Started with overview and paperwork. All people were professional and friendly. Interviewed (in MIA) with Atlas Chief Pilot, Atlas Asst Chief Pilot, Training Manager from Polar, and Denise from HR. Most questions addressed attitude, personality and chahracter (they hired me anyway). I felt they were more concerned with the type of people they hire as compared to technical knowledge. I enjoyed the interview (no S!$T) and the people. they were concerned about ability to be away for 17+ days straight, UK base, and Flying the Classic because i have been flying glass cockpits. The Polar Pilot asked me to rate myself on a scale of 1 - 10 and then asked me to explain. i was asked what i would do if my FE showed up drunk so i inquired as to whether Atlas provided firearms in the cockpit...

Sim ride (Classic) was straightforward, all basic flying skills (scan, ILS, climbs descents, hold, etc). Right seater was a training pilot who provided all configuration changes and would do whatever you requested (within the guidelines of morality). To sum it up, he would tell you the speeds but not the power settings...

Best advise is try to relax in the interview and show them who you really are. as long as you're not a @#%$@#$ you will do well.

training is about 3 monyhs (till release to line)and training pay is $1200.00/mth + $52 per day per diem. (dont quote me on the per diem but it is within a few greenbacks)

I was told that I would probably be called in March. They called me in March to tell me I would get the 400 in June. Got the call today (March 18) that I was being offerred the 200 for an April 18 class.

I tried to hold out for the 400 and was told too many are doing the same so take the Classic or go back to the end of the line. I was also told that the Classics will be replaced with 744's soon and I can bid a 400 after a year. I will be bidding a U.S. base

Hope this helps, Good Luck

Arrived for interview (Miami) at 8 am. Met other candidates (10 others) while waiting for the process to begin.

Was greeted by an HR person from company HQ in NY. Then by person of similar role from Miami.

Pilot types came in later....Chief Pilot, couple of line Captains, and some training department types.

Paperwork drill took up most of the first couple hours. Brief description of company was presented both verbally and on video. Seemed to be a big priority to let you know that the schedule sucks. 18 days, extendable to 22 without your consent. They wanted us to know that we'd be hell and gone and that if we didn't like that we might want to consider other employment.

All said however, it was more or less a matter of fact statement, not necessarily anything aggressive or antagonistic.

Politeness and professionalism seemed to permeate most of the communication with us. And a brief tour of the training facilities was given.

Interview process consisted of half the candidates getting their sim eval first and an interview afterwards. The other half did just the opposite.

Sim ride was very straightforward. The entire group was briefed as to pitch and power settings, the departure procedure to be flown (to a holding entry), and the simple airwork to return for a landing.

Ride was from left seat. Line CPT occupied right seat but was very low key. Waited for leadership from the candidate. Did not provide any guidance or correcting input but did accomplish anything the candidate asked for (heading bugs, tune and I.D., etc). But power was set by candidate at all times except for the takeoff.

All in all there were ABSOLUTELY no tricks or distractions attempted on the part of the sim operator or support pilot.

They were looking for basic airmanship, comfort with cockpit leadership on the part of the candidate, and ability to follow the gouge given during the mass briefing to all of us prior to doing the eval.

Configuration of the aircraft was handled entirely by support pilot so that the eval would not be based on 747 knowledge. In addition, the configuration and speeds directed by "ATC" seemed to have been chosen with min trim changes in mind. Really, they made it as easy as possible for you so that it was more or less an eval of your very basic piloting ability, and not your ability to fly a 747 sim.

To be honest, it was without a doubt the easiest sim eval I have ever taken.

The interview board was also relaxed. They wanted to know a bit about your personal and professional background. It was non-threatening. And they were again very professional and polite.

It was an enjoyable interview experience.

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Currently any interviewees hired will go into a pool.

Atlas seems to have a reputation for hiring and furloughing a lot.

Junior guys go to the UK (London) but can commute from anywhere.

Currently hiring into both the -200 and -400 aircraft.

On Friday Jun 9, I received a call from Mike Sikorski and was asked if I was interested in interviewing with Atlas. I told him I would love to interview with them. He said he would call the following week and set up a date. On the 14th of Jun, John Roberts (Assistant Chief Pilot-Anchorage) called and asked if I would be available on the 20th or 21st of Jun. They were conducting interviews in Anchorage, Alaska. I live in Anchorage so this was a nice bonus. I arrived on the 20th of Jun to the Atlas office in Anchorage, Alaska. There were 12 candidates on Tuesday and I assume another 12 on Wednesday. Our backgrounds consisted of 3 Air Force pilots (2 active duty and 1 national guard), 1 civilian 727 captain from Northern Air Cargo and there rest were commuter pilots mostly from Alaska but I believe one from Air Wisconsin.

Mike Sikorski gave us the introduction to Atlas and then gave us the psych evaluation. It consisted of 56 questions. The first half was positives, "What you like most and least." The second half was what you want to avoid most and least. There are three statements on each question and you have to select one as M for most and one as L for least. After that we were given the necessary release forms and paperwork to fill out and then Mike gave us some information on pay and benefits and where the company was going. We also watched a short film on Atlas life and the company. The group was then divided into two groups-the first group of 7 stayed for interviews and the second group was released to come back at 1300 for afternoon interviews.

The interview panel consisted of three members, Mike Sikorski (retired Atlas Captain), Lew Allen (Chief Pilot Anchorage), Eileen Maguire (Human Resources Representative). It was pretty relaxed and very short, approximately 15 minutes. No technical questions. Mainly questions on would you be a good match for Atlas and their culture. Here are some of the questions asked: What is going to keep you at Atlas when American calls in six months? Tell us about a CRM experience or when you used CRM. How was the transition from a large aircraft to a small aircraft? Do you have good family support? What do you do on your time off? What do you like least about your present job? Do you like to travel? How do you think the transition to civilian life will be? How do you feel about long trips? Are you planning on staying in Alaska? Are you planning on going to the guard or reserves? What was your best flight? What was your worst flight? Why Atlas? We were all told to expect a call in a week by another Human Resource Representative because he couldn't be at the interview. We would not find out anything until we received the call from him. I still have not heard anything but think the interview went well. I hope this helps those who get a call from Atlas. I am expecting the call this week.