Applicant FAQ
Questions we frequently ask applicants
“Was greeted by two male interns who asked for your logbooks and copies of required paperwork (which was requested in the informational packet they send you once you schedule your interview).
You are given a red pen and a copy of your application, printed from when I think I took the Hogan Test. They also printed out a flight time summary sheet the day before my interview, so it had my most updated flight times. No changes on the hours if less than 100 hours. You will initial each page and each correction, addition, or deletion. BRING YOUR OWN COPY OF YOUR MOST CURRENT APP. It will make this process more efficient and you will be more organized. Also, even though the summary sheet had the most updated hours, you still have to make the corrections on their ‘old’ copy of your app. The young interns were extremely attentive and helpful.
You will turn in your corrected and/or initialed application and log books. While you are interviewing, they will be reviewed. Your briefcase, phone and all papers, remain in the waiting room. You are permitted to bring your resume only into the small interview room. The HR portion lasted 45min-1hr and was with an FO and an HR rep. After that, was the technical skills assessmet and CRM video critique. It is one on one and lasted approx 1.2 hours. The candidate’s role is Captain. The examiner’s role is FO, Flight Attendant, dispatcher and ATC. There is a TV screen (connected to his laptop) hanging on the wall and a UAL ipad on the desk for your usage. He operated the laptop to change the graphics on the TV screen. After running though a flight, complete with briefs and callouts (from the packet they send you) it was time to watch the CRM video. The video was about 2min and at its conclusion, I just had to debrief/critique what I saw. Once complete, that was it! Spent a total of 2.5 hours with the interviewers. They were all very warm and welcoming!”
” It sounds weird but I actually enjoyed my interview. The folks were disarming and very easy to talk to. The cliche that they just want to get to know you is totally true. Be prepared for HR questions asked in a way that’s different from what your using in prep. I had 6 stories that covered leadership, customer service, scary emergency, “regret” or at least something I would do differently. The TSA portion was equally low key…not a stump the dummy session. I actually think the TSA is more about seeing if you put in the effort and will you be an easy person to work with.”
“Friendly interview experience overall. As others have said, nobody is out to trick you, they all seem like they want you to succeed. I’d recommend getting to the training center an hour before your interview time so you can check in with security (at the glass building), then make your way over to the cafeteria to wait. The admins will fetch you at T-45.
You’ll gather in a conference room where they give you a copy of your app to go over and make any corrections in red. Just follow the instructions. From there, you will be brought in to the Technical portion which is one-on-one with a Capt. The HR portion is a 2 v 1 with HR and a different Capt asking questions.”
“Just as the previous ride reports say. I truly believe the hardest part of the process is the Hogan test, which if you just answer honestly you will have not any problems. On the Hogan, I didn’t always like people, don’t like large crowds, etc. Just answer what first comes to mind and honestly. I didn’t answer a single question as Always or Never, but leaned one way or another if that makes sense. If you get past the Hogan it truly is your job to lose. If you are there they want to hire you, there are no tricks, games, etc.
Interview day, show up 45 minutes early. Give them all your paperwork and then they have you make changes if required. If you make a major change, let the interns know. If you have supporting documentation, ask them if they need it. I had a major change from invite to interview (became a check airman), made that change of my application. I brought my check airman letter just in case. They said they didn’t need it. However, if you change something like failing to include a check ride bust, arrest, etc. I think that would be very bad.
HR portion was very laid back and welcoming. Everyone was on a first name basis. The way they worded a few of the questions was a bit confusing, so I wrote down the questions they asked. I think they liked that I did that, so I could truly read and understand what they were asking of me. Questions I was asked listed below. Answer them in the SAR format, and they want flying/work related stories. My answers were not polished or canned, but they were my stories. I gave them enough info to answer the question but also left enough out there for follow up questions to my stories, which they did. United is huge on culture, safety & customer service. All of my answers had that content in them. Finally, the last question was “Why United?”. I asked them how much time they had and they laughed. They truly want to know why you want to work there, not how great the company is or their history. Just tell them why you think United is a good fit for you and your family. If you mention culture as one of your answers you better explain to them how the culture fits with you and vice versa. Show some enthusiasm during this question, Ask for the job at the end! I didn’t ask any questions at the end. just told them that United is where I wanted to be and I knew what I needed to know to make that decision and no questions were necessary. They say a follow up email is not mandatory but I sent one to them when sitting at the airport leaving that day. Make sure you mention in the thank you email who you interviewed with (all 3 of them). I also thanked the management team and the interns (who got me out on a much earlier flight), etc. I am very blessed and humbled to get this opportunity. I have had my application on file for over 5 years since leaving the military and thought the call would never come especially since I went the 91/135 route after the military instead of a regional or other 121 type operation.”
