Got a call from Mesaba to set up a pilot interview on the 06-27-00. I received all my paperwork in the mail about 3days before I was supposed to
go. They pay for your trip up there to MSP but on a space available/standby
basis. Which is what I had the most trouble with. It took 4 attempts to
get out of Tampa and I was successful on the last one....Whew!
The previous digs on this page are relatively still a constant. Stayed
at the Americinn, it was pretty nice place and the bus to the interview
picks you up right there. The room was $78.00 with Mesaba rate.
The bus picked up what amounted to be 8 people, 7guys 1 girl. We all
talked between ourselves and our time ranged from 1,200 total to about 1,700
with 100-300 multi.
As previously mentioned, we went through the speech from the HR person,
Erin I think her name was. Very nice person and gave us alot of info to
digest. First we made sure our paperwork was correct then started the test.
Still the iq test, personality test, and aviation knowledge test (not too
bad, had alot of VMC questions on it)
Next was the Technical aspect. I dont recall his name, but the second
bigdog in pilot ops from Detroit spoke to us. Very nice guy. Lots of stuff
on line bids, vacations, reserve, etc. He gave us the interview and sim
schedules.
My sim ride was first. Still the same profile. Takeoff from LGA
vectors for VOR approach, published miss, enter hold(intersection), vectors
for the ILS full stop. Not too bad, as stated sim was kinda role sensitive.
Technical interview was next, not bad at all. I had so much stuff
cramed into my head I was about to explode. He made it very relaxing,
really no tough technical stuff. Mostly about your flying background.
HR interview with Erin was last. Typical HR stuff like where do you
see yourself in the next 5 yrs. How do you rate yourself as a pilot. Again
was very relaxed atmosphere.
I would definately have to say, Mesaba is very professional in there
processes. They actually treat you nicely, after getting shredded by John
Dresser at CoEx, it was a very pleasant experience.
In closing, they say they will let you know in 10days. My fingers and
toes are crossed.

Interviewed on 3/7/2000-stayed at AmericInn-very nice place. The following morning a driver from Wings will pick you up in their black suburban. We were met by Amy King of Human Resources. Gave the overview of the day and gave us the Wunderlick IQ test. Timed test, 50 questions 12 minutes. After this, watch the video on Mesaba. Great
video, makes you feel like you are working there. Then the written. This can best be prepared for by looking at the AIM. It covered areas from Private Pilot to Mesaba ground
school. Some questions were: As weight increases, angle of attack does what with relation to stall, What do you need to be aware of with type 4 deice fluid, basic wx
minimums at 3500', when can you descend below published minimums, when must safetybelts and shoulder harnesses be worn, Ice adhereing to the airframe will do what
to Vmc, What is not part of BOW, 5000' winds are SW and surface winds are South(coriolis or friction). These are just some. At this point you take a break and next we
met Buddy the asst. chief pilot. He does a power point presentation on being a pilot at Mesaba. Very nice guy. This lasted about 45 minutes long. After he finished we were
given our sim and interview skeds and away we went. The sim was the Laguardia 8 departure, vectors to VOR/DME H (RNWY 13) LGA, go missed, do published missed,
explain the hold and don't have to do it. It's easy anyways, teardrop entry, then get vector for ILS 22, LGA and done! Gentleman named Rich runs the sim. GREAT guy. Will
do checklists, tune and ID for you. The AST 300 is a nice sim with HSI. Rudder peddals will not be used nor do you mess with mixtures or props or flaps. Just power and
gear. It is roll sensitive, but it doesn't snap roll like I was waiting for. Holds pitch like a rock. You have more time than you know. Minimum cruise speed of 140 and appch
speed 120! This is impt!! Listen to his brief. While doing the step downs on the VOR approach, CHOP the power to maintain 120. Both approaches end up being left traffic.
We ended up carrying on quite a conversation during my sim. You will break out and he'll tell you your done and have you do CATIII to finish. Wonderful experience.
Next was onto Amy King, HR. Very standard HR questions read from a sheet. Why career change. What does aviation have to offer you? Rate yourself 1-10 as a pilot. One
thing you would change of yourself as a pilot. If you could fly 1 airplane what would it be? Have you ever been scared? Tell me about being asst. chief flt instructor/asst.
manager. If we called your boss right now what kind of a pilot would he say you are? This was about it. Next was onto Buddy. This part may have changed. This ended up
being a little more technical than previously posted. No approach charts but situational. Questions were: capt shows up and is/or appears drunk what do you do? You are
cleared for ILS approach with no final approach fix, what is the final? Definition of Vmc, Why Mesaba? 1 word to describe yourself. Tell me about previous job. What do you
know about Mesaba? He even asked the current stock price. I think he was joking....I hope. This about did it. Handed paper work to Buddy and my day was over at 3:20.
Wondeful company and great interview experience. I HOPE I get offered the job. Everyone was very helpful and professional. 2-15-00

