know people who were turned away. Others simply short on some time, given a cjo told to let them know when they have the hours. Would hate for you to get your hopes up and go through the effort to not be eligible due to that one aspect. Idk how you could even find out. Doesn’t surprise me a recruiter doesn’t know but you should do your best to find someone to ask that does. A chief pilot or someone higher up in the recruiting department.

I was told by a chief I have to be 23. But how is it that I get all the way to the in person interview if I don’t qualify? Why would they spend the time, money to fly me down, and resources on me if they can’t hire me? Just my thoughts. Either way I’m still going to the interview and going to do my best to impress!

“But how is it that I get to the interview if I don’t qualify?”

Answer: Spirit.

This company is the very example of the left hand not communicating to the right hand. Definitely interview, at 21, the experience is important. But for those of us who work here, recruiting not knowing the age to be hired, wouldn’t surprise me. But again us hiring any warm blooded pilot who is 2 years removed from being a teenager, well, that doesn’t surprise me either.

Sounds like you need to be 23 then, unless I'm missing something

It’s pretty amazing to me that the people involved in the hiring don’t know what you need to be a pilot here. Which is an unrestricted ATP. It’s embarrassing but the more I think on it, not surprising. You can get hired with a restricted ATP if that restriction can be lifted at your type ride at Spirit. If you will not be eligible for the restriction to be taken off by the time you go to the checkride bc you aren’t 23 then you cannot fly at spirit. This is to the best of my knowledge.

My advice is to get whatever chief pilot you spoke to to give you a direct contact to someone high up in pilot recruiting that should know bc clearly the person you spoke to is giving conflicting information. Don’t take our word for it.

Any advice? Yes this is where I hammer the ball back in your court and ask did you learn anything? The fact that you can get all the way to an in person interview without having the ability to be offered the job is beyond unprofessional it’s HR malpractice. Spirit may not be only Airline where this could happen but it clearly wouldn’t happen at most places. In Short, if they treat you like this as a prospectus (when you could be looking at other employers), imagine what it’ll be like working there. Is this a job you would really want?

Another carrier recently hired a man convicted of felony who made it past basic indoc ………just think of what else these companies aren’t checking? Is that really a place where you want to work?

I admire your decision to go to the interview, it’ll be good practice for an interview for your intended destination. Suit, nerves, and how you interact with other interviewees is a big part of what HR uses to make their final judgment at the big 3. It does appear that in your case your outcome is fait accompli, so unfortunately there will be no way to know how well your practice run went. They may offer you some unusual conditional, which you could exercise in 2 years but honestly Spirit may not exist in 2 years and you may be a much more attractive candidate by then with better offers. Just my .05 🇮🇳 rupees.

I agree with this. Also, spirit interview wasn't as professional as I thought it would be. The HR and pilot did not seem at all interested in me, and I got bad looks once I mentioned some checkride fails. It wasn't the best experience at all and I am glad I am at another airline that actually seemed interested in me (United) . Why invite for an interview if you will just get dirty looks and a TBNT? Not cool.

This is hilarious on so many levels. Probably have to be over the age of 35 to see the humor in this post.

If you can get an interview with Spirit with what I assume is 135 jet time... You can get an interview at United. Come join us, it's more chill here and we are hiring like crazy. Especially spirit guys. Something like 50% of our class was ex-spirit

Definitely want that “chill”

Exactly right, sounds like he’ll go to the interview, be told good job with a pat on the back and to reapply/reinterview once eligible for a non-restricted ATP in 2 years. I haven’t seen anyone younger than 23 at Spirit. But who knows, maybe if you’re that good they’ll change it for you.

Do you have to be 23 with ATP to be a ground instructor? I’m wondering if that’s what will be offered at an interview.

What about you is particularly interesting?

From your post history it appears your most recent checkride failure was at a regional earlier this year, and the above post uses “fails” plural. In this hiring climate, that’s not the no-go it once was a few years go, but it still begs the question to any potential employer what the circumstances surrounding those failures were. I’ve done a fair number of interviews in my career and I’ve never had anyone be openly rude or dismissive, but I did do a lot of self reflection later on how I could have better answered certain questions.

I wonder if the “bad looks” were about your failures, or more about your response(s) to their questions about them…

I can’t tell if that guy was being sarcastic or not….but probably the latter over the former, especially considering checkride failures are already (OR SHOULD ALREADY) be disclosed in the application process. They already know you failed…they’re looking to see if you Learned anything.

To succeed at an interview you have to be dishonest but come across like you are honest. Could be a bit of a difficult dance for anyone without Theatre training.

Everyone will say “No I won’t leave in training to go to Delta” but not every applicant will be able to convince the other people staring back at you across the table that you aren’t lying.

Or the fact he is more concerned with "chill" and making himself feel good during the interview, versus demonstrating why the company should hire him.

That is the big difference here; interviews at this level used to be to convince the airline you were the right choice for them. Now it's pilots showing up looking for the airline to convince them they are the right airline. The tail currently wags the dog at this moment in hiring.

I mean, they guy gets an interview with multiple failures, some at the 121 level, and he expects it to be a "chill" experience? Maybe the side eye he received was the the result of the answer he gave about his failures? Clearly he screwed the pooch somewhere if he didnt get the job here, I bet we are hiring most that walk through the door for the face to face.

The 121 world made their own bed, and this is the outcome

For me at least, I’m not a low time ERU kiddie who flipped gear for a year or two in RJ or at a cut rate 135, so yeah some of the dumb ass questions like when did I first solo, or any checkride failures when it’s been well over a decade since I did a GA ride, or playing some dumb online game to judge my piloting skills because they are too lazy to read about the flying I’ve been doing, to me these seem like dumb ass questions, and yeah you need to convince me why I want to work for you, I’m not exactly hurting at my current comfy flying gig.

Quit acting like these stock ticker companies with histories of treating their people like trash are giving you a god like chance when they invite you to interview, it’s for sure as much me interviewing them as the other way, yeah act the part and play the game, but don’t actually swallow the Kool-Aid

Nobody says you have to become indoctrinated. But don’t think legacy HR is at all impressed by whatever resume you’re sliding across the table. They have/will/continue to hire people based on gender/race/volunteerism/etc and not give two craps about the TT or experience. So sure, act like this is the place, take a shower when you’re done to wash it off, but don’t think they are creaming for whatever you think is impressive. Bottom line: they don’t hire based on experience or skills. Plan accordingly

Go to the spirit interview and give them the fake personality that they want to see. Be extroverted (because the pilots/HR women do spy on you all through the interview), socialize, and fake it all. Act like the biggest social butterfly with a smile on your face. Just don't mention anything about going to United, even though it is 100% true. Then get the job. Finish IOE. Then apply to United. Enjoy life. Spirit is nothing but a bridge to the legacies.

Your few months flying regional jets and applying to whichever major will get you out of flying regional jets has given you deep insight as to what a career at Spirit is worth. That advice and a token may just get you on the subway.

I think that he/she may be on to something though. Being a career FO at Spirit because you're a giant candy a$$ who will most likely never be able to hack it in the left seat is looking like a real possibility for some of the newer FOs I've flown with.

Those types will be much better off having their hand held and sweet nothings whispered into their ear at the legacies.

Speaking as a right seater, the standards must be low for upgrade based on recent experience.