“Overall, the Hiring Team is there to ease your nerves and try to make it a relaxing environment. Its very straightforward with no gotchas or tricks to try to get you. I started with the technical and then moved onto the HR portion. The interviewers are all very personable and just truly want to get to know you as a person. The technical doesnt have anything too difficult to prepare for. In terms of the HR portion, they just want to have as normal a conversation with you as possible. They want you to show your truest self.”
” The experience was very pleasant and everyone was very friendly as all the previous ride reports have already stated. On a personal note, I was very nervous. Like beyond any amount of nervousness I have ever experienced. It was evident in my HR panel and the Captain doing my interview stopped the process and basically talked me off the ledge and gave me a quick minute to gather myself. and then we proceeded with the interview. At the end of it all, I don’t think that I could have or would have said or done anything any different than what I did. When they say that they want you there, they mean it. I could have easily bombed the interview, but by the patience and understanding I was shown, it’s very evident they want you there and are anxious to hear what you have to say.”
” I know it’s been said many times before, but the whole team at United does an exceptional job at putting you at ease. There are no tricks and they all want you to not only do great but enjoy the experience as well. With that being said, make sure you have the correct paperwork they ask for, nothing more (they don’t take it) and nothing less (apparently people are still cocking this one up for some reason).
I didn’t have any surprises and my day started exactly like the other trip reports have mentioned: hand in paperwork to Doris and AmyLyn and make corrections on the printed app they give you. The one thing that was a little different here, and it was probably my own doing, was that the application they had printed and the one I had printed were in different formats as the pages didn’t match up. Not a big deal, but it was slightly more difficult to reference than I had anticipated. The app they present you is from when you got the invite, since mine was 90 days prior I did have some changes. I corrected an old Community College GPA from high school, medical date, and flight times (they don’t care if the changes are less the 100 hrs). None of the changes were brought up in the interview.
There was just one other person at mine time slot, I did the panel first while he did the Technical Skills Assessment portion then we switched.”
“Professional and welcoming! Everyone was very friendly and trying to put you at ease. Highly recommend flying out at least one day prior to interview, stay at Double Tree across from the training center, and get your shoes shined by Mr. Pak…he gives a great pep talk and puts a nice shine on the shoes too! If you scroll to the Additional Info section at the bottom of this report, I have included an expanded writeup.”
“Same as described by everyone else. Met another dude in elevator at the hotel and gave him a ride to and from, but really only saw glimpse of him during the process. There was actually a guy who went before us who arrived at 0400. We were at 0600. A300 sim (glad I spent money on a 757 sim a few days earlier…but I was actually really glad I did…very transferable to my sim. A300 is pitchy and powerful, watch PIOs. Did sim with Dan Sherlock, HR with Capt Perryman, Waren Zohler and a new HR lady training with Waren. Very positive tone for interview. Here is a little about us…walk me through you. Used resume as a guide, but went from first flight as a kid to here to today. Asked about UPS as a business and use a technique someone told me to imagine a small business who want to sell something, they can go to UPS business to set up a plan, get a manufacturing plant chosen, UPS capital to buy tools, UPS Logistics to box, ship wearhouse…IT for a store front…to someone’s front door. I think I covered every aspect of UPS and didn’t receive another question about big Big Brown. Capt Perryman then asked me my only stern question. Don’t thing being mean is natural for her and asked what if she was doing stuff on standard all trip and finally wasn’t stabilized and telling me it’s going to be ok, just trust her. I tried to work with her as the FO, but ultimately told her to go around, she said no so I told tower we were going around. She said how do you think that downwind leg would be. I said ackward. My bro who is finishing up Jo’s first year said they just dinged a tail recently for that exact scenario so I must have chosen the correct courses of action. After that she was back to super friendly. Told some war stories about the A-10 and being a BALO. Difference between passengers and packages? Point A to B safe, no real difference for flying. How to save money? Pull it back if early. Did you ever save any money? Yes, told story. If I asked your wife, what would she say you need to improve, besides your ugly face what would she say? At the very end Waren asked me a riddle (I hate riddles and gave up very quickly)…a dad brings his son on to a plane early. FA asks if the kid wants to see the cockpit…kid goes up talks to the Capt and FO. Returns to his seat. Capt leans over to the FO and says “that’s my son!” Who is the Captain?”