I faxed a resume on a Thursday with 1200TT, 100 multi. I recieved a
call from Scott Lindsey about 4 days later asking for current times.
You call his voice mail and get a list of what he wants: TT, multi,
inst, CFI, last 12 mos, last 6 mos, last 30 days, etc. Leave a voice
mail message and he will call back with an interview offer. He will ask
"do you need help getting to Minneapolis". I think this is a trick
question, since they offer everybody a pass anyhow... just be
diplomatic.
They will send a FedEx pack with a letter stating what to being, where
to go, etc. It will also contain about 25 pages of application and
background check forms. Be very thorough on the 10 yr employment
history... they want EVERYTHING! They will give you a list of hotels,
most stay at the AmericInn. It's an ok place, not the nicest, but they
will shuttle you around. Make sure you request a non-smoking room or
you'll be sorry. AmericInn will cost about $65 with the Mesaba rate. A
bonus is that there's an Applebees in the parking lot.
The letter says to call Wings (an FBO where the sim ride is held) upon
arriving at MSP for a ride to the hotel, but Wings will tell you to just
call the hotel for a ride.
The next morning, Wings will pick you up at the hotel (hopefully) and
take you to the St Paul Downtown airport, where the interviews are held.

At 8am sharp, Amy King from HR came in and greeted us. First thing she
did was take the $180 interview fee (I hear it's now $100). Then she
went over the apps page by page and answered any questions.

Next came the Wonderlick IQ test. 50 questions, 12 mins. If you
finish, there's a bus waiting to take you to NASA! Amy says you may
skip questions, just answer as many as possible... they get harder as
you go. it is Verbal, Math, and Spacial Orientation. Average answered
was about 20-30 in our group. Best advice: skip math q's that involve
several steps and come back later if time allows.

Next, Amy will go over company policies, benefits, etc, typical HR
stuff. All of this can be found ahead of time on the website
(www.mesaba.com).

Next comes a 30 minute promotional video on Mesaba. It is a marketing
video, and it is the same story as the company history on the website.
It's a real tear jerker : )

Next, Amy will return (presumably she's graded the Wonderlick by now)
and hand out 2 more tests. First is the PDI-I personality test. She
tells you to finish it by your HR interview, or the end of the day.
150q's basic psych test. Some real dumb q's, just be truthful and
CONSISTENT in your answers. Before you can start that, she hands out a
pilot knowledge test.

25q's 20 mins, basic part 61, 91 AIM, Instrument questions. No ATP or
135 stuff. a few that stand out:
Visibility based on S.M. or N.M. (91.155)
Width of Victor Airway
Holding entries
Type IV deice fluid
Seat belts
When Descend below MDA allowed
Hypoxia at 12,000 ft at nite (not severe)
When visual approach authorized

Next, Fran, the Assistant Chief Pilot will come in. Fran is a great
guy, very laid back. He talks very fast, so prepare to take notes... he
will talk about EVERYTHING: Training (hotel and 75 hrs a month paid),
pay, seniority, bids, ALPA contract, hrs guarantee (75 in training
paid), reserve, probation, scheduling, uniforms (Mesaba pays 50%, rest
is $20/wk.), Jepps, flight bag, headsets (ANR headsets provided in
Saabs) medical, etc.
After Fran is finished, Amy is back with a list of interview times and
Sim times. You will interview with Fran and Amy separately.

I had Fran first.
1. Tell me how you got interested in flying
2. What are you long term goals
3. What was your worst flying experience
4. What was your biggest obstacle to overcome
5. What have you been flying lately
6. What is your favorite aircraft
7. Any violations or incidents?
8. Any failed checkrides?
9. Able to accept any domicile?
10.Any questions? (Make sure you have some!)
There are no technical questions, and he didn't ask to see the logbook!

Next was Amy's interview. Typical HR questions. She reads them off a
form and writes your answer. Don't expect any feedback other than an
"ok" now and then
1. Why do you want to work for Mesaba?
2. Why should we hire you?
3. What would your boss say about you?
4. What would you change about yourself?
5. How would you rate your instrument skills 1-10?
6. How would you rate your overall pilot skills 1-10?
7. What is your worst aviation experience?
8. Most difficult thing to overcome in your career
9. Hows your driving record?
10.What would you do if during a critical phase of flight, a captain
deviates from a company policy, not an FAR. Passengers safety is not at
risk.
11.Describe a typical day at your current job
12.What do you like most about your current job? Least?
13.What aircraft are you currently flying the most?
14.Do you like instructing?
15.Any violations or incidents?
16.What's your availability? Are you able to relocate
17.Any questions? (Make sure you have some!!!)

