RAC,
I had a meeting with Jack Lewis last year to address your very concerns. The fact is we DO NOT have any inside info on FDX interviews. If inside info was required, we would not be effective at helping people with AirTran, Frontier, Southwest, UPS, Jetblue, NetJets or a host of other places where our team does not work. Most of our work has been with the LCCs anyway, not with FDX.
All we have offered is solid communication training. If you were an executive going to an interview, more than likely your headhunter firm will do some work to "polish" you and help you communicate your strengths more effectively. In a nutshell--that is what we have done for over 3 years.
Interviewing on your own merit sounds solid and reasonable, but the stakes are high and there are so few good jobs around right now people want to make sure they do their very best. How did you learn to fly an ILS to 200 & 1/2? Did you jump right into your plane and dive into it? More than likely, you worked a long time to get those skills piece by piece, and you practiced and practiced and practiced in a sim before doing the real thing. A good interview coaching session is like the academics and sim phase of your training. You still have to execute during IOE, but by warming up your hands (or in the case of interviewing your head and mouth!) you are a lot more likely to say the things that you want to get across rather than just blundering through your answers. RAC--looks like you were military. Did you practice your briefings or presenations before presenting them to the higher ups with a dry run or two? If so--did it make you "fake or phony" or did it simply help you do YOUR briefing more effectively? A lot of what I do is similar to an IPUG F-15 debrief--help people tell their material in a more effective, interesting, and succint fashion.
Flying evaluations in a sim you have never flown are by nature very challenging. Why do we do a warm up before a PC? Most would say the answer would be to knock off the rust and get your head in the game. A sim prep is basically the same thing--you cannot teach a guy or gal with poor flying skills to "bluff" through the process. However, you can take that guy who's been flying glass in his CRJ or 757 or isn't used to turbojet responses (tubroprop guys from regionals/C130s/King Airs, etc) and help him/her get back up to speed.
These communication skills are honed not just in airline interviews, but in a host of other endevours outside aviation. Our team has a host of communication experience both inside and outside avaition--I've got certified CRM instructors, adverstising salespeople, business owners, and my bride is even the president of a local political party (I'll leave it off--I don't mess with the political discussions on the boards) and has done media coaching for some local political candidates. The stuff we teach helps people communicate--not only for job interviews but for a host of applications.
As for the Kit Darby reference--I agree. I hated seeing guys and gals spend tons of money over empty promises, so ever since we started this business we have had a money back guarantee--if you don't get hired you owe nothing. So...you may or may not agree the service is necessary, but I certainly do NOT want to be considered someone who takes advantage of folks. I think anyone who has worked with us would agree we were solid and reputatable. If I am an opportunist, it was only because I saw a way to help good people do their best, not screw them over with empty promises.
And also--lots and lots and lots of people get hired without ANY prep. There is no requirement for anyone to do any of these things. So--it is up to the individual to decide if they think they need the extra help. There is no blanket answer for everyone--its a very personal decision. And we are certainly not the only game in town--lots of folks like Cheryl Cage and Judy Tarver et. al have been doing this stuff for years, so there are plenty of choices for those that might be interested.
...a big jet to make up for a small Johnson? Guess that explains why I am on the 727!
