How the hiring process works
It was almost three years to the day and $80,000 later that Patrick left a comfortable career to chase the dream. He earned all of the requisite FAA certificates and paid his dues as a flight instructor. As soon as the logbook columns tallied just the bare hiring minimums, his r�sum� was FedExed to his airline of first choice. Now, it all came down to this.
It was a Monday in early June. When the call came from that certain HR lady at the regional carrier, Patrick was bouncing around in the right seat of a Piper Seminole trying to instill airmanship into yet another multiengine student. When he checked his voice mail that afternoon, he heard, "Hello. This is Ruth. I am phoning you today to invite you to interview for a pilot position with the company. Please return my call."
The adrenaline shot right through his fingernails. Patrick played the message three times to let its contents sink in, wrote down the info, and began dialing. For the next two days, he was unable to connect with Ruth, reaching an answering machine message each time he called.
Doubt set in. Had he messed up? Why didn't Ruth return his calls? How often should he phone? How many callbacks would be construed as too pushy or not interested enough?
On Thursday, success! Ruth had been tied up interviewing other candidates that week, and, yes, she wanted Patrick to present himself at the company headquarters the following Wednesday.
On a whopping $11,000 flight instructor's salary, Patrick's wardrobe had diminished to a half-closet full of jeans, shorts, T-shirts, athletic shoes, flip-flops, and the school uniform. There was not a stitch of business attire to be found. The first item on Patrick's get-ready agenda was to purchase a suit for the interview.
Virtually every waking moment in the days before the interview was consumed with preparation. First came the phone calls to get the inside scoop--called the gouge--from pals who are flying for the airline. He spent endless hours reviewing the federal aviation regulations and the Aeronautical Information Manual, surfing Web sites like pilotinterviews.com, accumulating a load of human resource interview questions and rehearsing answers, combing through Seminole systems, surveying approach charts, and flying a light twin Flight Training Device (FTD) as often as time and finances would allow.
On Monday, a FedEx package arrived with a stand-by ticket on the airline to transport him to the company headquarters, plus detailed instructions on lodging and local transportation.
Tuesday morning, Patrick arrived at the airport to find that there are no available seats on the scheduled flight--and later flights already were oversold. A mild case of hyperventilation set in. But, the job gods were with him and, thanks to a couple of no-shows on the last flight out, he got to the HQ city.
At his destination, Patrick got a lift to the hotel in an airport limo, paid for by the airline, to finally relax with a good meal, press his suit, watch a little tube, and hit the rack early.
At 5:30 a.m., he darted out of bed way too early for an 8 a.m. show time. Slipping down to the hotel dining room for breakfast, he found three clones. They all looked the same: pressed navy suit, white shirt, red tie for the men, tidy outfits for the women, and the intense look of worry and fear of the unknown etched into their faces. Patrick nibbled on his breakfast platter, finding that his appetite had been replaced by the same feeling in the pit of the stomach as when reaching the top of the first hill on the roller coaster at Six Flags.
Patrick and his three newfound friends met three other suits in the lobby, and off they went to HQ in the hotel van. Amazingly, one guy had done no preparation and asked the troupe, "What is an L notam? What is a balanced field?" Other than that, it was a very quiet ride.
Once at HQ, the group, mostly flight instructors of similar background, was escorted upstairs where a bubbly lady burst out with, "Hi! Anyone feel like interviewing for a pilot job today?" They were paraded to a classroom that served as a holding tank for the day.
Patrick psychoanalyzed every move. "If I sit in the back, they might think I am slacking off, whereas if I sit in the first row, I might appear overzealous." He chose a chair about one-third back. Sit up straight! Don't cross the arms to avoid looking confrontational! Hands folded on the table.
At 8:15, Ruth made her entrance. Soft-spoken and pleasant, she welcomed the group and asked for two forms of identification, pilot certificates, a completed company application, and a logbook summary according to company specifications. This is a good time to hand over letters of recommendation and other lucky charms. Fortunately, all of that was express-mailed to the airline before the interview, earning Patrick brownie points. However, Ruth somewhat sternly called the name of one poor chap and asked for his logbook summary. The poor boy perspired like an old air conditioner on a steamy August day in Houston as he began to crunch his way through his records to come up with the time numbers according to the company's mandated format.
Ruth played a short video on the company history, explained the benefits packages, and then discussed the day's agenda. One-half of the class would be scheduled for face-to-face interviews, while the other half would be flying simulator evaluations in an FTD. The order of activities for each of the victims was posted in the "holding tank." Patrick would do the sim check first.
The simulator evaluator briefed the characteristics of the FTD, handed out approach plates, and provided checklists and "V" speeds, power settings, and the like.
The sim evaluator played the role of ATC. After takeoff, he gave a vector to a holding fix followed by an ILS to a missed approach. During the "miss," Patrick encountered an engine failure. This was followed by more vectors and maneuvering. After what seemed an eternity, the 45-minute ride was over. Shoot, he thought. I busted my altitude by 300 feet once. I hesitated about a hold entry. I forgot flaps for a moment at the final approach fix. Am I toast?
No! He was still in the ballgame. The interview took place next with a senior pilot and Ruth. Because Patrick had done the research, the questions were right out of the gouge. Here they are. How would you answer these questions, especially without advance preparation? Go ahead--test yourself!
By mid-afternoon, it was over. A buddy who had interviewed a month earlier was offered a job on the spot. No such offer was made to this group. Instead, Ruth said to all, "Thank you for coming. We will get back to you soon."
Soon?! What does that mean? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month?
There is thinking in the industry that a successful interview will be followed by a telephone invitation within two to three days. After that, expect the dreaded "Thanks, but no thanks" letter. Patrick waited. He had hoped by Friday that the invite would come. Nothing. The weekend was excruciatingly long. Certainly on Monday. Nothing. Another week went by. Nothing.
On Friday of the second week after the interview, he heard from another schoolmate who interviewed on the same day that he had received the "Dear John" letter. Now, Patrick was expecting the worst.
Finally, on Monday nearly three weeks after the interview, a letter from the airline was in his mailbox. His hands shaking like leaves in a 20-knot crosswind, he ripped open the letter. It read, "We would like to thank you for your interest in our airline."
Blew it! he thought. It's the end of the world!
Oops! He read on: "We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected for our pilot pool of candidates who will be called, hopefully soon, to enter training for a first officer position."
"Hallelujah!" Patrick got the job and is in training by the time you read this.
The moral of the story? Although the details may work somewhat differently from airline to airline, the process is pretty much the same. Work hard. Prepare diligently. Don't try to wing the interview. And, above all, hang in there!
Wayne Phillips is an airline transport pilot with a Boeing 737 type rating. He is a B-737 instructor and operates the Airline Training Orientation Program in association with Continental Airlines. He is an aviation safety consultant in Michigan and speaker for the AOPA Air Safety Foundation.
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