About 3 hrs later came the sim for me. (sim times are assigned according
to who had to travel the furthest, idea being they have the fewest
options to travel home).
Sim is next door at Wings. It is a tiny FBO, literally in a trailer.
The sim ride is administered by Joe, who is a Mesaba captain and a
former Wings CFI.
When I was there the sim provile was as follows:
Wind was 050 at 15kts.
Dep rwy 4 at LGA, fly a vector sid, vectors to the NDB 22 to mins,
published missed to hold (intersection hold), entry and 1 turn, cleared
for ILS 4 to landing. No tricks or emergencies, not graded on to or
ldg. Joe gives you the option of using a HSI and RMI or standard DG and
fixed ADF. He says not to worry about flaps or props. Get some AST 300
time if you've never flown one.
The other sim profile is out of PHX. It is dep PHX 8R, St Johns 2
departure, direct PXR, VOR DME A via DME arc, pub missed to hold, vector
ILS 8R to mins.
After all is finished, Wings will drive you back to MSP for the trip
home.

Overall, a very laid back and friendly interview. Very straight
forward. Expect a call within 7 days if you get hired. 1-00

I interviewed with Mesaba in Jan. 2000. Still charging $180
app fee. The interview consisted of a one-on-one with a
chief pilot of some kind, the hr girl, and a sim ride in an
AST 300. The important thing is to show them you want the
job by selling yourself. Have a folder or something with
some plastic sheets displaying all your 'i love me' stuff.
Do well on the sim, make callouts, looking for basics. If
they tell you to have the passport and FCC and 1st class
medical, then get them. Mesaba for now is paying less than
everybody else, but they're growing. Please go click on a
banner.

Then, we started off with the IQ test by Wonderlick. It was a 12 minute test with 50 questions that got harder as the test went on.
They were looking for the number you answered correctly. You are better off leaving them blank if you do not know the answer. The
next test was a multiple choice pilot knowledge test. It changed from what was posted on this board before. There were some
questions that none of us knew, but the answers were actually in the Mesaba FOM and POM. I found that out in ground school.
We were also given the personality test that needed to be completed by the end of the day.

We were then given a company overview and shown a video on the company. Dan, the Saab Fleet Mgr, spoke to us on training,
schedules, etc. We were then given a schedule which had times listed for the sim ride, HR interview and interview with Dan. Most
of us got together for lunch at the airport restaurant.

The sim was located at Wings next to the terminal. It was an old AST 300 with broken rudder pedals. The sim is literally in a closet
in the back of the building. The profile was out of LGA. It consisted of a SID, vectors for the VOR-E to the published miss, one turn
in the hold, vectors for the ILS 4 and that was it. It lasted around :30. The sim was REALLY roll sensative, but held pitch well. I
have practically no time in these things, so it was work for me.

The interview with Dan was more like a get to know you session and a general discussion on aviation. He was a great guy and
made it a great experience. No technical questions. The HR interview was standard HR questions which she read off and wrote
down your answer. I was done by 3:00pm and on a 5:00pm flight home. I got called seven days later and started Saab ground
school four days after that. It is a great company with great people and good equipment.

The following are the results from my interview with Mesaba Airlines on 23 Feb, 1999. You will fly to Minneapolis the day before you interview.
They try to keep everyone in a hotel called the "AmericInn". It will
set you back about 65 or 70 bucks. Mesaba will cover the rest except
for the 180.00 interview fee. I guess they are trying to determine if
you are interested enough to shell out the cash. Some teenage flight
instructor from a company called "Wings" will come and get you from the
airport. My driver took about 2 hours and I was somewhat upset about
this. Good thing the interview was the next day. Wings is an FBO at
the downtown airport in St.Paul where the sim eval is conducted.
Apparently, it is possible to schedule some time on their ast300 the day
before the interview. I really wish that I would have done this. I
hadn't flown a sim like that in a long time and found it to be really
squirrelly about the roll axis.

