Application & Interview prep

[azmedic]

My advice is:

1. Never sound prepped. I'm actually anti-prep.
2. LISSSSSTEN THE QUEEEEEESTION BEING ASKED! As in, don't assume what the interviewer is asking, interrupt them and then embark on answering what you think they're asking. For the love of David Hasselhoff, DO NOT DO THIS.
3. Never use jargon that doesn't pertain to your current job ("Redcoats? United's got redcoats? What's a redcoat?")
4. Look at #2
5. Look at #1

6. Try to limit the “ummm’s” and “ahh’s” (save that one for the cockpit PAs) as much as possible when answering the interviewers questions. I know part of it is interview anxiety and people are nervous,but those fillers are unnecessary.


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[typhoonpilot]

Howdy all,

I've decided to apply for a couple Majors and want to use a consulting service for application review and interview prep. Can anyone suggest one they like more than others? So far I am looking at Spitifire and Checked and Set, but would love input from y'all about those or others. I live NW of Seattle, so Alaska and Delta will be my main focus.

Great idea. As others have said already, it gets you thinking straight. Remember the line in 42 when the reporter asks Jackie: “You know how you’d like to see the pitch come slowly toward you,” he says. “Well, maybe you’d like to see these questions come slowly too.” That is exactly what prepping does for you. It gives you a lot more confidence and capacity to see the underlying question and shape your answer appropriately. I've used both Raven and Emerald Coast over the years. I felt both did a good job for what I asked them to do. I am sure there are others that are good as well. James at Raven is excellent. I've had dinner with Aaron and drank Scotch in his house as well so have to give a good review to Emerald Coast. In full honesty he prepped me for the TRI interview at Emirates. After that prep those pitches came in so slow it was the best feeling I ever had in an interview.

 

[Sculprit]

To further what @derg said above. Take a few moments after the question is asked. You may already have a great story ready to go but to keep from sounding canned, take that moment of silence, think it through once more then go for it with your answer.

 

[smack300]

I did application review for the majors with Raven. They are very throughout and professional. I would and have recommended them to other friends looking to apply to the 121 world.

 

[derg]

You will NOT say "that's a great question" or "thank you for asking"

 

[podrick]

Lots of great advice in this thread, I did prep with Cage Marshall and regretted it. They prepped me to have canned robotic answers, say fake things like what @derg just said above. Didn’t end well and cost me what I thought was my dream job.

Interviewed at a different legacy a few months later and made a point to not prep this time. Went great and had genuine conversations, I think the combination of doing prep in the past, but not immediately beforehand did the trick for me. I got lucky and in retrospect I’m very glad I ended up at the second place anyways.

 

[form810]

Howdy all,

I've decided to apply for a couple Majors and want to use a consulting service for application review and interview prep. Can anyone suggest one they like more than others? So far I am looking at Spitifire and Checked and Set, but would love input from y'all about those or others. I live NW of Seattle, so Alaska and Delta will be my main focus.

Know how to fly.
Know your Regs.
Be kind to others.
Display good judgement.
Speak articulately and honestly.

Save your money.

If you do all that and still don't get hired, you really don't want to work there.

There's your consult. Should I send you my Apple Pay coordinates?

 

[roundout]

Display good judgement.
Speak articulately and honestly.

This is what the prep is for. As mentioned above, going in cold you’re not going to have any idea what to expect. If you know what to expect, you have a little more room to breathe. Some of us are shy and get flustered when put on the spot, have a tendency to talk too much when nervous (don’t know when to stop), and don’t have a good handle on what stories are appropriate and which aren’t.

Canned answers aside, for me, that’s what prep is for. You consult a professional to get your flight plan and look at the weather before you block out. Why? Because they’re a professional and know what they’re looking at. Why not do the same walking in to an interview trying to land a 10 million dollar career?

 

[form810]

This is what the prep is for. As mentioned above, going in cold you’re not going to have any idea what to expect. If you know what to expect, you have a little more room to breathe. Some of us are shy and get flustered when put on the spot, have a tendency to talk too much when nervous (don’t know when to stop), and don’t have a good handle on what stories are appropriate and which aren’t.

Canned answers aside, for me, that’s what prep is for. You consult a professional to get your flight plan and look at the weather before you block out. Why? Because they’re a professional and know what they’re looking at. Why not do the same walking in to an interview trying to land a 10 million dollar career?

Sure. That makes some sense, I guess.

Part of my disconnect is that I do NOT consult a "professional" for a flight plan. I've always planned my own.

As far as Wx is concerned, I routinely consult -indirectly- the many experts at the NWS, most of whom are real pros.

You said you get nervous in interviews. I get nervous when consulting with "professionals" like "financial advisors" or "weather advisors" or "religious advisors" who are really just sales people in professional wool possessing different tax liabilities.

Be the professional you want to see in the world.

What button do I press again? When do I press it?

 

[RRPower]

Lots of great advice in this thread, I did prep with Cage Marshall and regretted it. They prepped me to have canned robotic answers, say fake things like what @derg just said above. Didn’t end well and cost me what I thought was my dream job.

Interviewed at a different legacy a few months later and made a point to not prep this time. Went great and had genuine conversations, I think the combination of doing prep in the past, but not immediately beforehand did the trick for me. I got lucky and in retrospect I’m very glad I ended up at the second place anyways.

