After day one, you are sweating it in your hotel room

Home After day one, you are sweating it in your hotel room

admin@readysettakeoff.com

, , CJO Offered, Fedex Ride Reports, , 0
Which Airline did you interview with? FedEx
How many days between invite, interview, and listed availability? 1 Month
Did you receive a job offer? Yes
If you did not receive the CJO why do you think you weren’t chosen to continue in the process? Tests, HR and SBI passed – waiting for a class date.
What is your experience? 121 only
Total Flight Time Greater
Total Turbine PIC Time >2,000
General Overview of Experience FDX HR staff, especially Amy, do such a fantastic job putting everyone at ease. She’s funny, helpful, and gives good advice to pass the tests on day one. After day one, you are sweating it in your hotel room, hoping for a good call back for day two. Mine came at 4 pm. The next morning, most everyone showed up from day one. Six retired captains did the interviews, paired up into three rooms. They look over your paperwork and then call you in. They were funny, and did a great job of relaxing everyone.
The whole group starts out in a conference room, and the three interview rooms branch off of it. Half the group will do the SBI first (which is done down the hall), and the other half will interview first. Everyone sits around the table in the conference room trying to relax, while people get called away to either their SBI or interview. Don’t sit at the table studying – just relax and focus on being positive, smiling, and happy to be there. Trade contact details with the other interviewees. Day one and two were both over around noon, and on day two, FDX catered lunch for everyone. I highly recommend using the hotels listed for your invite.
The van drivers are great, and know where to go. I’d be leery of trying to drive to the FDX complex on my own or using Uber because of the complexity with the guard shack and the correct building to go in. Make it easy and stress free by just taking the hotel shuttle.
How long did you have your application in before you received an invite? 12 months +
Did you attend a job fair? No
Did you do anything special that triggered the interview invitation? Nothing special. I’ve been applying since 2007, many moons ago, prior to Pilot Credentials. In 2010, I had a FDX buddy submit a letter of rec to Pilot Credentials, but it was so long ago, I don’t think it did anything. I didn’t get to see FDX at a job fair, but highly recommend you see them at one if you can. All this to say, that if you don’t have a recommendation or a chance to see them at a job fair, you can still get an invite.
How many internal recs did you have? 1-2
How long was it from the time of your invite to the actual interview? 4 weeks
Did you have any issues with logbooks, application or paperwork? No issues with the logbooks. I use LogTen Pro and used FedEx Office to have it printed and bound. I then tabbed milestones like PPL, MEL, start of turbine PIC, etc. Don’t let the “living abroad” paper work catch you out. Even if you’ve done some sort of 30+ day ‘staycation’ in Mexico, though your residence was always in the US, they will want that address. I was out of the country for more than 30 days in a hotel room but with a US address, and they wanted that foreign address. No big deal, I had it, but be ready for that if the shoe fits.
How did you prepare for the JKT/COG portion of the interview? RST was really great for this portion. I could tell I did really well on the Cog test due to the RST trainer. If you can get in the 750 to 850 range on the RST Cog trainer, you’ll be a rockstar in Memphis when you do it. The JKT was TOUGH. I didn’t get any weather and very few math questions, but a lot on aero. What was tough is that I did really well on the practice tests: 90%+ but ran in to strangely worded questions/answers. Take your time. The best way to do this is answer every question, even with a guess, and go on. Then, if you have time, come back and look again at the ones you struggled with. You’ll have a pencil and paper, so mark those questions down and come back later. If you run out of time, at least you have an answer filled in with a guess. I nearly ran out of time. Also remember that your first guess is often your intuition telling you the right answer. Going back to change answers may or may not be helpful.
Technical Test Questions It was such a blur, I honestly can’t remember many. There is such a large bank of questions, it’s kind of pointless to think about the questions. Instead, just be solid on the concepts. Thankfully, I didn’t get any lead radial questions! Be sure and know about feet per nautical mile vs feet per minute and how to calculate both. I got one about being at a certain level, to cross another level x number of miles ahead – what is the required descent angle and FPM. Not too hard, except it’s stressful on the day. Be familiar with the new lighting systems that warn pilots of someone entering the runway.
What was the hardest technical question or content you experienced during the job knowledge test? I can’t really remember, but there are questions where all the answers are correct, but they want the BEST answer. I hate those! What most affects lift in a turn – with several concepts in each answer. I had to end up guessing on the type of light used in the new runway lighting system that detects an aircraft encroaching into a protected area.
Cog Test Very much as advertised.
Cog Math Questions Very much as advertised. Scan the answers first – two will be wrong right off the bat. Two will be close. Flip a coin and move on. I’m terrible at math like that under stress. There were a few that were doable in my head but a couple that I couldn’t do and just guessed – like multiplying $1.65 by 3, $1.35 by 4, $.85 by 2 and then adding it together. Fuggedaboutit.
HR Questions These were fairly straight forward without any traps or good cop/bad cop. Pilot bases? Aircraft types? Talk about how you’ve been a leader when flying as an F/O with senior captains. What were some challenges working at your current/previous airline? How would you handle an F/O who was struggling? (Use ECIC’s SARR method) How do you fight the insidiousness of complacency when flying to familiar destinations? What if you were running late and weather was moving in toward your destination and adding more fuel would cause a further delay? When I mentioned I’d take a delay to add fuel, they asked me what was written on the side of the airplanes at FDX, lol.
Your time to really shine is right off the bat when they ask “Tell us about yourself.” Have this 3-5 minute selling point down cold. No uh’s, no dropping eye contact, be able to say it in your sleep. It may be your one chance to mention things about yourself that you may not get the opportunity to later. If they don’t ask you about something you want to bring up, you better have it worked into your story. I had lots of good things to share, but they concluded the interview before I had the chance to work some of those things in. So, just be aware that the opening salvo is your best chance to put your best foot forward.
How long prior to the interview did you prepare for the HR portion of the interview? 30 days, 3-5 hours EVERY day (including RST). I made note cards of questions and had my wife ask me them.
Which HR Prep service did you use and did it help? ECIC for the win. Don’t study questions. Come up with 10-12 traits that are great about you and fill those into the answers you give. Keep in mind how your story reflects the core values of leadership they (might) be looking for. You can then answer most anything.
Any additional information you would like to add. Don’t wear a suit, tie, or jacket to day one. Amy will make you take it off anyway, saying, “Why take a stressful test with a noose around your neck?” LOL. They really do mean business casual – khakis and a golf shirt or dress shirt without a tie. Bring the suit for day two.
Is their anything you wish you could have done different to prepare you for this process? I felt prepared. I should have chair flown more SBI’s to practice my demeanor and decisiveness and just get used to the clock and the stress. Overall though, between RST and ECIC, and spending 3-5 hours a day for 3-4 weeks, you’ll be more than ready, even if you feel like you aren’t. Most importantly, be yourself. I get the feeling that these people do this so much, they’ll see a B-S’er a mile away. Be yourself. Oh yeah, and be yourself.
Related Articles
 

©2024 Ready Set Takeoff

Log in with your credentials

Forgot your details?