The day of the interview, another teenage flight instructor from wings
will be outside the hotel to wisk you and your fellow interviewees to
the airport for the big day. Everyone was led into a conference room
and we were met by a Dan Sheehan, Director of Administration (I think
this was his tittle). He talked about Mesaba for about ? hour or so
and then we watched a propaganda video. He was an extremely pleasant
guy. After the movie, we were administered the written tests. The
first was in every way, shape, and form, an IQ test. They were mostly
typical ACT/SAT type questions. They tended to get a little more
difficult as you went along. There are 50 questions on the test and you
are not expected to finish. They tell you to answer every question in
order not to skip around. I answered about 37 of the 50 and probably
missed about 3. There were questions like: you have 42 yards of fabric
and are making shirts that require 2 1/3 feet each. How many shirts can
you make. There will be 2 columns of numbers and you have to look
through and pick out how many are exactly the same. There are about
five words that have to be arranged into a sentence and then you have to
write down the last letter of the last word. There were five sayings
written down and you had to pick two that were most similar. (too many
roosters in the hen house, three doctors are worse than none at all)
anyway, this is the general idea. Just make sure that you answer the
questions in order and don't skip any. There was one math problem that
took a lot of time so I just wrote down an educated guess and kept
going. The second written was pilot knowledge oriented. It had 20
questions: when to use ILS hold short line, when is it optional for ATIS
to post vis and ceiling, visibility req'd to accept visual approach,
what does MSA on approach plate guarantee, a hold is depicted and you
have to determine entry, what altitude can you descend to with only
approach lights in sight, interpret a metar-very easy-after altimeter
setting, is a note p106, runway side lights, runway centerline lights,
freq to contact FSS when twr not in operation, unpressurized O2 reqs 91
and 135, when to activate PCL, airspeed restrictions in class B, C and
D, next proper IMC alt east above 3500 feet, altimeter pressure altitude
problem. That's about 15 of the 20 that I can remember. The first two
tests are timed and I think you get about 12 minutes each. The third
test is a psyche evaluation. They will just hand it to you and give you
all day to finish this thing. The name on the test was PDI-I believe
this was an acronym for personality development inventory. I would
suppose that the Psyche department at your local university would have
something pretty similar if you feel like studying in advance. There
are 100 questions and some are really stupid. One was something like:
I have never watched TV or used a telephone. Some were yes/no type,
some were three choice type and you had to pick which was most like you
and which was least like you of the three. Some were multiple choice
with about 5 different items. After the two writtens, you are given a
schedule that has three categories. This will determine when you will
have your interviews and sim ride.

My sim eval was first. You walk over to the "Wings" shack and an
instructor hands you photocopies of New York LGA Vor 4 and ILS 22 Jep
approach plates. There is also a section copied from that area of a low
altitude enroute. You will depart runway 22 (some said they did a SID,
but I was given a radar vector departure), fly to Colt's Neck VOR, after
you level off the instructor will reposition you to Colt's Neck to save
time. He screwed up when he repositioned me. From there you will fly
the transition to the VOR 4 approach and go missed to the published hold
which is the localizer for the ILS 22. I did one orbit and was vectored
out for the ILS 22 to a full stop. The instructor will set in the radio
frequencies for you but the rest is a single pilot operation. I made
two small errors on the ride that I can think of. When he repositioned
me at Colt's neck, he put me beyond it and gave me a clearance to fly
the transition for the VOR 4 and cleared me for the approach.
Apparently, he also told me to fly direct to the VOR first. I didn't
remember hearing this and so I just intercepted the radial. The other
error was that I was instructed to call the outer marker inbound on the
ILS 22. I remembered to do so about 2 miles after the maker and was
then cleared for a landing. Since I have no instructor experience in my
background, I am not used to flying simulators. I found myself flying
the approaches much faster than the 120 kts required. For the decent on
the VOR, I ended up using about 12 inches to get 1000 feet/min and
something less than 140. For the ILS, I went with about 14 inches and
after the marker found myself initially at close to 1200'/min to hold
the glide slope(even then I was a little high). A little practice on an
AST would certainly be a benefit before going in there.

The next step for me was an interview with a higher ranking captain.
His first name was Dan and his title was something like Saab 340 fleet
manager. During the initial presentation, he also talked to our group
about benefits, training, and jump seat privileges. He was a very nice
guy and I felt that this went really well. He asked a few general
questions like how did I become interested in aviation, but mostly it
was just general conversation about airplanes and my previous job
experiences. He asked if I would be available in a week's time for the
next ground school class. That was about it.

My final evaluation was with Dan Sheehan. He is very much a human
resources person and used the typical "beautiful day outside" type
statements to break the ice and relax the atmosphere. He asked for the
Psychological evaluation, my application (about 30 or 40 pages of
paperwork including background check forms that they send you in
advance), and the 180.00 check payable to Mesaba. From here he pretty
much reads questions one by one off a piece of paper and writes down the
responses. How did you get interested in aviation, what makes a good
pilot/captain, how do you rank yourself as a pilot on a scale of 1 to
10, tell me about something that you did(happened to you) in aviation
that you never want to do again. There were about 12 total and they
were all typical human resource type questions. Neither interviewer
will ask anything technical. They are very professional and make the
atmosphere as relaxed as it can possibly be.