They will fly you up the day before and cover your hotel. All of us rode the shuttle from the hotel to their headquarters. We arrived and were given a form that asked us to summarize our flight experience (times, checkride failures, etc.). We were then given a brief overview of the company and a tour of their facilities. We were then immediately taken for the written tests. Neither test was hard, the first was the wonderlick which you can't study for and then the second was over 91 instrument regs and a few jepp questions. After this the interviews begin. Those who waiting to be interviewed are fingerprinted. Each person is interviewed by a line captain and a hr rep. Be sure to mark all your checkrides ahead of time and show up with your paperwork organized and ready to go. Interview is very laid back and low pressure. Mostly scenario based questions. 20 year captain is not following company procedures, how do you handle it. I brought all my answers back to safety. A few questions of the systems of my current multi (everyone but one guy got electrical). Pulled out a TAF and asked if we needed an alternate. Pulled out a METAR and was asked to read it. Asked a few questions about jepps (what is a conditional MDA or DA, mins for ILS, is chart drawn to scale). TMAAT you made a decsion you would change. TMAAT you had a conflict with a coworker or student. If asked about you, what would your students say? After this you are sent into the hall and they discuss if you will continue. Brought back in and are either sent to the airport or given a conditional offer. If you are given the conditional offer you will continue to the sim. You are given a packet that provides V-speeds and describes what you will do. READ it carefully and take however long you need to prepare. T/O climb to 3000 intercept VOR radial (be sure to put the gear up, several people forgot). Do steep turns both directions (know Va for sim). Asked position relative to VOR (Radial and Distance). Given approach plate to brief while flying. Sim is not paused while you brief, so you need a solid scan. Once you are setup and ready to go you receive vectors to final and fly to mins. Go missed and brief the hold entry correctly and you are done.
Date Interviewed: April 2011
Summary of Qualifications:
Comm (ASEL, AMEL, & Instrument) CFI (ASE, AME, & Instrument)
Were you offered the job?
No
Pilot Interview Profile:
Airline provided positive space no rev travel, and paid for my hotel to stay the night before. We started the day with a quick presentation of the company, benifits, etc, and then a tour was provided of their operations center.
We went back and started the wonderlick and knowledge test. The wonderlick test is multiple choice and you have 50 questions in 12 mins. The FAA test covers part 91 operations from airspeeds in airspace, cloud clearances, about 5 questions from 2 different Jepp Charts, approach procedures, when can you do a side step maneuver, and you are given a TAF and are asked based on this time what weather could you expect. The knowledge test was 25 questions and nothing was said about a certain grade / number correct to pass either test.
We were taken to the cafe and just waited for our turns with the fingure printing and the HR test. Expect the HR portion to run from 45-mins to 1 hour. I was interviewed by a line captian on the CRJ-200 and a rep from HR. Both were very nice. All the questions except for the very end were TMAAT. Once those questions were done you were given an emergency situation in the current multi you have described and then had to answer a series of questions. After those questions the pilot pulled out a Jepp chart and had you breif the approach. He then pulled out some Jepp Approach charts and airport signs and have your tell him what they mean.
I then had the opportunity to ask a few questions to both. When that was done I was asked to step out so they could discuss if you will move onto the sim. I did not get to move on past HR. They refused to tell me why, but maybe some suggestions for you all. * Mark your logbook with all checkrides and give a total of 6 months and 1 year * Don't forget to put non flying jobs on your resume * RECENCY RECENY RECENY - I was current by FAA standards but they really want someone who has flown a good deal in the past 6 monts and 1 year.
I wish all of you the best of luck. I plan on reapplying again. The company has a great deal to offer.
Date Interviewed: December 2008
Summary of Qualifications:
1250TT, CFI, CFII, MEI, Furloughed from flying CRJ-200, with 600 hrs in the aircraft.
Were you offered the job?
Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
The day started out just the same as all the other reviews, which seem to be very accurate. Get your haircut and manicure a couple days before you go, have a good breakfast, and relax. They sit all the interviewees down in a room and give you an overview of Mesaba’s fleet, organization, history and the works. If you are coming from another airline, use this as information, but don’t go through the day saying “at my airline, we did it this way…” Pick up questions from this to ask in the interview phase. Get a couple legitimate questions to ask. Then the HR rep comes in and administers the two tests. The first test is the Wonderlick intelligence test. Don’t worry about it too much. Look it up on Google, and see if you can find a practice test. They grade the number of correct answers, 50 questions in 12 minutes. So, don’t spend too long on the ones that hang you up. You can come back to them if there is time. Don’t worry about not answering all the questions. Very few people get all the way through the second page. The second test is the IFR technical questions. All part 91. Review your part 91 IFR procedures, holding procedures, and Jepp introduction. There are several questions of “you are here… this is the hold. How do you enter it?” Know your basic VFR weather minimums. Know standards for filing an alternate, and the part 91 requirements for qualifying as an alternate. Keep in mind, the FAR’s say that you need to file an alternate when the weather is BELOW 2000’ and 3sm. Airspeeds rules. Approach plates (Jepp). I’m not sure if I got this one right, but RTFQ, ATFQ. The question says “you are flying XYZ approach at QRS airport. You see the approach lights. What can you descend to?” Look at the particular approaches’ ALS. It’s not too difficult of a test. 25 questions, 20 minutes. You should be able to finish this one easily within the time given. After this, they send you to the cafeteria where you will wait with the people who aren’t interviewing. The first few people will go get their fingerprints taken electronically. Nothing is done with these unless you are offered a position and accept. It just speeds up the process. The interview is very well described in previous reports. Be yourself. Don’t be overly humorous, but CERTAINLY don’t be lackadaisical. Relax, as it is a conversation, but still a professional conversation. The captain is an experienced line captain, wondering if he or she can fly a 4 day trip with you. The HR rep is wondering if you are trainable. Stay away from the phrases like “at my company we did….” When you get to Mesaba, they want to know that you’ll be able to do things the way that they have established. Know your own aircraft, whichever one it is that you fly currently. Without fail, know the limitations of your own aircraft. If you are an CRJ pilot, review your limitations section if you’ve still got those publications. My captain was up for his PC, so he got out his manual and started flipping pages and asking questions. Know the electrical system, hydraulics, fuel, gear, and basic engine principles. Know the procedures for engine loss at low level, or V1 cut. (I wasn’t asked all of these, but if you don’t know those principles of your own aircraft, that’s something to study up on to save yourself.) Know airport signage. Review the hold short lines, which side you stop on, and which side you go on. Know the ILS Hold short, and when it is in effect. Be able to read a TAF, METAR and NOTAM. If you are selected to continue, you go back to the cafeteria, where you have a few minutes to review the procedure, and some specifics about the simulator. Well described in previous reviews. Don’t worry about the rudder… the pedals aren’t even attached. KEEP FLYING THE SIM!!! You might try to brief the approach, and wind up 30 degrees off heading. It’s all done in MPH, so the speeds are that of a normal Arrow. Start at 500’, climb at 252 up to 2000’. Level off at 232, and do steep turns 45 degrees, one direction. Relocate. Tune in the VOR, and identify the quadrant, radial, and distance. (No need to tune and identify. Just tune, the examiner says the identify part is taken care of.) After you identify your radial, they say intercept _ _ _ radial to the station. Relocate. You are position frozen while you brief the approach. KEEP FLYING THE SIM! It’s pretty easy to turn 30 degrees off heading. If you are used to flying a fast plane, keep in mind that you don’t need to turn immediately as the localizer comes alive. ¾ or ½ scale deflection is sufficient. Keep your scan up as you fly inbound. ATC requests that you call FAF inbound, which is the compass locator. Make your 1000’ to go, 500’ to go, and so on call outs, until you get down to mins. Then go missed. The missed procedure that is published is climb on rwy heading to 1600’, vectors to the VOR. Know your position in relation to the VOR. All I had to do was describe how I’d enter the hold, and sim eval was over. Then they give you a cab voucher over to the drug testing facility, and another one from there to the airport. I got done in enough time to catch the earlier flight, but I was the first one to go into the interview. I wouldn’t plan on getting done much earlier than their plan. Especially if you aren’t the first interviewee. All in all, it was a very professionally organized day, and ran pretty smoothly. You may want to bring a snack to the interview while you are waiting in the cafeteria. They have microwaves, but no dishes or silverware. They have some snack and vending machines, but I wouldn’t necessarily rely upon that, although the burritos in the machine are pretty darn tasty.
Date Interviewed: November 2008
Summary of Qualifications:
121 captain
Were you offered the job?
Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
Mesaba has announced 110 furloughs to begin in Sept 2009.
Date Interviewed: November 2008
Summary of Qualifications:
20,000 hrs., 121 capt.
Were you offered the job?
Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
Update on new hire classes. Mesaba advises that no new hire classes until late summer 2009.