“Great experience. AmyLyn and Doris were awesome! Everyone in the pilot recruiting office was great. The HR interview was as briefed as was the tech portion. I was at the beginning of a cycle so I had to wait 10 days to find out, but they will tell you when to expect notification.”
“All gouges are spot on. No real changes here other than the questions were phrased slightly different for my HR yet addresses the usual areas of importance (customer service, conflict resolution, etc.).
Stayed at the Doubletree. Nice hotel, excellent option other than the hotel shuttle does not offer airport pickups/dropoffs. No big deal as the United Airlines complimentary shuttle will offer airport shuttle to the United Airlines training facility and then an easy connection to the hotel from the training facility. Make a litle extra time and arrive early for the interview as construction may cause unforseen delays.
Upon arrival at the interview, met AmyLyn and Doris. They are both very friendly and do their best to ensure you’re comfortable. They collect logbooks and required document copies. Application updates and amendments with a red pen are completed before getting started. Once completed, the process begins.”
“Everyone at the training center is incredibly friendly and welcoming. There were three of us interviewing at the same time. We were invited into the main office reception area where we remained for the whole 3 hours. Dorris and Amy-Lynn took our paperwork and logbooks and then handed us the print-outs of our applications to make any necessary corrections to. Once that is complete, we waited our turns to complete the Tech portion and the HR portions, in no particular order. The Tech portion was done one-on-one with a current captain. The HR portion was done with one captain, one HR rep, and an HR rep who was learning how to conduct interviews. Afterwards you are told to expect to hear back one way or another in about a week.”
“As has been said before, they are super friendly and go out of their way to make you feel comfortable. There were 3 of us to a time slot and at least 2 time slots that day. The hardest part was waiting afterwards, especially the following Wednesday when you knew that were all meeting to deliberate on your fate! Doris called the Thursday a week after the interview, but we were told we might not know until Friday.”
“Arrived at Training Center and greeted by Doris and AmyLyn who put you at ease right from the start and knock out the admin portion–take your requested documents and have you review and initial your app pulled from the date you received your invite. You will need to red ink edit any significant changes. Interview office is not large but stocked full of mini water bottles and granola bars.
I did the TSA portion first–very straightforward, 25-yr 757 CA evaluator, no gotchas; just recite the profile call outs and pilot inputs from the TSA study guide. Expect to conduct a takeoff and departure brief to include ground taxi and SID, and an approach brief to include STAR and IAP. Expect to have to use the QRH and to go missed approach and then have to divert. Then a quick CRM video that you debrief. TSA portion was roughly 45 minutes.
I did the HR portion next–also very straightforward, 1, 3-yr HR rep and 1, 10-yr 737 FO. Started with handing each a copy of my resume and giving my 5 min intro then answering multiple TMAATs. HR portion was roughly 30 minutes. No feedback given for either event.”
” I interviewed unsuccessfully with Delta in the past. Although Delta made you feel relaxed, the people at United welcomed you and went out of there way to relax you. It was a great experience. Between your application and the Hogan assessment, the folks there already have a fairly good idea who you are. The recruitment ladies that meet you at the door are extremely pleasant. I was given my application from when it was pulled and my times were downloaded a few days before I arrived. I updated nothing. They said, so long as the times are within 100 or so hours of your actual time that it wasn’t required. The panel interview was laid back. The HR rep and line Captain were very easy going. Unlike Delta, I had no scenario based questions. I had several TMAAT questions and of course, “Why United?” Be sure to nail that one. It is practically guaranteed. The TSA was as described previously. There were no gotchas. The captain gave me current weather and NOTAMS. I had a simple abnormal. I made it a point to transfer controls to the PM (him). Know your callouts from the packet cold! I got the call several days later. Tom Petty is right, The Waiting is The Hardest Part. My application was in the system for about 3 years. INDOC is currently about three months from when you interview.”
” I can’t say enough great things about my interview experience with United. This was my 3rd major airline interview and from the minute I walked in I knew this was the airline I wanted to work for for the rest of my career. Everyone is so friendly and really makes you feel like they want you to be successful and that they want to hire you.”
“Original application submitted in 2013. Received no invites and then did 3-year non-flying tour. Senior mentor within Delta said go get some hours. Started flying again in 2017 and after updating app with first two months of flying (about 180 hours), received Delta and United invites within a couple weeks.”
