Study the ATP Gleim, no performance calculations, pallet weights etc so don't spend time on that. Study weather, 121 regs, part 91 stuff, t/o mins, IFR procedures, systems, TRU's , Inverters..Know the company officer names. HR interview is no tech questions at all. Its a get to know you thing. TMAAT stuff, work history, criminal history etc. They want to hear you say your availability is immediate. Don't expect to get the job if you want time to hold out for another job offer. Take the first class available. The sim is a level D Dash 8. I highly recommend doing a couple of hours in any kind of sim to re-invigorate your scan skills, ILS ability etc. and review IAP procedures. Make small changes in the sim, there is a 2-3 second lag time to see the stabilized results of control input so it's easy to over control. SCAN SCAN SCAN and you'll be fine. The sim ride is pretty short and simple if you don't get behind the aircraft. If you lack a college degree have a good answer prepared to explain why. They want to hear you convey you have the drive and you can make it through the training despite not having any adult academic achievements to prove it. 13 of us started out, 3 were sent home after failing the written, 3 more after failing the sim and HR interview and they told seven of us at the same time that we got the job. They are very laid back people. Everyone you will interact with makes a good effort to put you at ease. They really need F/O's bad. They told us if they hired every applicant they interviewed they would still be short. They are looking for enthusiasm, desire to work for them specifically. Don't go to Piedmont because no other regional will offer you the job. Go there because you like what that company offers. They really ask some questions to try and detect that you aren't just going through the motions with them. If your really want to fly jets instead of turboprops then don't apply. They are pretty good at spotting that mentality and weeding it out. They know many of their F/O's will stay a short time to get exp for a jet carrier and move on soon but they do try and screen the obvious ones out.

Just like the other gouges, show up at least 30-minutes early. The job won't be a show up 5-minutes before duty and expect everything to be just fine. Don't wear some odd ball colored suit! Black or dark blue. One of the two guys that got sent home from our interview session had on a Tan colored suit, plus his some a bit cocky while we were waiting to begin the presentation. I only studied the ATP 121 written and was just fine for Piedmont's 50 question written test. After the presentation and written test we were given the approach that we had to fly in the simulator. I had New Bern, North Carolina, ILS 4. Read your approach information and the profile that goes along with it and you'll be just fine. After the sim ride you are taken to an office with the Chief Pilot, John Buchanan, an Human Resources Rep., and the person in charge of training. All are very nice people and relaxes you the minute you walk in the door. The 3-on-1 interview is more like a general conversation than a question and answer session. In my opinion, Piedmont Airlines would be the best transition from General Aviation to your first airline job because of what/how they train you. You also get to fly in probably the most most conjested airspace in the country. What that means is Experience!! If you haven't applied, apply now. As of about a month ago, Peidmont Airlines web site does not list any total times for hire!! Good Luck!!

All the gouges are accurate. STUDY the ATP written. Their test is based off the ATP written, a couple questions about approach plates so review your Jeps, and a couple questions about the company. The rest are taken stright out of the ATP. After the written test they sent the 5 of us out to the lobby to be called one by one for the actual interview. The first guy went in and was gone no more than 5 minutes, and he came out with tears and told us he didn't pass the test and was being sent home. The poor guy was fired from his job because he was going to this interview, so I don't know what he is going to do now. Then I went in for the interview. As soon as I got in, they told me they couldn't hire me because I only have 460TT and not the five hundred, and I failed my instrument checkride the first time, and I have a DUI from 4 years ago. Then not 3 minutes later, I was dismissed. They knew all this before inviting me up for an interview so I still don't know why they would invite me up there and not interview me. I did pass the written test, and it is rare that someone doesn't fail at least one checkride, so that wasn't a big deal, I don't think. As far as the DUI, yeah, it was an oops, and if they weren't going to hire me because of a stupid mistake I made 4 years ago, they shouldn't have invited me up in the first place, and waste my time and money, because they already knew about it before I even went up there. All in all it was as everyone else said, very laid back, and the test wasn't bad IF YOU STUDY. The guy even said the only reason they give you the test is to weed out the people that are going to the interview "just because they have nothing else better to do", and to separate them from the people that make an effort to be there. Hope this helps, and I hope you have a more positive experience than I did. Just make sure your record is clean, and if not then make sure you point that out to them before you go up there just to make sure they are aware of it; (sometimes I wonder if they even read our apps or if they just pick some out at random) before you waste your time. Best of luck interviewing, and I'll see you out there someday!

