A very enjoyable experience...no intimidation or brow-beating. I was one of five candidates, three of which were regional guys, one other corporate. We were introduced to the people that we would be interviewing with. We then were asked to write a paragraph stating why we should be hired by Midwest Airlines. Next came a 30 question written exam right out of the ATP test guide...wish I would have studied harder! After the written, we were issued our interview schedules. We met with four people..one Human Resource person, the Director of Training Standards, the Fleet Manager, and the Chief Pilot. The questions were very srtaight forward...a lot of questions relating to your past experiences, CRM related situations, dealing with difficult passengers or crew members, etc. My best advice is to stay calm, make plenty of eye contact when answering questions, and be honest. These were the nicest people that I have ever encountered in 25 years of aviation. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to meet with them. Unfortunately, after 18 years of corporate pay, I don't think I could afford to go to work for Midwest if offered a job. I would go there in a heartbeat otherwise. We were told that hiring will continue at a conservative pace, and that the aging MD 87's and DC-9's will be replaced by 737-800's or Airbus A-320's. This company is still up-and-coming and I highly recommend anyone to apply, especially the younger regional guys...there is a great future here!

I'm an interviewer at Midwest. Although we are not currently interviewing, we should be soon. This isn't confidential or rare info., but I didn't know if you had it. Here our interview process:

1st - Written Exam: 50 questions from the ATPw verbatim. 2nd - Sim: Gone. 3rd - Personal interview: After applicant takes the written, he/she will interview w/ one of three interviewers. One is always Steve Shafranski, Asst. Chief Pilot, an HR Rep., and a line pilot interviewer. The interview questions are right out of the Cheryl Cage book. Very situational. (Practice those stories!) Critical to the intrview portion is the FORMAT of the answer: First, the Set Up (Where, When, What A/C, etc), then, what happened, then, what he/she did about it, and finally the result. This format EVERY answer. Unfortunatly today, HOW you answer a question is as important as the deed/skill/decision making ability/experience. Another critical element is being EXCITED about coming to Midwest Express and knowing about the company. The candidate will meet with each interviewer in turn. Often an applicant will get asked the exact same answer. (The interviewers will compare answers the later). After the interview, the applicant is thanked, excused and then sent on thier way. The 3 interviewers get together and compare notes/scores. The major items that kick out applicants is 1) Poor Example Recollection and Answer Format, 2) Lack of excitement about the job, 3) Any critism of former coworkers, 4) Unprofessionalism/Profanity.

Thats it. Pretty straight forward. Please pass this info. on. We WANT our applicants to be prepared. Too many good pilots don't get hired because they don't know how to answer the questions and present themselves.

Applied in the 2000 window that closed end of Apr. 2000. Got called for interview end of Nov. for a Dec. interview.

Show the night before. Midex provides travel on Midex flights only. They pay for your hotel in Milwaukee, and a van takes you to HQ in the morning.

Pretty easy deal. Show up at 0730, meet with the CP and Asst. CP for about an hour with all the candidates. A basic BS session. An hour later, CP leaves, and the Asst. gives us the 30 question ATP test. RIGHT out of the book. ONLY knowledge questions. NO w & b, perfomance, calculations or ANY other question that refers to a table, charts, pics or otherwise. So you can save yourself a bunch of time going through the book. Oh, and skip the 135 reg chapter too. Logbook review while you take the test.

You finish the test in about 10 to 15 mins (if you studied) and the Asst. CP comes back in and talks to all three of us about the interview. Told us were NOT doing the sim eval because of "sim probs", and talked us through how he wanted us to act and answer in the interivew.

At this time, he mentioned we all be done no later than noon or so. I volunteered to go first in the interview, so as to catch an early flight home, and it's a two on one targeted interview with the Asst. CP and Lori Poole, HR. It's the usual "...tell us about a time..." questions. They want you to be very clear and concise in your answer. Not too detailed. And told us, prior to going in, to keep in mind, "...what was the situation, what did you do, and what was the outcome..." Answer each quesion in this format, and they will be quite happy.

Forty five minutes later, asked if I had any questions, which I did, and that was it. Back in the terminal by 11am! We were all told that we were interviewing for the March and April classes, both DC-9, and that he would start making the offers the Monday following the next week of interivews. Said if we got message from him, were were good to go.

I got the call Monday night w/ the offer. Tentative March, but for sure in the April class. I asked if there was a wait list for the FEB class, MD-80. Steve, the Asst. CP said there was not, but would start one with me the first to call.

Steve called the next morning w/ a cancellation for the FEB class, and offered me the slot. Which of course I took. He mentioned I was the only person who inquired about getting in the Feb class. So think about it folks when you get your offers. Seniority rules, and I couldn't think of a good reason to have two more classes in front of me.

A class of 17 every month this year except for July and Dec. Fleet replacement announcement end of March. Airbus.

Some flolks have been flying back for a "health screening". Depending upon timing. I actually do mine on day one, and the word is that it too is being phased out.

The interview day is a 3 part process.

Part 1 is a written test of about 30-35 questions taken right out of the ATP written test booklet. If you know the book, you will do fine on the test. Don't worry about the wieght and balance or any data or computation questions in the test booklet. There were none of these on the test.

Part two consisted of the sim evaluation. This was in a PCATD sim which is very similar to microsoft flight simulator. I flight school on the Midway airport in Chicago. It was located in the Million Air FBO and I believe the flight school was called PFI flight training. They did not have the Super80 software, so I flew the fastest they had which was the King Air 200. The main benefit was to get a feel for the sensitivity of the simulator. I recommend going to get a feel for it before going to the interview.

The sim profile was pretty straight forward. We took off 1L at Milwaukee. Weather was 300 and 1. We took off and were given a climb to 5000, after 2000 accelerate to 210 knots. A couple of turns then tracking a vor radial. Next I was told to track an NDB bearing to the station then to hold at the NDB. One turn in if you can tell them the entry and what your first turn is should be enough. I was then vectored for the ILS 1L and took it to a landing. They were very helpful and handled all the info for power settings and flaps, gear, etc. One of the Mid. Ex. pilots was the non flying pilot. Use him to the fullest that they will let you to make it easier for you. He helped me out as much as possible and made it a very comfortable ride.

The 3rd and last stage was the actual interview. This was about 30-45 min. with the assistant chief pilot and the head of human resources. The questions that I had were very straightforward and as follows:

1. Why do you want to work for Midwest Express?

2. Name a time you used the help of others to accomplish a goal or project.

3. Tell us a time when you changed a safety related issue or policy.

4. Name a time when you caught something before it could have turned into something bigger(hint: great time to use a preflight item you caught)

5. Tell us a time when you went above and beyond what is required of you without receiving any recognition.

6. Tell us about your worst passenger and how you dealt with this person.

7. Tell us a time you asked the company to do something and they didn't do it.

8. Tell us a time you helped change someones approach towards a problem or situation.

9. Tell us a time when you made a good decision in a difficult situation.

10. Name a time when you had a passenger that demanded special attention, and what did you do for them.

These were all the questions I was asked, but keep in mind that they had a larger pamphlet of questions to chose from. You may get different questions, but I think you can get a feel for the types of questions they will ask. Overall, it was the most friendly and professional interview and organization I have had the pleasure to be associated with. Count your blessings if you get an interview, and even better, a job with Midwest Express.

To study for the Midwest Express interview written exam, review the following: * ATP written test prep * FAR 91/121 * AIM (especially Wx and winds aloft)

Extremely nice people and getting ready to really start hiring. They want to double the size of their pilot work force within the next five years.