“I had a friend who is a United FO give my resume to his chief pilot and I had a great meet and greet with the United folks at OBAP; however, I have no way of correlating these events with the interview invite.”
“I attended the Veteran’s job fair in SFO. I think this helped me get the interview. They e-mailed to start the process in line with my available date in the system after the job fair.”
“ I got the invite shortly after updating my application for going over 100 hours in the last 12 months”
“ Updated app with B-767 type rating, I didnt have any jet time prior to that which I think was holding me back.”
“Two things: 1) emailed hiring department 9 months out IAW an email I got from them back in 2015, and 2) phone call with UAL East Coast Director of the United 4 Veterans program.”
“Two internal recs. One of my internal recs hand walked my resume in for me and my bro. Within a week or two we both had interviews. His numbers are very similar to his”
” None. However, make sure you are keeping your application up to date. You don’t want to go in there and have to make a ton of red ink changes.”
“ I have a very accomplished community service resume. I would recommend reducing flying and make the time to support non-profits in your local community.
At this point in your career, you’ve proven you can fly airplanes. Now it is time to prove you are willing to be charitable.”
“ I had a meet & greet setup for me by a United pilot that I knew with the Cleveland Chief Pilot, Mike Whitney. The meeting took place in 2015, about 13 months prior to receiving the Hogan Personality Inventory. At the time of my meeting, the CP’s were allowed essentially unlimited meet & greets, though I believe they are limited to 24/year each now.
I did attend WAI the year of my interview, but it was just after I received my Hogan test, so I would not consider the job fair to be a contributing factor.”
“Transitioned to a new aircraft and updated every 30 days”
“No. I did have 9 LORs of which 7 were from UAL FOs.”
“Signed up and was invited to SFO Veterans event. Received Hogan email and interview invite prior to event so ended up not attending.”
“Attended a Job Fair 6 months before”
“Invite came the day after my 4th rec went into airline apps.”
“LOTS of job fairs. United does an excellent job sending the same recruiters year after year to events like WAI and OBAP so if you’re dedicated to going to these conferences you really can develop a strong rapport with the recruiters.”
“WAI but that was 6 months ago. Possibly just came within their window for pulling my application and my military availability date?”
“It seems like a substantial number of recent interviewees attended a live event.”
“No. Actually preferred not having a lot of time to stew on interviewing. Plus many years of practiced procrastination helps when your on a short timeline.”
“I would have studied more jeppesen beyond climb/descend via. Know all the altitude combinations etc.”
“Practice Jep SID/STAR briefings”
“I felt like I was pretty prepared but in hindsight, I would have recorded myself on my phone giving my TMAAT stories and smoothed those a little more. I was thrown off my the HR person pushing back so hard on my stories and kept my cool and kept smiling but I didn’t hit some of the home runs I had prepared. If you really want to be prepped, I would have someone role play a difficult HR person sitting across a table from you and practice your stories while staying cool and always smiling.”
“Try to come up with lots of stories from your experiences in a situation-action-result format, , and don’t forget when you’re telling your story to answer the question. You may have one story that could be used for “tmaat you had to deal with a stressful situation” or “tmaat you had a challenging flight” or “tmaat you had to make a decision” just don’t forget when you answer the question to work in the question into the answer… otherwise you may tell an awesome story about an aircraft emergency and they’re sitting there thinking “sooo, was it stressful”? That was the best advice I got before my interview and I found it very helpful.”
” Take your time answering the TMAAT questions. During the interview I wrote down some key words of the question to make sure my stories were on track with what was asked. It also allowed me to slow down and really think about what type of story to apply to the question.”
“I read Cockpit 2 Cockpit and followed it to the T and it worked. Great book and worth the read if you are serious about coming to the airlines.”
” Great group of people working in the hiring department. They did the best job I’ve seen of any airline putting the group at ease and making it an enjoyable process.”
“The copy of the app you sign is the version that you got the interview invite from. Small grammar, phone numbers, and flight time updates with the red pen they give you. Any more updates than that you may be showing poor app QC before hitting submit… Much more of a concern for Delta hopefuls.”
