CFIs Needed

aviator747 said:
All the sims are free to use as much as you like to prepare for your rating and the multi's are available at a cost rate of $140 (wet).:nana2:
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1. Would it be better to apply at Sierra with just my CFI and figure on earning the CFII/MEI while I'm there? So the sims are free and the plane is discounted, is the instructor's time free as well? How difficult is it to fit in training with all the teaching you're doing?

2. Is the interview really just a phone conversation? If so, then is the probation period used to weed out the weakest links? Any suggestions for succeeding in the phone interview and surviving the probation period? What should a guy expect during the probation period? Is it intense or more of a formality?
 
taz said:
well, i guess in aviation, when you're not flying, you're bound to find something to complain. airplane sucks, wx sucks, mx sucks, food sucks, students sucks. great post btw george. really answer alot of questions people are trying to find out about sierra. i got what i need from sierra while instructing there and i have no regrets. if i have to go back an do it all over again, i would choose the same place. met some awesome people there and got i what i needed from castle.

hey george, you still sitting reserve? you gotta come out to LAX instead.
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Well I am glad to see someone has some common sense about the whole thing......

Hey man I am still on reserve and it isn't going to get any better. WATCH out base traders George is on the prowl to snatch one up....(HELL IT WAS DONE TO ME TWICE WITH MY TRADE REQUEST------LAX HERE I COME):rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk:
 
Old Dominion Flyer said:
1. Would it be better to apply at Sierra with just my CFI and figure on earning the CFII/MEI while I'm there? So the sims are free and the plane is discounted, is the instructor's time free as well? How difficult is it to fit in training with all the teaching you're doing?

2. Is the interview really just a phone conversation? If so, then is the probation period used to weed out the weakest links? Any suggestions for succeeding in the phone interview and surviving the probation period? What should a guy expect during the probation period? Is it intense or more of a formality?
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HI there flyer

CAll me if you want to discuss it in greater detail. But to answer your questions briefly I always say to applicants if you have the financial means available go ahead and get all three ratings done so you can soley concentrate on your work and complete your ten months maximizing your flight time and income.

On the other hand most people are pretty much broke when they finish there CFI initial and they academy is pretty good in the sense that you can work teaching private for a couple of months, save some money then take a week of and do 1 of 2 things.........1. Use the company facilities to do a COMBINED CFII/MEI - its quick and it will save you money. 2....go to ATP and get a crash course (LITERALLY) in multi engine flying - dont recommend that one, but heck the choice is yours. You would be surprised how much money you can save up in 2-3 months at the school if you refrain from indulging in certain social activities !!!!!!!

Telephone Interviews will be available till the end of January. Starting in February the initial interview will be via phone, but all applicants will be required to visit the campus for formal testing (YES FOLKS GEORGE HAS WRITTEN A NEW AND IMPROVED TEST/////////LOL).

You are more than welcome to call any time or email me with your resume and I will send you some more information. If I dont answer I am flying, just leave me a message

George :nana2:
 
flyguy said:
Feel free to send your resume, but speaking Chinese won't be an advantage as the Students are forbidden to speak anyhing but English in the classroom or in the plane. They are onlly allowed to speak Chinese in the dorms. In fact we have a Chinese instructor who is not even alowed to let the students know he is Chinese. If asked he is supposed to claim to be Korean.
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That may be the most rediculous thing that I've ever heard. And you wonder why its so hard to train these guys. Train them using both chinese and english, if they don't understand something in english tell them what it is in chinese then have them say it back to you in english. I mean look,learning to fly is hard enough as it is, progress is definately going to be hampered by that. If you have to explain what a horizon is to them before they can level the wings, think of how difficult its going to be to explain why they can't fly into the TFR. Do it in both. Hell, I deal with EVA, and Korean Air, and China Southern on center on nearly a daily basis, and half those guys can't communicate effectively in english, and they're captains, let alone brand new student pilots trying to learn to fly. Make it easier on them and they might learn a little quicker and at a correllary level rather than just rote memorization every time they do something.
 
