Comm SEL MEL Instrument Airplane, ATP written. Working for a 121 carrier as Customer Service.
Were you offered the job?
Don't Know
Pilot Interview Profile:
First of all you are called by an outside hiring agency, the gentleman gives you some dates and times to interview. Selected my date and times and was told that I had to get to FLL and where to meet.
The Interview is at Sheltair one of FLLs FBOs, they have some office suites and it looks like the company is moving their offices there as they looked new. Dont take a cab, sheltair has a shuttle call them and they will pick you up at the terminal.
I got there to the interview about 30 mins early, which the nice admin lady there gave me paper work to get started, looked like a stack of 30 pages. Got started on the paper work while I waited.
The gentleman who was one of the chief pilots came to get me and took me upstairs to a conference room. There we met with another captain who was there to also represent the union.
Interview:
-Tell us about your work and education history. -Where did you do your flight training? -Any FAA violations, Checkride failures and please explain. -Tell us 3 attributes that make a good captain. -Are you ok with making about $1500 a month -Would you be ok relocating to BIL or PA or at least commuting? -They have a training contract, they dont charge you for anything as long as you stay with them for 2 years, after that you are free of any obligation. The contract is pro-rated, so $1000/month is take off the contract from your hire date. No reset of the contract for upgrades or transition into the Saab.
No technical questions for the panel interview, from the questions I asked they are ramping up hiring as they are going to be in need of captains soon as attrition takes over. Overall they seem to be growing and not the same gulfstream of before. They are changing company names soon, they didnt say the name, but the rumors are "silver airways". They are receiving a new saab almost every 21 days, first one to be in revenue service in Feb.
Was invited to continue the hiring process to take the written and a sim eval.
After the interview was done I completed my paper work and was finger printed. Afterward I was shuttled to their training center in another building about 5 mins away. The building is the remnants of the Gulfstream Academy. The written was done by computer 50 questions off the ATP, Comm and Instrument questions. Average scores are in the 70s according to Lilly in the training center.
The sim ride was a standard Beech type FTD, very aged. You could barely see the monitor in front of you as they had a plastic cover on it that gave you coke bottle vision. The instructor there was a nice gentleman, but his accent is very heavy when he gives you instructions. Had to ask various times to verify what he said. The sim is very fidgety, a little trim goes a long way. Very hard to keep altitude and you had to accept oscillations of pitch up or down.
Sim profile was take off from 9L in FLL to the east, careful on the T/O run the rudder pedals are not very responsive. The instructor works as your FO, call for Gear up and climb profile. Gives you instructions to the FLL VOR for a hold on the 360R. What kind of entry into the hold. He will work your clock. After a circuit around the hold vectors to the ILS 9L. half a dot up call for landing configuration and he will lower you gear and flaps. Keeping the localizer was easy just keeping the sim at steady descent rate was complicated with the jumpy pitch. Overall pretty good ride despite the technical downfalls of the sim. If you have a doubt about a vector ask!
Overall I think theyre doing a pretty good job trying to re-structure their company. Ground training will be in house to prepare to go to MCO for the full motion sim ride and actual airplane ride. They were filling for the Jan 2012 class.
You can make your own impression, but I think it would be a decent place to work, just have to ride with the changes coming along.
Now to wait for the call.
Date Interviewed: November 2011
Summary of Qualifications:
CFI 1900TT/50ME
Were you offered the job?
Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
Everyone was really nice. Interview was conducted at company office in Sheltair FBO. Was asked what I knew about the company? Any problem with being based out of CLE or BIL? Strengths? Weaknesses? What makes a good captain? Asked to see logbooks and resume, and discussed work history and flight training. Ever fail a checkride? Couple of TMAT questions. I asked alot of questions about training, bases, commuting, contract, etc. Just be yourself and relax. HR interview was very conversational, and they put you at ease. Afterwards, I was asked to step out for a moment and then was asked to continue the interview by filling out HR paperwork (background, etc). Be prepared for this by making sure you have previous employer, school, residence info, etc. This will take a long time to fill out. Next was fingerprints, then off to the sim. Very straightforward, took off direct to VOR, given holding instruction. Just had to say the entry then vectors for ILS 9L at FLL. Sim instructor takes care of everything (power, navs, etc). Even takes controls while you brief approach. Went down to minimums and landed. Was told I did well and that she hoped to see me in class. Was told they just want to see that you are trainable. Was even told I would not be expected to hold altitude. Finally I took the written, which was on computer 50 questions. 8-10 ATP FAR questions, and the rest were AIM/IFR/Approach plate questions. Examples: VASI lights, what does WS on METAR mean, alternate/takeoff mins, highest obstacle on approach plate, ILS crictical area, etc. I did not study for this and did very well. Was told that there is no failing score, but the average of previous applicants was around 70. Again, just wanted to see where I was at and if I would be trainable. Very nice group of people who make you feel right at home. I am excited to start class!
