from my other forum posted by a SKW Captain:
"One of our XXX participants had an interview with SkyWest this week, and unfortunately it did not go well. I had the chance to talk to her after the interview, and she has graciously given me the go ahead to share some of her experience here. Hopefully others can benefit from some of the insight here.
Our interviewee took this opportunity seriously, spending the last few weeks prior to the interview studying. She did a phone mock interview prep with Air Inc. She felt this prepared her well for handling a couple of the trouble spots earlier in her aviation experience. However, the interview had a lot of technical questions in it, and the mock interview did not really prepare her for that aspect. The interviewee came to SLC early so she could get a session on a simulator at one of the local flight schools (the same kind of simulator used during the interview).
The interviewee came from a flight instructor background. A few examples of the technical types of questions: draw a turbine engine, asked to identify a MEA Gap on a high altitude chart (I had that one on my interview too and the only reason I had any idea about it is because it was in the 135 ops specs, and I had asked about it in training), service volume of a high altitude VOR, center of pressure, center of gravity. One of the interviewers also did an extensive review of her logbooks.
So here are a few things that those of you who are flight instructors with ambitions to move up to the airlines may want to consider:
1. Flight instructing is a wonderful way to build experience. However, you spend the bulk of your time evaluating how others are performing, and get very little opportunity to actually fly the airplane. Somehow, you need to build and maintain strong instrument flying skills. It may be very helpful to periodically do a sim session or instrument currency with another instructor, but make sure it is someone who is willing to give you a good workout, and challenge you to a very high standard.
2. If you are looking for a job as a flight instructor, thoroughly research the possibilities. If an FBO has a 135 certificate, this can give you the experience you need to be more competitive.
3. It may not be your ideal to work for a small commuter that only has equipment like Twin Otters or Beech 1900s, but this may be a very manageable transition from flight instructing. Get some turbine experience, keep your applications current with the other companies you really want to work for, and you'll be a better candidate. I know many pilots at SkyWest come from some of the smaller commuters, or even some from the bigger regionals but want to be based out west versus on the east coast.
Our interviewee will have the opportunity to reapply in six months at SkyWest. Persistence can really pay off, because sometimes people are hired on the second or third try."
I have also heard around the rumor mill that they are now really focusing their attention on applicants that have 135 or previous 121 time...
Hey Difete- Now that you have given up your PIC turbine job (U R crazy BTW), how do the rest of us 121 F/Os who need PIC apply for it????