ppragman said:
That may be the most rediculous thing that I've ever heard. And you wonder why its so hard to train these guys.
Hell, I deal with EVA, and Korean Air, and China Southern on center on nearly a daily basis, and half those guys can't communicate effectively in english, and they're captains, let alone brand new student pilots trying to learn to fly. Make it easier on them and they might learn a little quicker and at a correllary level rather than just rote memorization every time they do something.
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Hey bud, that statement is not entirely correct. During training events and ground school obviously we require them to do there best to keep up with the english instruction. THEY ARE NOT FORBIDDEN to discuss material between then in Chinese..obviously the students with stronger english help the students with weaker or language problems by tutoring them in Chinese. That statement made is a little out of context.
Given the statement above you made, I also listen to EVA, Korean and AIR CHINA ON CENTER everyday and i am surprised that you justify captains not having english abilities?????. At that stage in the game I would hope they can speak it at least.....Sierra is doing them a service by providing english classes ( and encouraging them to speak it everyday) in addition to there english training because come this year you should be a aware of ICAO ANNEX 2008 which will require them to speak read and write english at ICAO LEVEL 3 before they can have a career in this industry.....

LET THE GAMES BEGIN
 
ppragman said:
That may be the most rediculous thing that I've ever heard. And you wonder why its so hard to train these guys. Train them using both chinese and english, if they don't understand something in english tell them what it is in chinese then have them say it back to you in english. I mean look,learning to fly is hard enough as it is, progress is definately going to be hampered by that. If you have to explain what a horizon is to them before they can level the wings, think of how difficult its going to be to explain why they can't fly into the TFR. Do it in both. Hell, I deal with EVA, and Korean Air, and China Southern on center on nearly a daily basis, and half those guys can't communicate effectively in english, and they're captains, let alone brand new student pilots trying to learn to fly. Make it easier on them and they might learn a little quicker and at a correllary level rather than just rote memorization every time they do something.
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I have to disagree completely. First of all the students are expected to be proficient in English. Chinese students are known for cheating on tests, and those who are not as proficient in English as they should be probably cheated a lot when they were learning English. If they are not as proficient in English as they are supposed to be, they WILL NOT make it in this industry anywhere in the world since English is required everywhere. So, if they can't learn how to fly because they can't understand the instructor, they are probably the ones who won't be able to understand their hold short instructions and taxi a fully loaded 737 onto an active runway (these are the ones you are talking about who can't communicate). Its better that they don't learn how to fly. Also, we certainly can't expect all of the instructors to learn to speak Chinese so they can all have bilingual instruction. Its hard enough to get instructors out there at all, if they required fluency in Chinese, they might as well shut down. They would be lucky to get one or two resumes a year. If they happen to get an instructor who speaks Chinese, how do they go about selecting the one lucky student who will train with him, and leave the other 200 sitting in the dust? And that one student may understand everything better than his peers since he got to have the difficult concepts explained in Chinese, but his English will probably suffer as he'd revert to Chinese so much that he'll be out of practice when it comes time that he must use English. That one student may understand everything there is to understand about TFRs, but he won't know he's flying into one because they don't publish NOTAMs in Chinese, and there is not option to speak to a Chinese briefer when you call 1800WXBRIEF.

In my time there I signed off 14 students who's native language was not English. I can't speak for the other instructors, but I can tell you that my students understood the concepts they were expected to understand. If they didn't understand how I explained something, I found another way to explain it. When the time came, they understood what they needed to. it can be done. It might be more difficult for them than for American students, but its certainly possible. If we let them revert to Chinese every time it got tough, they would use it as a crutch. They need to practice English as much as possible or they won't improve.
 
i know chinese and i chose not to instruct my student in chinese. if the student can't communicate in english inside the cockpit, they have no business flying at all. i still remember one time my blood pressure went thru the roof when my instrument student can't understand a simple approach clearance while in IMC. like eric said before, chinese students are known for cheating and also, their amazing memory skills. they can memorize the whole entire ATP written and get 100% but have no clue on the application side of aviation. there are times i speak chinese to my student. only outside of classroom and cockpit and we talk about american culture, just to make them understand us more.
 
aviator747 said:
Hey man I am still on reserve and it isn't going to get any better. WATCH out base traders George is on the prowl to snatch one up....(HELL IT WAS DONE TO ME TWICE WITH MY TRADE REQUEST------LAX HERE I COME):rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk::rawk:
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Oh, Lord! George is about to take over LAX...
aviator747 said:
(YES FOLKS GEORGE HAS WRITTEN A NEW AND IMPROVED TEST/////////LOL).
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This oughta be good! :)
aviator747 said:
Hey bud, that statement is not entirely correct. During training events and ground school obviously we require them to do there best to keep up with the english instruction. THEY ARE NOT FORBIDDEN to discuss material between then in Chinese..obviously the students with stronger english help the students with weaker or language problems by tutoring them in Chinese.
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Remember when Han used to yell at his students in Chinese? I still remember the expressions on their faces.