“The tell me about yourself and why United questions will be asked 100% of the time. Know your callouts for the TSA portion cold. The Captain doing the TSA portion did not seem to care if the callouts were word for word from the sheet, but that the information was correct. (Ie I just had to say, advance the throttles to X and do X, vs “The pilot flying will manually advance the throttles to X and…) ”
During the HR portion, they write almost the entire time you are talking. Just follow the STARR method of answering and they will ask follow up questions if needed. I printed off my resume and letters of rec and had them bound. I brought 5 copies as there can be up to 4 people in the room during your interview. I only had 2 for my panel portion. There was an observer for my technical portion however.
“I stayed at the Double Tree across the street and in the morning I met a few training captains at breakfast. I think it is important to be friendly and talk to as many people as possible…you never know who will be part of the decision to get the CJO. Everyone was super friendly and positive. Remember to always SMILE and be positive especially when you in sidebar conversations waiting to go into one of the sessions. Treat the entire time from the time you leave for Denver till you get home as part of the interview. Dress the part…treat everyone professionally…and finally just be positive and have a great attitude!”
“For the technical part, it wasn’t as relaxed as I was expecting probably due to the fact the guy was being observed. I did all the call outs and was given an anti-ice light to work through and later a divert scenario after going missed approach. It was all good but more than I expected and less relaxed.”
“Very low threat environment. I was treated like a professional and everyone seemed genuinely happy to have us there. The job really is yours to lose.”
No. I prepared my logbooks thoroughly with a professional binder with tabs for my civilian and military time and felt they appreciated it and didn’t find any errors.
I had some minor issues with my logbooks that I identified prior to the interview. I wrote a memorandum for record on the issues and the HR panel accepted them and my reasoning. Just like everyone said, at the very beginning of the interview day, the HR folks bring you in to a room with all the other applicants and sit you down at a table. They then give you a copy of the application. I don’t know for sure, but I bet that copy was printed the day you received the invite for the Hogan online test. I only guess at this because, prior to TAKING the Hogan test, I updated my application with a few minor corrections. I had expected they wouldn’t print the application until IF I passed the test and then received an invite. I was wrong. At the interview, they sat me at the table and gave me a copy of my application that was before I had made the minor corrections BUT after I had a professional service via Checked and Set review my app. So I bet they print the app the day they send you the invite for the Hogan.
My corrections were quick and easy. The HR folks give you a red pen and have you initial at the bottom of each page, regardless if you made a correction or not. It was a little weird because you’re in a room sitting at a table with a bunch of other guys/gals and they are all doing the same thing. Some finished early while others took A LOT of time. The folks that took the most time correcting things at the end said they were feeling even more nervous because they had so much red ink on their application while the HR folks were waiting and the rest of the applicant group was waiting all at the table staring at them (for what its worth though, they were given a CJO as well!!).
No, I did App review 2 years ago so my app and logbooks were very clean and polished.
None. I set my logbooks up in the order they are listed on my App. I had a single page FHR and copies of my military sorties from my green folder in HARM office. I had my single page reports from T-6 and T-1. I also had my civilian logbooks in order and my 121 time I printed from the company website. All my docs were in order as they requested.
None. Straight forward. Turned logbook in at the beginning of interview day, got it handed back to me by the Captain after the HR portion of interview.
None. I brought my green monster from HARM, and put the flying summary sheet that you can print off of ARMS on the AF Portal on top.
No issues, but I had lost a log book many years ago and wrote up a Memo for Record explaining the loss and included it with my logbooks. They were happy with that. Also, the United hiring staff will have your application from “AirlineApps.com” that they pull sometime near the time they send you the Hogan. Before you go into the interview, they will hand you that application and ask you to update it with a red pen. Most people bring an updated of their application with them and transfer any updates to the old copy they hand you. When it comes to updating the hours, they don’t want you to update those if they are less than 100hrs different.
No. I made sure I had my detailed flight report listing all sorties from my last annual close out until last flight before the interview. Brought my full green folder with flight total summaries and GA logbook. They do check your hours over the last year.
No, the process was very straight forward. I brought my GA logbook and military flying summary with full printout of flying history. Expect the application they print out to be a few weeks out of date so bring a current app to allow a quick update.
None. My logbooks started out as a hot mess between civilian flying, USAF MDS flying, and USAF commercial flying. I made an excel product that summarized the 20 year career, and then broke down each year by category and class. I turned in 3 logbooks total (2 civilian, 1 ARMS print up that was cleaned up and tabbed). Got 3 logbooks back with no comment or feedback, so they must have been good enough! This was frankly one of my biggest worries, since my flight history isn’t tidy like most AF aviators.
No I was updating my app very frequently and making sure there were no errors, so I didn’t have to make any corrections to my application.
