mar
Remember this one?
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2001
- Posts
- 1,929
The Captain saw me get up from my chair and opened the door to take the test from me. He walked me back out to the receptionist where I waited a few more minutes until another gentleman came out of a different office (introduced himself but didn't say in what capacity he works for Cathay) and took me into a small meeting room where the Captain was waiting. This is when I learned he was a captain).
Neither of them wore coats but I left mine on. It started very casual, friendly, almost chatty. They asked me if I had arrived that morning. After we talked about my travels, the gentleman explained that he would be asking the general questions about my background, later in the interview the Captain would have some questions of a technical nature and towards the end I would have an opportunity to ask any questions I have.
With that, he started on my education. He asked why ERAU? What advice would I give to someone just entering college about their choice of field to study? How to balance that with learning to fly if they wanted to be a pilot? How much did ERAU cost in the late '80s? How did I pay for it? Had I considered the military? Why? Outline how you got to your current position since you graduated college?
After this part my memory gets a little foggy but I remember the gentleman running this part of the interview by asking all of the questions, but I tried to address both men--and everytime I looked at the Captain he was nodding off...you know, it was after lunch and he probably had jet lag...
Other questions that stand out: Your first application was in 2001. Why then? I gave the standard answer along the lines of why Cathay is the best at what they do (Number One in customer service, average fleet age 6 years old, brilliant safety record, reputation for outstanding training, etc...). He said, yeah but, why did you *wait* until 2001? I told him it wasn't until then I realized Cathay hired Americans, until my friend was hired. He asked about my friend, who he was, what he flies, where he's based (which shows me how much influence the recommendation had).
He asked me where I fly. How long are the legs? Do I think it will be a big adjustment to long haul? How do I know I'm suited for long haul? Have I ever been to Hong Kong? Do I know what the cost of living is in HK? Do I know what the weather is like in HK? Is it always hot and humid? Do I know what the population is in HK? What's the population of Anchorage and Fairbanks (the last two places I've lived). But I mentioned I grew up in Los Angeles and am no foreigner to high-density, metropolitan living. Have I ever been to Asia? Yes, Seoul once.
Have I applied to any other airlines? Only one. Have they contacted you? Why do you think you haven't been called by them? Let's say you're offered a job by Cathay and you accept. Now you're living in Hong Kong and this company that you applied to calls you up and offers you a job right there over the phone with no interview. What will you do? Why would you stay at Cathay and not work for them? What do you expect from your employer?
He asked if I was aware of the current situation between Cathay management and the pilots (he never once mentioned the union). I said yes. He said good. I got the feeling he didn't want to have to explain it to me. He asked me if I'm aware of the recruitment ban that's been instituted? I said yes. He said good. He said, of course we all hope that the situation is resolved quickly and to everyone's satisfaction but suppose you're made an offer of employment and the ban is still in effect. What will you do? I told him I'd accept the job but here my body language was starting to squirm. I should have known better but I really wasn't expecting to be confronted on this subject--at least not in the initial interview.
Here he indicated that he was almost finished and then he'd turn it over to the Captain but he had a few more questions first: How did I prepare for this interview? How much notice would I need to attend a second interview? And if offered a job how much notice would I need to begin training. I answered a min. of two weeks but preferrably a month to both questions.
Then he turned it over to the Captain who rubbed his eyes and sat up straight in his chair. He grabbed two plastic models of Cathay airplanes and asked me if I knew what aircraft these were? And what other aircraft do Cathay fly? Then he stood each plane on its tail and faced them towards me. Which airplane do I think flies faster. I told him that cruise speed is limited by Mcrit and Mcrit is affected by the sweep of the wings but I can't really discern which model has the greater sweep. He said, Ok, this one has the greater sweep. How does sweep affect Mcrit? What does Dutch Roll mean? What causes Dutch Roll? Show me with the model the action of Dutch Roll on the airplane. How is Dutch Roll lessened?
The Captain said, that's all I have and turned it back over to the other gentleman. He asked if I had any questions. I had two. They took lots of time to answer my questions and I even had a couple follow-ups. He asked if I had any other questions. When I told him no they got up, thanked me for my time and showed me out of the meeting room.
Cathay has a pretty good reputation for responding quickly--they don't leave you hanging like some places...so when I didn't hear anything by yesterday (the 24th) I emailed the Flight Crew Recruitment dept in HK and got a response the same day: Thanks but no thanks. Also I was under the impression that if successful at the initial interview they'd make an invitation to the second interview on the spot. When I left the office that day with no invitation I sort of got the feeling it wasn't going to be a Yes.
Funny thing is I thought it went well enough. I know I missed a few questions on the test; I know I could've done better with some personal questions; and I know I gave a pretty weak answer on how sweep affects Mcrit.
All in all, most of the interview was just conversational about my background, experience and feelings (probably 30-40 minutes) and then the technical portion was really fast (maybe 10-15 minutes).
To be honest, I'm not sure what they're looking for, but they're very friendly and very polite--although the question about how much I paid for college and who paid for it, I thought was a little inappropriate--but my Euro-friends tell me that's a British thing to see if I'm bonded (in debt) to anyone.
