The best advice I can give is to study the gouges. They are very accurate and will give you a very good picture of what the day will be like. The interviews know exactly what is on them as well and have a certain expectation of preparation from each applicant.
The interview starts at 8am and lasts until around 4pm. Your logbooks and Pre-Interview Packet with the flight time chart will be collected right away and will be returned to you during your technical interview. One applicant was dismissed in the first ten minutes (ostensibly for some logbook error). You'll also be shown a video about the company. One of the interviewers will explain the interview process and distribute the the simulator evaluation profile. He will also go over it to make sure everyone understands the flight and expectations.
After this, you will be pulled out one at a time for either the HR, technical, or simulator evaluations. We had two recruiters doing both HR and technical and one running the sim. There is no order to it. Everyone else stays in the room but is free to leave for food or to use the restroom. Everyone at AMR is every nice so don't worry about being intimidated.
HR: This is where they will look over the required documents and collect copies. Bring your ATP written results if you have them.
- Why do you want to work for Eagle?
- Why are you leaving your current employer?
- Describe yourself in one word.
- What is your proudest achievement?
- What will be the most difficult part of training/working?
- What makes a good FO/Captain?
- Why should we hire you?
Some of the questions are interspersed with collecting paperwork and some are read straight off a sheet of paper. The recruiter will mark some stuff off of a checklist (for paperwork) and write while you talk (it seemed like he wrote down everything I said). Part of this portion is them wanting to see whether they could stand to be on a trip with you so be yourself.
Technical: This is where to gouges helped the most. I was given a clearance in CRAFT format with a few parts missing and was asked to find the missing parts on a DP chart (initial altitude and departure frequency). Next, he pulled out an approach plate and asked about a few symbols and whether or not we could depart given a certain METAR (had to decode it as well). Finally, he pulled out a low enroute chart and did a lot of pointing and asking - MEA's, MOCA's, MORA's, distances, airport symbols, class B ceiling, etc. Other gouges do a great job listing all the possibilities. You also get your logbooks back here.
Sim: The simulator is a Frasca set up as a G1000 B-58 Baron. You have the profile for at least an hour to look over yourself after the interviewer goes over it with you, and it is very simple. Mine was from LAX: Climb to 3000 on runway heading (24R) using the flight director, fly a few turns, intercept the SMO R-230 inbound, copy and brief a hold, get vectors to the ILS 24R using raw data. We had a big group so we only flew the approach once; the evaluation typically has you fly two - one with the FD to a missed and then land from a raw data approach. Trim a lot, it is very sensitive. When you level off (profile calls for 160kts), set the power to 18.5" MP; don't touch the mixtures or props. Have the interviewer/PNF do everything else, and I mean everything - set all bugs and courses, take the controls to brief the hold/approach, and do checklists. Your hands will never leave the yoke and throttles if you do it correctly. After you land, he will want you to call of the after landing checklist even though you're on the runway. Note from my flight: he cleared me to land on 24L even though the approach was to 24R. I asked to confirm 24R and he said no one else caught that. It was not a failure item but something to make your flight stand out more. You also get 3 shots for the ILS if you go full scale (interviewer briefs you on this).
Overall, a very good experience. I was preparing for three weeks and was very stressed out about the ordeal, but I met and studied with a few other applicants in the hotel the night before and that helped put me at ease. We also just talked during down time at AMR. The interviewers treat you with real Texas hospitality and want you to pass, but will not hesitate to give you the boot if you try to hide something from them or if you just don't know your stuff. For the most part, it seemed like the people who were dismissed had paperwork or past ticket issues (one guy had 8 speeding tickets in a year...not good).
Relax, be yourself, study the gouges, and good luck! |
