Do's and Don'ts of military interviews

[lobohopeful]

Anybody have a heads up on the finer details of a military interview? ie, don't sit until offered, etc, things like that.

 

[MercuryPilot]

A couple of general things come to mind for any interview:

Don't be on time. BE EARLY!

Coat and tie may not be a bad idea assuming the interviewer is wearing the uniform of the day.

You don't need a USMC "high & tight" but dread locks may give the wrong impression. I probably wouldn't come in w/lambchop sideburns either.

Say "Sir/Ma'am" when appropriate or until told otherwise.

If you have not submitted a resume you might want to bring one along. Be sure to include highschool and college info. If you've taken some college classes but don't have a degree be sure to include what you've taken.

I see you have flight time so your logbook and certificates and some sort of flight time summary wouldn't hurt either if your applying for a pilot slot.

If you've ever been in trouble w/the law be honest and upfront about the incident. Tell em' you've learned from your mistakes, been to traffic school, etc.-Just be sincere. It's going to look really bad if later on they find out you were lying. It'll make getting a security clearance later on difficult as well.

Bring your medical/dental records if that sounds appropriate. If you've been hospitalized the military will want to know the exact dates and for what reasons.

Be prepared to take notes in case they ask you to contact someone, go see a Doctor, get measured for uniforms, etc. A calendar might be useful too.

My final bit of advice: If you're talking to an Officer recruiter about a pilot slot, DO NOT under any circumstances let them sell you on the Navigator slot w/the pipe-dream of being a pilot later on. Unfortunately, it probably will NEVER happen.

Anyway, I don't know what you're applying for but I hope this helps. Good luck.

Go Navy!

 

[lobohopeful]

Thanks man. I guess a little background would help....I'm after an ANG fighter slot. The application package has all pertinent info such as flight times, PCSM, college transcript, LOR's. Problem is I'm non-prior so I really don't know how different the military side is from the civilian side. As for civ, they're into things down to firmness of the handshake, eye contact, how you treated HR, etc. Just wondering what else the mil guys want to see, or don't want to see.

 

[skyward80]

lobo:

I'd say most of the airline stuff applies too. Look people in the eye, make sure your nails are cut, speak with confidence, keep a tissue or something in your pocket to wipe your palms discretely from time to time if they get sweaty, etc. If you eat lunch or drink coffee keep some mints handy. Stay away from onions, etc. Do wear a business suit. Be as professional and personable as possible and above all... be yourself. They're going to ask you pretty much every HR question out there. Study up on the questions and have answers ready for all of them. Why should we hire you? (Don't lay it on too think with the patriotism angle either.) What would your co-workers say about you? What is your best/worst quality? etc. They will call all of your references (or at least, they called all of mine). Study up on the unit. Know about the operations they have recently participated in. Make copies of your app. package and have them ready to distribute to the panel of interviewers (not required, but I got a lot of smiles and compliments when I did it). Everybody is important... don't just concentrate on looking at the officers when answering questions... pay attention to the enlisted guys too (if present). If you need more help, just PM me. I was recently sponsored for a slot on the KC 10 with the 76th ARS out of McGuire.

Good luck!
Skyward80

Don't forget... you will be an officer then a pilot. In other words, the team will come ahead of the fact that you fly planes.

 

[JCJ]

courtesy

be polite and courteous to everyone you meet in the entire interview process

i hire new physicians to become surgery residents - every once in a while one comes in and has a great record, interviews great but is a jerk to a secretary.

of course what happens next is the secretary (who may have been there 20 years, is certainly a senior member of the family and has been making our life easier for a long time) drops by my office and says something polite that translates to "you're not gonna hire that jerk, are you?"

and of course at that point his application goes to the shredder

you'd be surprised how many young, intelligent people (apparently smart enough to get through medical school with good enough grades to enter surgical training) blow this

 

[Vandal]

Get the squadron commander to take a shine to you and insist you get hired. Worked for me!

Look neat, don't give canned rehearsed answers (I didn't study ANY HR questions before my interview, didn't even know about them really...), look em in the eye, and for god sakes, when they ask you for 3 personality traits don't say for one of them "I'm a good pilot" like I did...sheesh I felt dumb.

 

[skyward80]

Vandal is correct (as he usually is). Your answers should not sound rehearsed. Speaking for myself only, I thought going over possible interview questions and their respective answers was a good idea. The interview will make you nervous. If you're like me, pretty much everybody in the room had been flying since I was in diapers (or before). I felt that the study work I did ahead of time helped give me a sense of control over my own interview because I already knew the questions. I'm just the kind of guy who prefers to have the answers ready, but if you're going to make it sound like your answers are pre-packaged it's probably best to not go down that road.

It sounds like Vandal really had the winning formula at his interview... a personality and a sense of professionalism. Everybody on the interview panel wants to know, "Do I want to work with you?" Just be yourself and you'll do awesome!

