Kommutrdog,
Smart move on planning ahead. I had 5 days to figure out how to get to ATL, do some self prep, sim prep at Darby's House o Horrors, and fill the app out.
I didn't use any professional prep. What I did for that was to review all the questions off of Willflyforfood and Aviationinterviews, as well as flightinfo. I made sort of a master question list. Separately, I went through as many stories as I could come up with: emergencies, funny stuff, crazy stuff, things students did to me, and things I boned. Then, it's just a matter of "classifying" what story works with what questions. Some of them work for many questions. The interviews were laid back but they take notes in the standard format: Situation, Action, Result.
Sim prep is essential. I'm a current and qualified instrument guy who tries not to use the flight director all the time to keep my cross check up, but I would never do that "MD-81" sim at Kit Darby's without the prep. It's nonmotion and extremely pitch sensitive. Seriously, a quick glance to confirm your decision height will put you way off. They are big picture in that they know it's a sim but they do want to see continual corrections towards perfection. The prep will teach you the pitch and power settings that simplify the sim immensley. I shared the prep with another guy and got $100 bucks off. You still get to see it from the right seat and then fly it for at least 3 times.
There were only 5 dudes in my interview group, I think because they let you know so late. We were done early in the day. No surprises but it helps if you have your sh!t together early. Oh yeah, the application didn't make it to my house by the time I left for ATL. Greta Charles (HR rep) told me it happens frequently. They send some extra packets to Air Inc (they expect you to do the prep) and I picked one up there to fill out the night before the interview. It kind of sucks filling out the app in your hotel room but I had a good idea of the breakouts etc they wanted which helped a lot. Needless to say, they don't expect you to type it.
Hope you get the chance to prove yourself.
Beamer