None. Used my Army DA Form 759, DA Form 759-1, and an Excel logbook that I’ve kept since I retired from the Army that only included my time since retirement.
No, follow the simple directions. Print out and bring your own copy of your app for easy corrections if necessary. Have 2 copies of your resume for the HR section of the interview.
No issues with my paperwork.
Only changed a few minor items. Definitely want this squared away before showing up.
I had a hiccup with one of my transcripts. But it was easily and quickly resolved. Ended up being a non-factor.
None, simply had a folder of the paperwork in order per their request.
No, Mil HARM printout was just fine.
Have a friend look over your application. Have another friend review the application. Alternatively pay for an application review, as everything is drawn from a computer and errors will unfortunately be held against you in terms of not getting invited to interview.
They printed my application from early this year and I had moved twice, got a new driver license, a new medical- so LOTS of red ink. It also had some grammar errors as I paid for the prep service after the invite. I was embarrassed with the amount of red ink and it was my only “concern” once I left the interview.
I was 1 of 3 that interviewed in the morning. All 3 of us were missing volunteer work on the application they printed out. They told us to bracket the volunteer section and can talk about it in the interview. No questions came up. Other than that, there were no issues. I printed off my app prior to going in there for reference.
None. Provided my military folder with an ARMS Career and By Aircraft Summary. No questions.
No issues however – passing on suggestions, I brought one resume and before the actual interview it was suggested that I make more than one copy. Make 3-4. Logbooks were printed with tabbed out check rides. I printed out and brought my most current application, so I could “red ink” my times accurately.
None. I had 3 different source documents for my flight time and brought the originals along with a summary sheet I printed from LogPro Ten. The “red pen” drill was not an issue with only a couple of admin changes i.e. a new medical date etc.
I got my paperwork back during the HR panel and nothing was said or noted on my documents so I assume there wasn’t an issue or questions.
No. Bring your latest app to compare. They said don’t change hours unless it’s more than 100 so I had nothing to update.
No issues. I just provided copies of everything paper clipped in the order they asked for it. I brought my original (required) and digital (not required) logbooks. Not one question.
Kind of, although it wasn’t really a problem during the interview. The first thing they have you do is review your application which they print and provide to you. Somehow my total turbine time on their copy reflected over 14K hours, and I have no idea where that came from, so I red inked that. It never came up in the interview but I’m still glad I caught it. For what it’s worth, I printed my own copy and brought it along for this review and it reflected what I had always stated (~8500)
I had one error where I put “hours” in a block that was meant for “sorties.” I made the correction on line prior to the interview but it was not in time so I had to use the red pen. So just like a check ride, don’t let a mistake affect the ret of your performance.
I was missing a fair credit report act signature page (not sure if it was sent to me or if I just missed it, but Doris gave me one and I signed no problem.
Yes, a little. I didnt realize that they looked at your logbooks for the times you passed various checkrides. I did a 1 hr prep with Mike Engell of Cage and he said to tab my logbooks. I did but when I walked into the interview there was a lot of questions about why my duplicate logbook had 400 hours less than my original logbook (I brought both since my original was really beat up and had some water damage). Since I had transferred that flight time time about 10 years ago I initially just looked at them like a pig watching TV. After a quick review of what they were referring to I saw that in my original logbook I had logged sim time as flight time and when I did the duplicate I had taken that time out. They said they were happy with the explanation but I wish I had been more prepared for that.
None, follow the directions provided
No. My logbooks are paper and with 9,000 hrs they are not perfect, so don’t sweat it if you have some corrections or the times don’t exactly match up (within reason of course). I tabbed all check rides, seat changes, and the last page. Also included a summary that I made of the 3 books with important events and dates that corresponded to the tabbed pages.
None. However, make sure you are keeping your application up to date. You don’t want to go in there and have to make a ton of red ink changes.
