What not to do at a SKYW interview

J

JayAre

Well-Known Member
Ran into an old pilot aquaintence last Sat. I was asking if he needed a pilot for the summer fire season(air attack) in his plane. Well as pilots do the BS started to flow and he told me about his interview at SkyW. Flew into SLC on SkyW the night before and checked a bag. Only the bag never made it. Goes to the interview with the clothes on his back. No suit wear is it? In my luggage that was lost on your flight last night. Where is all your paper work? In my luggage. What about the goatee are you going to shave it? Yes. thanks come back in six months.

Don't check your bags!
 
JayAre said:
Ran into an old pilot aquaintence last Sat. I was asking if he needed a pilot for the summer fire season(air attack) in his plane. Well as pilots do the BS started to flow and he told me about his interview at SkyW. Flew into SLC on SkyW the night before and checked a bag. Only the bag never made it. Goes to the interview with the clothes on his back. No suit wear is it? In my luggage that was lost on your flight last night. Where is all your paper work? In my luggage. What about the goatee are you going to shave it? Yes. thanks come back in six months.

Don't check your bags!
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Great, we lost your bag so now we're screwing you out of the interview. What if you wear contacts? The TSA won't let you through security if you don't have a small enough bottle of lens solution. However I personally would have shaved the goatee before travel.

What's the deal with SKYW and their interview practices? I've heard they will be confrontational during the interview. That's from 4 guys from my company who interviewed over there. All 4 were offered the job, 3 took it, and one said thanks but no thanks because he didn't like how he was treated during the interview. Not trying to flame, just an honest question.
 
Sounds like an outstanding organization to what to work for. . .

What would have been outstanding, and a great sign of employer to employee relationship was to. . .go through with the interview, hire the guy if it is warranted; while locating the guys bag(s) and his paperwork.

But of course not, it's SkyWest. Employees are a liability, not an asset. :sarcasm:
 
Well he was an older pilot maybe late 30's or early 40's. Plenty of experience and time. When I interviewed with SkyW it was an excellent interview they were all professional and nice.

I think Lee D is right
If only I could be a fly on a wall sometimes
 
Like LoadMaster said, perhaps there is more to the story. While they have always been sticklers on having all of your paperwork, I would think they would be more understanding to this situation. Most the interview guys I have known are very reasonable.
 
Since SkyWest lost the bag, a reasonable thing to do would be to accomodate the applicant at the next available interview instead of telling them to come back in six months.
 
He might have been hostile or confrontational at the interview - we don't know.

If it had been me, the SECOND I knew my bag was lost, I would call the HR/interview people and explain the situation - preferably from the baggage office so they'd know I had a legitimate problem and wasn't trying to snow them.

Then I'd simply ask - do you want me to come in anyway or can we get into the next interview.
 
I've interviewed a guy in his "business casual" because his suit was in his luggage that was "misplaced" on the way to the interview. He had his paperwork, though. The interview cannot proceed without the required paperwork. Like everyone else here, I sure don't understand why he was put on the six month list. There had to be something else. Now I don't know this person so don't take it as a direct insult to him, but there were times that we knew we would not take a candidate before we asked a single question. Sometimes by the way they handled themselves in the conference room during the briefing or in the hallway between events.

The hiring philosophy at Skywest is to treat each candidate like they were the only one we were going to hire this year. If there was anything we weren't comfortable with be it experience, education, personality, we didn't hire that person. It sounds harsh, but we wanted to make sure we were getting the cream of the crop (of course there have been some that squeaked by, present company included :D).
 
What do you guys think would have happened at a FedEx interview?

"Thanks, but no thanks..."

Did he stay in a hotel the night before the interview? He could have at least shaved...
 
I think they did the right thing. If you're commuting and you check a bag and the airline loses it are you going to show up for your flight in jeans and a t-shirt???
I wouldn't go into an interview blaiming my potential future employer about things.
 
I can see them not continuing the interview, especially for the lack of paperwork. I lean towards the "see ya in 6 months" as being a little extreme. Maybe say "Sorry for the inconvenience, here's another interview date. Don't check the bag next time." IMO, the goatee was probably what did it. Like everyone else said, he should have shaved. All the hotels I've stayed in generally have razors and shaving cream at the front desk.
 
kellwolf said:
IMO, the goatee was probably what did it. Like everyone else said, he should have shaved. All the hotels I've stayed in generally have razors and shaving cream at the front desk.
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Yeh, even if they don't.. the 150 gas stations you pass on the way to the hotel will have one..

Showing up with a goatee *AND* saying all your skrit got lost.. See ya in 6 months..

Even with the lost luggage, you still have to put your best foot forward.. A goatee at a Skywest interview is not the best foot..
 
I once lost my bags on a trip to LA and did a pitch in a polo shirt and jeans. I left on a Sunday night and so I didn't wear the suit.

Anyway, they lost my bags, so I showed up at the prospect dressed in jeans and a polo shirt. I told the receptionist what was going on and she got a laugh out of it. And when I did meet with the prospect, I told her I'd have to keep my cell phone on so they could get a hold of me if they found my bags.

Anyway, right as I'm getting ready to close, the phone rings. They found my bags.

So I said something along the lines of, well, should I tell them to deliver it here so I can change or are you cool with me finishing up here dressed like this?

She laughed and told me she didn't give a crap about how I was dressed because the pitch made sense.

I got the deal.

And she mailed me a tie with the contract as a joke.
 
I've heard this story before, and the way I heard it he showed up dressed *very* casually--more casually than the business casual attire that you're supposed to non-rev in. There's also absolutely zero excuse for showing up with a goatee if you really want the job, period. It sucks that his luggage got lost, but it sounds like he could have made much more of an effort.

I kind of like airlines that are anal during interviews (Expressjet and stapling vs. paperclipping, anyone?), because it shows that they're good enough to be picky.

But of course not, it's SkyWest. Employees are a liability, not an asset. :sarcasm:
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This is different from any other airline how? You seem to like singling out Skywest for the industry as a whole's problems.
 
EDUC8-or said:
What's the deal with SKYW and their interview practices? I've heard they will be confrontational during the interview. .
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This is a common interview practice...a confrontational interviewer. They are trying to see how you respond to the stress of being in an uncomfortable situation. Will you maintian your poise and continue the interview unphased? Or will you fall apart under the stress of the situation?

Of course, following the "good cop, bad cop" routine...there should be someone else in the interview team to balance out the bad cop.
 
Before anyone goes bashing on how SkyWest treats employees, consider that bennefits and work rules at SkyWest are as good or better than just about any other carrier out there, employee morale is higher than any carrier (or company for that matter) I've ever seen, and they accomplish this WITHOUT A UNION forcing it on them. Now I'm not saying they are perfect by any means, but they treat employees as assets IMHO.
 
I agree with you totally flyguy, Skywest is supposed to be a great company to work for.. I have several buddies over there who love it..

If they had a base on the east side of the Mississippi, other than Chicago and a decent upgrade, I would have considered them..
 
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