| Summary of Qualifications: |
1800 TT, 820 ME, 710 Turbine, Current part 91 Turbojet, ATP, CFI, CFII |
After sending in an application to Colgan, I was contacted by Chuck a few days later via phone. He told me a little bit about the company, and asked if I had any questions. I asked several questions regarding the growth of the company, and he offered an interview in LGA or MCO (Orlando). I ended up requesting the MCO interview due to a work conflict. If you are not local, they will fly you out. Fortunately I only live a couple of hours aways, so I drove.
The Colgan HR staff will send you a large amount of paperwork that must be filled out prior to the interview. I would suggest NOT putting this off until the last minute, as there really is a lot of information to fill out, copy, etc. There is also an item that must be notarized.
On the first day of the interview, the HR staff began by collecting everybody's paperwork. They also handed out a 50 question ATP based test to everybody sitting at the table. There are a few 121 questions in there, which sort of through me for a loop since my written ATP was based on 135 regs. But it was very fair, and anybody that has recently taken the ATP written should be fine. If it's been a few months or more, I would definitely recommend a few hours of study (don't worry about the flight planning and systems questions in the ATP written). Just FYI, several people failed this test, despite numerous warnings to us in the days prior to the interview to take it seriously (the passing grade is 80%).
After the written, a member of the flight staff examines each of your logbooks to confirm how much and what type of flight time you have, and to see what kind of checkrides you've taken. They also ask about any busts/rechecks (fortunately I have none).
Next, I was brought into a room for a tri-panel interview with Sarah (very nice HR staff), Tim (ERW CP), and Eric (HOU based CA). Everybody was very nice, and asked the usual questions (what kind of flying have you been doing? What kind of research did you do on Colgan? Why do you want to work here? Why should we hire you over some of the other folks here?, etc.). I was asked a couple of simple tech questions by Tim, consisting of descent planning, airspace knowledge, speed limits, etc.). All stuff that anybody with a working knowledge of the IFR system should easily know and be familiar with. I was also asked what CRM means to me, as well as a couple of scenario questions (what would you do if the CA was going below mins?).
Afterwards, I was asked to give fingerprints and to come back the next day for the sim ride.
The next morning we met up in a classroom with Sam (very nice Colgan sim instructor), and we were given the sim profile for the day. It's consistent with the information shown in the other interview here and other places. Even if you didn't have the info before hand, they give you PLENTY of time to rehearse it in your mind and with a chair flying partner if you so desire. It's pretty simple, they just want to make sure you have basic instrument skills. If you are confused about the hold entry or want time to brief the approach, you are allowed to hand the sim off to your partner (I did to brief the approach). The sim is a lot of fun, and everybody I was with really had a good experience. We used a full motion level D B1900D sim.
Afterwards, Chuck talked to us individually about class dates, and then grabbed a few of us at a time to talk about the Colgan culture and plans for the future.
Everybody was EXTREMELY friendly, and the overall interview experience was very positive. Also, the group of people I interviewed with seemed like a great group of sharp pilots. Good luck! |