The interview was pretty straight forward... WRITTEN EXAM: 50 questions, 1hr SIMULATOR RIDE: Full motion DHC-8 sim, simple ILS approach, just looking for basic instrument flying skills HR INTERVIEW: Very typical HR interview, very nice people, relaxed environment, not bad at all. THE WRITTEN: --------------------------------------------- The written can be tough IF YOU DON'T STUDY, so here's a little guide as to what you might want to glance at as far as study material (based on my recent experience): First of all, know the company. You should do this for any interview, period. Know the names of the company officers & crew bases, etc. Also, seemlingly little things like be able to do simple math like C to F temp conversions and being able to convert as approach speed to a rate of descent would be a good thing to look over. You should know things from the AIM as well. Read the entire AIM and you will be well prepared. You should probably refresh yourself on the usual basic stuff (like light gun signals, visual illusions, t-storms and when lightning is likely to strike, etc), Know indications of a stall, some basic systems stuff (TRU's/Inverters, etc), just that sort of thing. IFR procedures are obviously going to be tested too, so I would review things like circling radii and airspeeds, where can t/o mins be found, lost comm procedure, etc (just know the basics). Also, it would help you if you knew how to read jepps and intstrument procedures in general, climb procedure when approaching a fix, when you would need to respect the ILS hold short linel; that sort of thing. You should know basic commercial pilot stuff too, like holding speeds and where an MVA is published (if at all), as well as some really basic 121 stuff like rest, t/o mins, when emergency lights should be armed, etc; and you should also probably brush up on your alternate requirements. Basically, just study the AIM, Jepps, company info, IFR prodecures, and some 121 stuff and you should be all set; it's pretty easy if you put in the effort and ACTUALLY STUDY before showing up. It's a decent company with a great contract and good pay, so put in the effort to study for the written and take it seriously! THE SIM: --------------------------------------------- First off, don't sweat it, this is a non-event, really. They don't expect much in the sim at all. They know you haven't flown it before and they give you a briefing sheet before you get in there that tells you how to fly it. They want you to raise and lower the gear/flaps when you normally would, and if you want to go faster or slower, just ask for more torque/less torque and the captain does it. It's that simple. I talked to a guy before my interview who used to fly there though, and this was the "profile" he gave me which kind of helped (but it's not by any means neccesarry to know, just a guideline if you felt like using it)... -Takeoff with 5 degrees of flaps, then retract them after you retract the gear -Capt. will have the FLIGHT DIRECTOR on, so just set your pitch to that on climb out (it's kind of a weird cross-hair type flight director, so be ready for that). -It's a control-performance plane, so just fly that attitude indicator (but don't get messed up by the bank indicator, because it's a skypointer, so it always points up). -I remember just doing some random ILS that was completely straight forward; no tricks to it or anything...just use common sense (i.e. FLY THE FLIGHT DIRECTOR and scan, scan, scan!) -When you're about a dot-and-a-half above the glideslope, check airspeed below 158kts and drop the gear, and ask for Vref+20 (120kts) (again, you're not even expected to know any of this in the sim, but I put it on here because this is what I had walking in to the interview myself, and it kind of helped knowing somewhere to start at least) -then when you're 500feet above DA, ask for Vref + 10 (about 110kts) and ask for flaps 15....that's all that you would need, -You fly the plane right onto the runway, literally, very little flare, and only at the very last second, it feels unnatural....(but again, if you've done well up to that point, having a bad landing probablly won't hurt you since I think all they're looking for is basic instrument flying skills, not if youcan fly a Dash). --------------------------------------------- So just use some common sense here and you'll do fine. I know that this was a long post, but I hope it helps. Good Luck!

I was called by the nice folks at HR and was immediately sent a package with space-available tickets. I had an interview early in the morning, so I flew in the day before to be safe as space-available (free) tickets put you about as low as you can go on the food chain! I got to the interview at 7:20 for a prompt 8am start time. Right off the bat we were seated and issued a written exam that included everything from the instrument, commercial and a little ATP written, and also a question or two about the company hierarchy---it is all fair game! I recommend a strong understanding of instrument procedures and the far/aim. We then waited to try the Dash 8 simulator. Power settings were completed for us, they were really looking at whether you thought out loud and had instrument skills. The sim had a flight director and HSI-boy do I wish I knew how great the flight director was before I got in the sim! After you go to a room for a 2:1 HR-style interview and they don't tell you much but we can expect to hear in a week or so. They just want to see how you prepare on your own and how serious you are about working for them. They seem like a high quality regional, better than most!