I believe this was the primary weak spot of my interview. At United, when you arrive for the interview, they hand you a red pen to make any corrections to your application. I was advised by Cage Consulting to make sure your application (minus changes to flight time) is identical to how it was prior to receiving the Hogan, because that is when they officially print off your application for use in the interview. When tasked to make corrections there were some quirky inconsistencies with the application they printed off versus my most updated copy I brought with me. For instance, under “Date of Availability” I had selected “2 weeks notice” approximately 4 months prior to receiving the invite, though the application they gave me stated November of 2015, which was the last time I manually entered a date on airlineapps. Also missing from the application was any volunteer work I had included a few months prior to receiving the invite. I asked Dorris if it would be appropriate to make those corrections and she said I should. The more significant application issues though are as follows:
1.) Added Speeding Ticket: A week prior to my interview, I came across a section in one of the Cage Marshall Consulting prep books detailing events that have occurred that aren’t on your record, and that these events should be included in your application. I had a speeding ticket in Indiana a few years previous that was never added to my record because I enrolled in a program that allows the event to be expunged under certain conditions. Therefore, I never added the event to my application. After reading this section, I emailed my contact at Cage, and they advised me to email Bill Kennedy about the matter. I told Mr. Kennedy that I had no intentions of not being forthright, but I wanted to make this instance known now. Mr. Kennedy told me to come to the interview and red ink the event on to my application when I arrive. I even brought copies of my emails between Mr. Kennedy and myself along to the interview to offer if confronted by my HR panel about the addition.
2.) Incorrect education dates: Prior to WAI, I consulted Cage to prep for the job fair, and I had fast passes for United and Delta. Cage advised me for the sake of Delta to include all my flight training dates on my airlineapps under the education section. I was on a trip when I received this advice so I went ahead and added approximate dates on airlineapps, and when I returned home, I updated the dates with more accurate dates. The day I updated the dates was the day I received the Hogan test. At the interview, the application they handed me had all the original, approximated dates on the application. Due to the previously listed event and my focus on integrity, I did not want to chance some circumstance coming up that would prove my dates to be incorrect, so I had to correct every date for each flight training education section entered.
3.) Added work history: While at WAI, I met with a Delta recruiter who liked a section on my resume I had about aerobatic instruction that I had provided in the past. I did not have this work history on my airlineapps as it was never a substantial job. Though, the recruiter encouraged me to add this work history to airlineapps, and I did so. While doing my interview prep work with Cage, they advised me of the importance of having your application as it was prior to the Hogan test, so with that in mind I intended to remove this work section, but somehow forgot to do so. On the application I received from United, there was no work history section of aerobatic instruction, even though my current airlineapps had the work history section. As with the education dates, I was concerned with what would happen if I didn’t make corrections, so on the back of one of the pages of the application, I wrote in a whole additional work history section.
I do not know what would have happened if I did not make the education and work history corrections or if they were necessary. The important lesson is to add things accurately the first time regardless of when you think you might get an invite.
No, Doris or Amylynn will have you review your application make changes and initial every page.
None. The interview welcome email was very specific on what copies of documents you need to submit. I also had a one page summary of my career flight hours by type that I submitted with my logbooks.
Not a single issue.
Logbook / ARMs printout was never mentioned or discussed.
Application that I reviewed/signed was archived data from about the time I got the invite, not most current AirlineApps data … that being said they only wanted updates of more than 100 hours.
No, I used Seth Shall from Airline Transition Consultants so I went in feeling very confident about my application.
No. Electronic logbook with excel print outs as well as paper logbook. Had put a lot of time into app and logbooks ahead of time so I believe they showed well.
None. Straight forward. I studied all the technical information given by RST and felt comfortable during the technical interview.
How do you calculate a VDP? Not ‘what is a VDP’ but how do you calculate a VDP?
Max hold speeds, was not anticipating that question, was ball park close but slightly off on two of them
For the CRM portion the biggest thing is be prepared to potentially take the aircraft.
know the callouts you get in the study packet cold!
Getting the damn QRH to the procedure I needed.
SID and STAR questions. Just because I didn’t use either very often in my career.
The Jeppesen plates, as I never used them before. I made sure to study up on them via online study material. No big deal if you go over then a few times.
The only curveball was “Is a TFR an FDC or a local NOTAM?”
Climb/descend via…easy. Use the Jeppesen guide and the FAA climb via packet from RST.
The TSA is as much about social adaptability as it is technical knowledge so I think it’s important to remain calm, smile and work through decisions based on CRM concepts and available data. There were no “stump the dummy” questions — toughest questions were what different numbers on the jepp charts meant, e.g. MEA, MOCA, DH(A), etc.
None of the questions were particularly difficult, but if you don’t know Jepps then you would be lost. One “gotcha” I remember was being asked about the boldface M designation on an ILS approach profile view (ID’s the MAP for the localizer), and then being asked “what is the MAP for an ILS?” (DH).
I paid for tech prep and it was worth it, I don’t fly with Jeppesen so it was nice to have someone go over it with me.