What George and Eric said is true. I will add that it is impossible for them to pass the instrument checkride if they can't properly communicate in English. NorCal tries, but eventually they'll ask for someone else if they cannot understand what the student is saying, or if the student cannot understand what they are saying (translation: follow instructions)
 
WestIndian425 said:
Remember when Han used to yell at his students in Chinese? I still remember the expressions on their faces.
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I distinctively remember hearing lots of English four letter words being thrown at them as well.

Still, my favorite recollection of Han was when he slammed his pen down, cringed, and said to his student "You've gotta brush your [expletive] teeth" and stood up and ran outside for a cigarette.
 
I mean Han was pretty good, but I made my guy solo after making him cry, I feel sorry for doing that now, but their english is bad. It's exactly what eric and taz are saying, you don't have any idea how to deal with these guys till your in 110 degree heat and trying to explain for the 5th time what cleared for ILS means.
 
aviatormar said:
you don't have any idea how to deal with these guys till your in 110 degree heat and trying to explain for the 5th time what cleared for ILS means.
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You should've been flying at night with us.

2-3 hour legs, 8 hours a night...what were you thinking flying at 2PM!
 
aviatormar said:
I mean Han was pretty good, but I made my guy solo after making him cry, I feel sorry for doing that now, but their english is bad. It's exactly what eric and taz are saying, you don't have any idea how to deal with these guys till your in 110 degree heat and trying to explain for the 5th time what cleared for ILS means.
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Yes I do! And then I wised up and worked the graveyard shift with Nick. :) I'm glad I was able to accomplish it without too much of the yelling, and I made sure and complimented my guys when they did good.

In all honesty, I tried to have fun with my guys. I remember when Derry was doing stalls in the Seminole, and on recovery he was trying so hard to retract the flaps (now we know there is a "trick" to it). I laughed so hard and called him a weakling. Eventually he got it and he was laughing as well. I could tell you stories!
 
I can't recommend working here. I mean, its great to make a lot of money and have freedom to do a lot of things you couldn't do elsewhere, but solely based on the fact that Sierra is ran by the slimiest people I've ever dealt with. You can land gear up and not get fired. You can fly drunk and not get fired. You can even commit fraud on your time sheets and not get fired. I was there for a year and did non e of that ####. How did they repay me? They fired me. I get called into the managers office and he basically tells me "you've had a few students fail their checkride lately, so that means you can't instruct, so I'm firing you." Never mind the fact that every single student I've ever flown with has passed every checkride at least on their second try. Not every checkride failure is on the instructor. Sometimes a student just messes up. I tried telling them that, but they had their minds made up.

Its ########, but thats how they are. Maybe in China crap like that can go down, but not in America.

If you do want to work there, I suggest leaving the Hobbs run on the sims and logging it as much as possible. Don;t be honest. It doesn't pay off in the long run. Do as many of Seminole standardization flights as possible. Even though you're only allowed like 3 hours worth, do much more because you can get away with it. Go to LAX, get fuel and lunch, and have the school reimburse you for the landing fee and your lunch. Never turn in a time sheet unless you have 10 hours of ground time logged for each student regardless if you actually did the ground lessons. When I was there I did none of that ####. Looking back, I could have gotten way way more out of my time there, but didn't.
 
aviator747 said:
Telephone Interviews will be available till the end of January. Starting in February the initial interview will be via phone, but all applicants will be required to visit the campus for formal testing (YES FOLKS GEORGE HAS WRITTEN A NEW AND IMPROVED TEST/////////LOL).
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Did Sierra ever go ahead and implement this new interview policy? I plan to apply once the CFI is completed. However, I'm not too enthused about a trip to CA from Virginia at my own expense unless I know I'll have a job there. Then again, I guess that's just the nature of the beast.
 
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