Skyward80

 

[lobohopeful]

Perfect! This is probably the best feedback I've gotten. The unit is in my hometown and I'll be meeting with another one of the officers soon to get some more insight from him. I want nothing more than to show them how enthusiastic I am for the position and how hard I'm willing to work for it, all without sounding like a nerd. Thanks for all your help. I'll take more if anyone has it.

 

[Vandal]

One more thing I totally forgot. The WHOLE DAY is the interview!! Don't think that just because you aren't sitting in front of the board anymore you aren't being evaluated. Assuming you get a tour, meet all the pilots, etc. make sure to ask tons of intelligent questions about the airplane, their mission, etc. In my interview the guy who showed us around had a lot of say in who got chosen so he was definetly weighing each of our personalities all day. Good luck!

 

[BobbyB]

Guard Units tend to be a tight knit group. Unlike the active duty side, you don't have guys transferring in and out all the time. They need to know that you will fit in with the bro's and will be there for the long haul. If you are a hometown kid, then that is a huge benefit. Your civilian flight time is another benefit. As far as the interview goes, good advice is listed above. Clean cut, conservative suit, no funky ties, etc. DO NOT under any circumstances come off like they owe you the job. What they want to know is that you have a proven track record of hard work and discipline. Good grades in school etc. They need to know that you will be disciplined and mature enough to make it through pilot training. If you didn't have good grades (like my 2.6 in Business) focus on the fact that you worked 40+ hours/week to pay for school, or for flying lessons or whatever. I don't know your exact situation, but lay it out like you had a goal, you set a plan, your worked your butt off, and you achieved it. For example, did well in high school, got a degree from BFU with a 2.1 in basket weaving. I would have liked to have done better, loved the subject and studied hard, but I was busy working two jobs to pay for school AND flying lessons. Now I am back home, building flight time, and working as a flight instructor which is what I have planned to do since I was 8.
Last bit of advice. Don't talk too much. If you are a geek for weapons or airplane trivia, don't ask questions to show them how much you know. Let them show you around, find out about you. Questions I would ask them:
Amount of time that they deploy and where.
Time that you would be on active duty, can you stay active longer if you want?
What's their qualification progression (2 ship lead, 4 ship lead, ip etc)
Ground Jobs/responsibilities within the squadron.
Best of luck! Keep us posted.
BobbyB

 

[AlbieF15]

No matter what any fighter pilot tells you...ball walking is bad.

 

[CCDiscoB]

Stick around after the interview and have a beer or 12 with them. Those guys have a cool bar.

 

[MST]

Idiot question

Albie, What do you mean by "ball walking"?
And Vandal, getting someone to "take a shine" at you?
I've never heard such slang.

 

[BobbyB]

As a fighter guy, I would suggest ball walking into the interview. You'd be hired on the spot.

 

[Vandal]

Re: Idiot question

Albie, What do you mean by "ball walking"?
And Vandal, getting someone to "take a shine" at you?
I've never heard such slang.

"Taking a shine to someone" is the same as "Taking a liking to someone". They like you

 

[lobohopeful]

win some, lose some

Well, I brought my app in to the unit, and, to my surprise, met with the officers on the board. I was totally caught off guard so I think I kinda screwed the talk with the first one. Guess I should have seen it coming. Spent too much of my attention trying to read his disposition with me. Talks with the second officer went really well I thought...had my head out of my ass by that time. Question is, what would be the least intrusive, most effective way to get a second shot so the first guy's lasting impression of me is not "numb nuts"? Call him up, ask him for a tour even though I've been on a couple already? I fired out a thank you letter to each officer that sat down with me. Any other advice?

 

[skyward80]

lobo:

You're probably your worst critic. As long as you seemed personable and sincere, I don't see how you could have made a bad impression. Firing off thank you letters is awesome. I would be as intrusive as possible. Ask for another tour or whatever. Camp in the parking lot. Let them know you want this job. As long as you're not calling people up at 3am, you're not being intrusive... just showing a little professional assertiveness.

Skyward80

 

[bssthound]

First of all, from my experience Ball-Walking is fine. Of course I'd already been in the unit five years and still don't remember it.
All I do remember is walking down the main drag in Waikiki.

Seriously, I've seen a BUNCH of folks interview at my unit. Who got hired? The people who showed up and showed up again. The people who were assertive, introduced themselves, and didn't try to impress us with how much they knew.

JCJ's post speaks volumes. Every person doing a job in that building, be it a flight suit, blues, or bdu's, is part of that unit.
You are not . . . . yet. These people have been pretty close for a very long time. You slight someone and you ain't gonna get in.

Like skyward80 said, you're your own worst critic. Just keep in contact and don't be afraid to bug them a little bit. If you really want it, which it certainly looks like you do, they'll know and they'll probably hire you.

Best of Luck!!