I hired both.

I used Emerald for an interview and was unsuccessful. For the second interview (fortunately I was granted another) I used Cage. Both companies have their pros and cons. Cage is nice because it is one on one and they will work with you very well. Emerald is good because they have a lot of information on their website for all the airlines that you can't find anywhere else.

I would honestly go with either. Emerald refunded their money to me as part of their guarentee so that was nice. Their services work well for many people but I just needed the one on one attention that DeeDee and everyone at Cage offers.

Good Luck!

For a united interview cage is best no question about...that is their specialty. Delta or FedEx I'd go with emerald coast.

I have posted this before. I used Emerald Coast. I was extremely happy. Not one surprise. They have the webinar so if you can’t get to a session in person that’s a great option. I am not sure what cage would offer over EC but I would ask dee that question. I have also successfully interviewed and been hired with no prep so I will say this you are better off with some form of prep verses none.

Good luck.

I was hired at United with Cage. Angie is the best!

I used EC but I think anyone who is a qualified candidate will experience a successful interview regardless of which service is used. They both are about polishing your presentation.

Do them both. Now is not the time to save a buck. Spending $1000 to greatly increase your odds of obtaining a multi million dollar career is a no brainer.
My experience 10-15 yrs ago is EC is more big picture and Cage is very in-depth individualized help.
The book "Checklist for Success" by Cage is a really good place to start.

Having to enrich someone else to increase your chances is certainly a no brainer, if you have access to the funds. It's also a sad commentary on what it takes to get a job these days.

I think that most would agree that we ought to be hired based upon achievement, experience and ability and not on polish and suggestion.
Unfortunately for some highly qualified candidates, using a prep service is nearly impossible. Should they be automatically disqualified?

I think the system stinks and that third party groomers should be prohibited. I also realize the most will find my comments heresy.

There are guys who get hired without help. Bravo for them.

I used Cage and it was definitely worth the money! Highly recommend. I was prior military, and they asked/prepped all the right questions to get through the United interview without sweating. (literally)
I think it was DeeDee.

The difference in the companies is that one is pure United (Cage), while the other (Emerald) offers service for all airlines. This is not to say that Emerald doesn't know there stuff...I was a successful United Hire using Emerald. Extremely pleased with their product, and speaking with a pilot AND HR is a much better way to go in my opinion. Feel free to PM if you want more specific details.

Oldmako

I think on this you are living in a dream world. Yes it would be nice that only the “most” qualified get the job, but the problem is for every position there are at least 10 equally “most” qualified.

Personally I think the “most” qualified candidate takes advantage of every opportunity to improve and present themselves as a better choice for the position. If I were an interviewer I might even ask the candidate if they had used service to prepare for the interview. If their answer was “no” they had better shine a bit brighter than others for not showing the initiative to get help.

It’s almost like what we used to call CLR, showing a failure to use all their available resources. On the old CLR grid they may be a 9/1.

BTW I have nothing to do with any of these prep outfits, just making arm chair quarterback calls on this. When I got hired there weren’t any such services, just a book on the “stay-9” exam and I bought it.