I'm writing this from the MEM airport waiting for my flight, so i'm trying to write this as quickly as possible.
First off, you don't need a suit. I know there's another thread about this, but dress pants/tie is more than enough. The interviewers and FAA people do not care about how you're dressed. They care about what you have to say, and you'll find that out when you're there. In Memphis today it was about 98-99 degrees, and while most of it is indoors you're wasting energy in a suit.
My assigned time was 12pm. I got there at about 11 in hopes of finishing early but quickly found out there's no real way to start early. At 12pm there was a group of 10, the FAA overseer for the event gave a little synopsis and we were each taken into a room for the interview. It was 21 questions, all of which can be found on the sticky post. Nothing difficult, it's designed just to hear about experiences where you've had to react or lead.
After that came the cattle adventure. I say that because everyone scatters; some people are taken to do their security, others go to medical, some go to psych. At 12:45 I was taken for the drug test, pee in a cup and that's it. After that came the EKG, took my shirt off and laid on a table. Then a Dr. came in and did some routine stuff, no turn-your-head-and-cough section. Next up was a little bit of a wait, but I was taken to do hearing/vision in a trailer outside. The hearing is VERY difficult; that was the sentiment of everyone I talked to. It's hard and the sounds are very faint. Focus on your breathing, do not make any noises. From what I can tell a lot of people didn't pass, and had to go through something else. Vision is also a bit tricky, read letters on a line and they test your depth as well as color blindness. Just stay focused - it really is designed for you to do well.
At that point I was done with the physical stuff, there was some waiting around for a flight surgeon to sign off on your medical packet. Next was the psych exam, 370 computer questions where you are repeatedly asked (in true/false fashion) 'Someone has control of my thoughts'. Only took about 30 minutes, apparently some others were there for much longer.
Next up was the longest portion, which is the security section. The short version is that you have to manually input into a computer everything that you've filled out on the SF-86 or 85. It takes a long time because it's so much information. At the end, if you have any felony stuff, they (I heard) take you into a room and ask you to elaborate. Guys with DUI's were okay, I think.
My start time was 12pm and I was out at 4:45; with that said, I was incredibly lucky and had no red flags and failed no tests. There were still people with 9am start times there at 4:45. Everyone is different.
What I would recommend to everyone is that if you're sitting and not doing anything, explore another area to expedite things. I rushed because I had a flight to catch, but the FAA as well as medical staff that's running things seemed to have a hard time keeping track of individual needs. Guys were sitting and waiting for 20 minutes for things that had already been done. I was shuttled off and told to take my shirt off for an EKG even though it had been done the hour before. Also, it was a 12pm start time but they got our group started at 11:45.
That's it, time to fly.
First off, you don't need a suit. I know there's another thread about this, but dress pants/tie is more than enough. The interviewers and FAA people do not care about how you're dressed. They care about what you have to say, and you'll find that out when you're there. In Memphis today it was about 98-99 degrees, and while most of it is indoors you're wasting energy in a suit.
My assigned time was 12pm. I got there at about 11 in hopes of finishing early but quickly found out there's no real way to start early. At 12pm there was a group of 10, the FAA overseer for the event gave a little synopsis and we were each taken into a room for the interview. It was 21 questions, all of which can be found on the sticky post. Nothing difficult, it's designed just to hear about experiences where you've had to react or lead.
After that came the cattle adventure. I say that because everyone scatters; some people are taken to do their security, others go to medical, some go to psych. At 12:45 I was taken for the drug test, pee in a cup and that's it. After that came the EKG, took my shirt off and laid on a table. Then a Dr. came in and did some routine stuff, no turn-your-head-and-cough section. Next up was a little bit of a wait, but I was taken to do hearing/vision in a trailer outside. The hearing is VERY difficult; that was the sentiment of everyone I talked to. It's hard and the sounds are very faint. Focus on your breathing, do not make any noises. From what I can tell a lot of people didn't pass, and had to go through something else. Vision is also a bit tricky, read letters on a line and they test your depth as well as color blindness. Just stay focused - it really is designed for you to do well.
At that point I was done with the physical stuff, there was some waiting around for a flight surgeon to sign off on your medical packet. Next was the psych exam, 370 computer questions where you are repeatedly asked (in true/false fashion) 'Someone has control of my thoughts'. Only took about 30 minutes, apparently some others were there for much longer.
Next up was the longest portion, which is the security section. The short version is that you have to manually input into a computer everything that you've filled out on the SF-86 or 85. It takes a long time because it's so much information. At the end, if you have any felony stuff, they (I heard) take you into a room and ask you to elaborate. Guys with DUI's were okay, I think.
My start time was 12pm and I was out at 4:45; with that said, I was incredibly lucky and had no red flags and failed no tests. There were still people with 9am start times there at 4:45. Everyone is different.
What I would recommend to everyone is that if you're sitting and not doing anything, explore another area to expedite things. I rushed because I had a flight to catch, but the FAA as well as medical staff that's running things seemed to have a hard time keeping track of individual needs. Guys were sitting and waiting for 20 minutes for things that had already been done. I was shuttled off and told to take my shirt off for an EKG even though it had been done the hour before. Also, it was a 12pm start time but they got our group started at 11:45.
That's it, time to fly.