Not that they were hard, but he pointed to the grey number on the SID and asked what it was. MORA. What’s it give you? 1000’/2000′ clearances. Then asked if I was vectored off the SID while climbing, what information would I want to be given? Altitude. Then I’m cleared back to a point on the SID and told to climb via, what is my top altitude. For the SID we used, FL230.
Nothing really. I was just a little unsure of the descend via and then getting vectored off of it, but my answers were correct. I think the hardest part honestly is not rushing and just taking your time to really absorb all the information at that moment.
RST’s question bank was overall slightly more challenging than the DAL JKT, so if you can practice there the JKT isn’t too difficult.
Could have debriefed the CRM scenario a little better.
Identify MSA on a SID, on my SID there was not a small circle like on the NOS charts, but a large Magenta half circle from edge of plate to edge of plate with the info. If you are used to NOS charts like me, just do some studying on Jepps charts. Know where to find available runway lengths as they are behind the taxi diagram in another chart. Know the difference between a mandatory flyover point vs a turn early point on the charts. If vectored off the SID or STAR, how what altitudes to go to (I asked ATC to verify each time)
What is the IAF? Pretty simple questions.
Navigating the jeppessen app for an alternate after we had to divert.
Understanding Jeppesen plates and where to find information.
I am not a frequent user of Jepp Plates so it was a bit awkward looking for the information in places I am not accustom. Since we all have chair flown, it wasn’t a huge ordeal. Even the decision to divert was more to showcase your CRM skills and how you utilize the people on your team.
Just a few basic jepp related questions. Nothing tricky or hard.
Tech portion was as advertised.
Cimb via and Descend via procedures. I looked it up prior, but got caught up anyway.
Review Gouge, the interview is rather similar in most instances.
Can you descend below mins on CAT2 approach if you see the runway light. It only caught me off guard bc we were not talking about CAT2.
Finding various altitudes on Jep SID i.e. MSA. I was used to small MSA box on FAA app plates.
Vectored off SID, then back on and told climb via SID. Then told climb and maintain X altitude. Do you have to maintain SID crossing altitudes? I got confused due to the climb via instruction and said yes. He clarified that after being cleared to climb via, ATC says climb and maintain. I changed my answer and it did not seem to be an issue.
In-depth discussions on “Climb Via”.
I didn’t have any questions that I wasn’t able to answer.
Nothing “hard” per se but I was a bit nervous and had to reread the Jepp plate a couple of times to find some answers. It is pretty straight forward if you study Jepp briefing strips and watch the video on how to give the brief along with the FAA climb/decend via, that will cover 98% of the questions. I’ve heard some people have been asked what is the holding airspeed at different altitudes, other than that it was straight forward.
I got asked some Jepp symbology during the techinical skills that I wasn’t prepared for; otherwise it was the standard climb/descend via etc. I should have had friends quiz me beforehand.
N/A. I will add that they play a short CRM video that you discuss. Make sure to pay close attention to everything that goes on in the video. Mine was a night visual approach into Reno where they get a GPWS warning during descent. The Captain chose to level off which I debriefed as a loss of SA and bad technique to recover (should have immediately climbed).
None. The profile was straight forward with no surprises. Just memorize the handout and plan to do all the call outs for both PF and PM.
The CRM video comes quick so be prepared to listen to the call outs the crew makes and note any deviations from SOPs or industry best practices for EPs and crew interaction. I discussed them with the Captain as the video played.
Hardest part is developing a solid pre-departure and arrival brief since I am military and have no Part 121 experience – we mission plan and brief very differently than the airlines. Once I developed the briefs, the LOI was very simple. See “Additional Information” below for the briefings I used.
For me it was the QRH. Since it was a brand new checklist and cockpit to me, it took some fumbling to find the emergency in the QRH. The Captain had cockpit cutouts and pointed out the lights we had after the TV screen showed the overall emergency. It was an equipment door light. He helped me locate the correct checklist and then I ran it, talked to dispatch, maintenance, and the F.O. It was straight forward.
TAT and one question on how Center of Pressure changes for a wing
I thought all the SID/STAR/Approach questions were fairly straight forward.
The gouge is spot on for the technical. Practice YOUR briefs for the technical. Don’t try to give a United brief. Get familiar with Jepp Flight deck pro. Study hot spots and SIDs/STARs to include climb via and descend via. They had a couple really tricky climb/descend questions. Thought I had it down cold, but I learned a couple things.