Wow, Cage did that? They must have changed because they made a specific point to say DON’T do that. I used them back in 2019 so times may have changed.

At the end of the day I have picked up on two types of people. Those that need interview prep and those that don’t. I don’t mean to sound flippant but seriously. Here is what prep companies tell you:

-Show up in a suit…no not the colorful one, a darker suit. Look like you didn’t just throw this together last night.

-When asked why (United, Delta, American, etc), don’t say anything about pay, fleet, travel, contract, blah blah blah. Have a heartfelt answer that shows you spent some time thinking about it.

-Have proper logbooks that you spent a hot second tabbing and making sure the times equal and that are all signed.

- READ THE INSTRUCTIONS THE AIRLINE SENT YOU FOR THE INTERVIEW. If they want two copies of XYZ then bring them…in that order. Don’t bring 3 or 1 or be adding in ABC.

-Take some time to think about TMAAT questions. Forget the specific questions. Group everything into CRM, Conflict resolution, Leadership, and customer service. Literally every question will hit one of these topics, always and forever.

- Don’t disrespect the process. It is what it is. If you want to complain about the above tips then don’t bother interviewing. You are the type of person that won’t be successful. It’s a game…play it or don’t.

I feel like everything above is fairly common sense but I witnessed first hand in my major interview infractions of all types above. I was completely shocked that people still showed up with stacks of disheveled papers and logbooks. Came in looking like they had just finished at a bachelor party a couple hours earlier. Saw pilots complaining about the interview or their current employer out loud in the common area for all to hear. Absolutely horrendous stuff I never believed I would see in that environment. Those are the folks that need interview prep the most.


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[podrick]

Wow, Cage did that? They must have changed because they made a specific point to say DON’T do that. I used them back in 2019 so times may have changed.

At the end of the day I have picked up on two types of people. Those that need interview prep and those that don’t. I don’t mean to sound flippant but seriously. Here is what prep companies tell you:

-Show up in a suit…no not the colorful one, a darker suit. Look like you didn’t just throw this together last night.

-When asked why (United, Delta, American, etc), don’t say anything about pay, fleet, travel, contract, blah blah blah. Have a heartfelt answer that shows you spent some time thinking about it.

-Have proper logbooks that you spent a hot second tabbing and making sure the times equal and that are all signed.

- READ THE INSTRUCTIONS THE AIRLINE SENT YOU FOR THE INTERVIEW. If they want two copies of XYZ then bring them…in that order. Don’t bring 3 or 1 or be adding in ABC.

-Take some time to think about TMAAT questions. Forget the specific questions. Group everything into CRM, Conflict resolution, Leadership, and customer service. Literally every question will hit one of these topics, always and forever.

- Don’t disrespect the process. It is what it is. If you want to complain about the above tips then don’t bother interviewing. You are the type of person that won’t be successful. It’s a game…play it or don’t.

I feel like everything above is fairly common sense but I witnessed first hand in my major interview infractions of all types above. I was completely shocked that people still showed up with stacks of disheveled papers and logbooks. Came in looking like they had just finished at a bachelor party a couple hours earlier. Saw pilots complaining about the interview or their current employer out loud in the common area for all to hear. Absolutely horrendous stuff I never believed I would see in that environment. Those are the folks that need interview prep the most.


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I’m sure it varies on who you end up talking to with from these prep companies. But yes, I was given a copy of the actual list of that airlines interview questions and told I needed to memorize a response to each. Seemed great at the time thinking I had an “in” knowing the questions ahead of time, but in hindsight… maybe not so much.

 

[phill1174]

Wow, Cage did that? They must have changed because they made a specific point to say DON’T do that. I used them back in 2019 so times may have changed.

At the end of the day I have picked up on two types of people. Those that need interview prep and those that don’t. I don’t mean to sound flippant but seriously. Here is what prep companies tell you:

-Show up in a suit…no not the colorful one, a darker suit. Look like you didn’t just throw this together last night.

-When asked why (United, Delta, American, etc), don’t say anything about pay, fleet, travel, contract, blah blah blah. Have a heartfelt answer that shows you spent some time thinking about it.

-Have proper logbooks that you spent a hot second tabbing and making sure the times equal and that are all signed.

- READ THE INSTRUCTIONS THE AIRLINE SENT YOU FOR THE INTERVIEW. If they want two copies of XYZ then bring them…in that order. Don’t bring 3 or 1 or be adding in ABC.

-Take some time to think about TMAAT questions. Forget the specific questions. Group everything into CRM, Conflict resolution, Leadership, and customer service. Literally every question will hit one of these topics, always and forever.

- Don’t disrespect the process. It is what it is. If you want to complain about the above tips then don’t bother interviewing. You are the type of person that won’t be successful. It’s a game…play it or don’t.

I feel like everything above is fairly common sense but I witnessed first hand in my major interview infractions of all types above. I was completely shocked that people still showed up with stacks of disheveled papers and logbooks. Came in looking like they had just finished at a bachelor party a couple hours earlier. Saw pilots complaining about the interview or their current employer out loud in the common area for all to hear. Absolutely horrendous stuff I never believed I would see in that environment. Those are the folks that need interview prep the most.


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This! I interviewed at an Air Line right before COVID and was surprised that several people waltzed in a few minutes late like it was nothing.