If they wanted to know that they should've asked about my credit cards...
Good luck!
Neither of them wore coats but I left mine on. It started very casual, friendly, almost chatty. They asked me if I had arrived that morning. After we talked about my travels, the gentleman explained that he would be asking the general questions about my background, later in the interview the Captain would have some questions of a technical nature and towards the end I would have an opportunity to ask any questions I have.
With that, he started on my education. He asked why ERAU? What advice would I give to someone just entering college about their choice of field to study? How to balance that with learning to fly if they wanted to be a pilot? How much did ERAU cost in the late '80s? How did I pay for it? Had I considered the military? Why? Outline how you got to your current position since you graduated college?
After this part my memory gets a little foggy but I remember the gentleman running this part of the interview by asking all of the questions, but I tried to address both men--and everytime I looked at the Captain he was nodding off...you know, it was after lunch and he probably had jet lag...
Other questions that stand out: Your first application was in 2001. Why then? I gave the standard answer along the lines of why Cathay is the best at what they do (Number One in customer service, average fleet age 6 years old, brilliant safety record, reputation for outstanding training, etc...). He said, yeah but, why did you *wait* until 2001? I told him it wasn't until then I realized Cathay hired Americans, until my friend was hired. He asked about my friend, who he was, what he flies, where he's based (which shows me how much influence the recommendation had).
He asked me where I fly. How long are the legs? Do I think it will be a big adjustment to long haul? How do I know I'm suited for long haul? Have I ever been to Hong Kong? Do I know what the cost of living is in HK? Do I know what the weather is like in HK? Is it always hot and humid? Do I know what the population is in HK? What's the population of Anchorage and Fairbanks (the last two places I've lived). But I mentioned I grew up in Los Angeles and am no foreigner to high-density, metropolitan living. Have I ever been to Asia? Yes, Seoul once.
Have I applied to any other airlines? Only one. Have they contacted you? Why do you think you haven't been called by them? Let's say you're offered a job by Cathay and you accept. Now you're living in Hong Kong and this company that you applied to calls you up and offers you a job right there over the phone with no interview. What will you do? Why would you stay at Cathay and not work for them? What do you expect from your employer?
He asked if I was aware of the current situation between Cathay management and the pilots (he never once mentioned the union). I said yes. He said good. I got the feeling he didn't want to have to explain it to me. He asked me if I'm aware of the recruitment ban that's been instituted? I said yes. He said good. He said, of course we all hope that the situation is resolved quickly and to everyone's satisfaction but suppose you're made an offer of employment and the ban is still in effect. What will you do? I told him I'd accept the job but here my body language was starting to squirm. I should have known better but I really wasn't expecting to be confronted on this subject--at least not in the initial interview.
Here he indicated that he was almost finished and then he'd turn it over to the Captain but he had a few more questions first: How did I prepare for this interview? How much notice would I need to attend a second interview? And if offered a job how much notice would I need to begin training. I answered a min. of two weeks but preferrably a month to both questions.
Then he turned it over to the Captain who rubbed his eyes and sat up straight in his chair. He grabbed two plastic models of Cathay airplanes and asked me if I knew what aircraft these were? And what other aircraft do Cathay fly? Then he stood each plane on its tail and faced them towards me. Which airplane do I think flies faster. I told him that cruise speed is limited by Mcrit and Mcrit is affected by the sweep of the wings but I can't really discern which model has the greater sweep. He said, Ok, this one has the greater sweep. How does sweep affect Mcrit? What does Dutch Roll mean? What causes Dutch Roll? Show me with the model the action of Dutch Roll on the airplane. How is Dutch Roll lessened?
The Captain said, that's all I have and turned it back over to the other gentleman. He asked if I had any questions. I had two. They took lots of time to answer my questions and I even had a couple follow-ups. He asked if I had any other questions. When I told him no they got up, thanked me for my time and showed me out of the meeting room.
Cathay has a pretty good reputation for responding quickly--they don't leave you hanging like some places...so when I didn't hear anything by yesterday (the 24th) I emailed the Flight Crew Recruitment dept in HK and got a response the same day: Thanks but no thanks. Also I was under the impression that if successful at the initial interview they'd make an invitation to the second interview on the spot. When I left the office that day with no invitation I sort of got the feeling it wasn't going to be a Yes.
Funny thing is I thought it went well enough. I know I missed a few questions on the test; I know I could've done better with some personal questions; and I know I gave a pretty weak answer on how sweep affects Mcrit.
All in all, most of the interview was just conversational about my background, experience and feelings (probably 30-40 minutes) and then the technical portion was really fast (maybe 10-15 minutes).
To be honest, I'm not sure what they're looking for, but they're very friendly and very polite--although the question about how much I paid for college and who paid for it, I thought was a little inappropriate--but my Euro-friends tell me that's a British thing to see if I'm bonded (in debt) to anyone.
If they wanted to know that they should've asked about my credit cards...
Good luck!
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