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Cathay 1st Interview Debrief

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Stewage

Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2002
Posts
19
Cathay 1st Interview Debrief



9 March 2005 in Vancouver, B.C.



I had my first interview in Vancouver and wanted to give some feedback. I have gotten a load of good information off of this website, so wanted to share some of the knowledge. I also wanted to thank those that I have spoken to and emailed (Capt. Underpants / Danny / Corny) for all of your help.



CX called me about two months prior to schedule me for the SO interview. I read “Handling the Big Jets” (Davies), “Preparing for your Cathay Pacific Interview” (Capts. ABC), “Airline Interview Questions Explained” (Capt’s XYZ), and referenced “Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators”. All are available on the web, had to search a little for the Capts XYZ book though, got it from Australia. I also looked at the company website and referenced the last two semi-annual reports and read the latest company news, focusing on aviation related information. Finally, I called pilotcareercentre.com and tried to schedule an interview prep, but was unable due to work considerations. They did, however, fax me a 20 page Cathay debrief sheet which was EXTREMLY accurate, literally to the day. As a side note, I plan on still doing the interview prep with these guys in the near future. I also prepared a CV package, with my CV, reprinted Cathay app, letters of recommendation, and printout of military flight time, all on A4 paper. If you’re living in North America and need A4 stuff, check into empireimports.com



OK, the interview. I arrived the night prior (I live outside of Portland, OR, so I drove up) and stayed in one of the hotels Cathay recommended (Plaza 500 hotel). It was a 3 star and “semi-grotty,” but was within easy walking distance of the interview and worked well for my purposes. I’d recommend it. Like an old military op, I walked the route the night prior to make sure I didn’t screw it up the day of. I studied another two hours the night prior and woke up early, studying an hour and a half the day of. I even ordered breakfast in the room, which was a good call.



I walked down to the office and showed up 15 minutes early, which was recommended to me and I would recommend to anyone else as well. The receptionist was very nice and greeted me when I walked in. I had a briefcase with my logbooks, CV, etc. in it and she placed it in the closet for me. She took me into an office and sat me down for the written test. This part was a surprise: the written test was literally written (no computer). I had planned for the computer, but this was the old-school written / multiple choice test. I don’t remember all of the questions, but most were out of the Capt.XYZ book. Some were not (I had never seen them before). I think I did OK, one I had no idea, however. I did re-read the test and found a couple wrong before I turned it in.



After I turned it in, I waited about 5 minutes then was called into the interview room. Two gentlemen waited for me there, a Canadian HR guy and an Australian Captain. I don’t remember their names, but they were very nice. As was stated in previous posts, they did a great job of making me feel at ease. The HR fella went first, for about 30 minutes, literally just talking about me. He asked when I was interested in flying, some basic family questions, what I knew about HK, my best/worst qualities, what my friends would say about me, etc. He put me on the spot about whether I regretted getting out of the Air Force (I don’t) and asked if me wife regretted it (she doesn’t). My wife is British, so we talked about that a bit, children, education, then focused on why I wanted to fly for Cathay. He wanted to know what I did to prepare for the interview (I answered that totally truthfully, see first paragraph above). He also made the statement that if I wanted to get out of the Air Force and join an airline, I couldn’t have picked a worse time, and we all laughed at that. Then, he hit me with something I wasn’t ready for: he asked if I was offered a DE/FO position would I take it. The answer is/was yes, and then he asked where we wanted to live. I was honest, and said that we wanted to get to Europe, but were more than willing and excited to go to Hong Kong. I had been cautioned by others about saying that we wanted to live in Europe, but based on his attitude (very straight forward and honest / no games) I answered honestly.



Then the Captain had me for about 30 minutes. He asked the questions that have been stated in other posts, mostly stuff on aerodynamics, what do winglets do, why doesn’t the 777 have them, what happens to the drag curve as your weight reduces (I drew that out), how do slotted flaps work (I drew that as well), what engine is on the 747-400, how much thrust, the 747-200, how much thrust (I forgot the exact amount, but was close, he seemed OK with that), what is the ITCZed (I am a Yank, I gave the deer in the headlights look at him until he actually stated the name, we both had a laugh over that as well), how I’d handle landing during a Typhoon, go around procedures (I talked both from HTBJ’s and my own experience). He also asked with my experience how I’d feel being a SO answering to a guy 10 years my junior who came up through the cadet program, how I’d feel being bored out of my mind babysitting the autopilot for three years, how I’d deal with a Captain or FO who was doing something stupid (the example was flying under the anvil of a thunderstorm).



When the interview was winding up, the Canadian gentlemen asked me if I had any questions, also stating that although everyone says to ask a couple of questions, they didn’t require it. I had some honest questions, mostly about expansion, upgrade, etc. We actually talked for about another 10 minutes. When the interview concluded, they gave all of my documents back, including my CV package, and told me that I should hold onto them in case I got a second interview. As I was leaving the Capt. told me that the second interview puts a lot of emphasis on the sim check and I may want to consider that fact in future preparation (I am pretty stupid, but took this as a good sign).



OK, big picture: the interviewers were GREAT. They were very polite and did a great job of making me feel comfortable and allowing me to put my best foot forward. To me, they set a very good impression of Cathay. The interview was challenging and if you get one, you MUST prepare for it to be successful. Yanks need to know that the Brits/Aus/Can all speak a different form of English, to include aeronautics. The above stated books will prepare you for that. Nothing was too much, however, if you have been a military instructor or a civilian senior FO/ Captain your job knowledge will be fine. Anyone who makes it to the interview (which in itself is a task) has the knowledge, it is just refining it. I hope this helps for anyone else who gets the interview.



Oh, I almost forgot, the outcome! The ended up putting me forward to a DE/FO interview slot, so I should be interviewing in HK later this year (no date yet).



Best of luck to everyone else out there, happy landings.
 
Good for you! Sounds like you did everything absouluty to a "TEE". Do you think getting DEFO is a positive or not?

I leave for training in less then 2 weeks, but will keep thumbing through flightinfo.

Hopefully see you in HK.

Bjammin
 
For me DEFO is fine; we were ready either way. We are both happy about the prospect of living in Europe again. Both have advantages and disadvantages, but the company seems financially sound now and overall one of the better deals around. Good luck!
 
Stewage...Hmmmmm

Stew,

Proud Viking 9?

Is that you?

Give me a PM.

CB
 
Way to go!

Stewage,

Sounds like everything went very well. No surprise there.

Congrats and good luck on the second round!

-Corny
 
Anyone looking for the book, “Preparing for your Cathay Pacific Interview” (Capts. ABC). I found it at Transair pilot shop in the UK. Ordered it online.
rwelch
 

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