Tech Interview was almost exactly as advertised

rstharold, April 20, 2019, CJO Offered, United Airlines Ride Reports, 0

Which Airline did you interview with?	United
How many days between invite, interview, and listed availability?	Hogan Invite on 3/12, Completed 3/16, Interview Invite 3/18. Interviewed on April 10 (but dates earlier were available). Listed Availability is 1 July 2019
Did you include volunteer work in your application?	Yes
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?	n/a
What is your experience?	Military
Total Flight Time	3,000-4,000
Total Turbine PIC Time	TPIC 121 hours 0 TPIC Military hours >2000 TPIC 91/135 0
General Overview of Experience	20 year USAF dude, mobility & SOF Instructor/Evaluator in 4 aircraft, including commercial models. Standard assortment of Deployments to Iraq/Afghanistan/Africa over 20 year career. Final assignment was staff officer with barely any flying time, but it was just enough to get me to 100 hours.
How long did you have your application in before you received an invite?	6-12 months
Did you attend a job fair?	No
Did you do anything special that triggered the interview invitation?	Not that I am aware of. I had crossed the 100 hour/12 month threshold about a month before I got the email. Honestly I was pretty surprised when I got it. I did have 9 internal recs, but no idea if that helped.
How many internal recs did you have?	5+
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?	None. My logbooks started out as a hot mess between civilian flying, USAF MDS flying, and USAF commercial flying. I made an excel product that summarized the 20 year career, and then broke down each year by category and class. I turned in 3 logbooks total (2 civilian, 1 ARMS print up that was cleaned up and tabbed). Got 3 logbooks back with no comment or feedback, so they must have been good enough! This was frankly one of my biggest worries, since my flight history isn’t tidy like most AF aviators.
Technical Test Questions	Tech Interview was almost exactly as advertised. Be sure to know the call out sheet cold, they will use a blanked out profile view of each phase of flight from the study guide and expect you to recite the steps verbatim, Got Jeppesen symbology questions on each plate (SID, STAR, Approach, Taxi), plus “climb via/descend via” trivia questions. Received 2 different divert scenarios, which I think is non-standard. First was a cabin fire on departure (return to airport, coordinate for firefighting/rescue, query if a NOTAM-closed runway was available since it was more conveniently aligned). Dealt a minor MX issue enroute, it is a CRM drill to see how you problem solve. No knowledge of Jet systems required. Finally, had to go missed approach at destination, airfield closed for over an hour, with exactly 1 hour of gas on board. Again, another CRM drill to see how you use inside/outside resources. There is no best choice, so take 5 min to discuss each option and then commit to one. As soon as I did that, the interview ended and we were “sipping lattes in the pilot lounge”. My interviewer was extremely friendly and easy going. It just felt like 2 pilots talking about a flight.
What was the hardest technical question or content you experienced during the job knowledge test?	None of the questions were particularly difficult, but if you don’t know Jepps then you would be lost. One “gotcha” I remember was being asked about the boldface M designation on an ILS approach profile view (ID’s the MAP for the localizer), and then being asked “what is the MAP for an ILS?” (DH).
HR Questions	My HR panel was very straightforward, but left me feeling a little confused afterwards. Team of 2 (1 Captain, 1 HR rep), took turns asking questions. The Captain was very stoic, and asked several pointed follow up questions. I think these were meant to get me off centerline, perhaps get defensive or argumentative. Tried to answer cheerfully and stress lessons learned. I walked out and was very unsure if it went well or not, based on the demeanor. Not mean at all, just…stoic. Zero feedback or body language one way or the other. Also, I was caught off guard by the long gaps of silence. Lots of note taking happens between questions, so be prepared to sit there smiling. Don’t give into the urge to fill the silence with chatter….answer the questions and that is it! 1) Tell us about yourself and how you got into flying. 2) TMAAT you saw someone break SOP 3) TMAAT you had to coach/mentor someone to do a project instead of doing it yourself. 4) TMAAT you had to make a decision with incomplete information 5) TMAAT you had to take accountability of your actions 6) TMAAT you had to lead a group in a difficult situation -and- 7) Why United? This is the most important question IMO. Be prepared to give an answer that avoids the boilerplate claptrap (Core 4, great domiciles, good financials). They want a personal genuine reason or connection. This was the only question where I got smiles from both interviewers. I just happen to have a pretty cool “connection” story and I leaned on it hard.
Cog Test	N/A for United. The Hogan personality test was super weird. Just follow the advice everyone gives…have a beer or glass of wine, and don’t over think each question. Another technique I heard was to add “at work” silently to each question. Sample Hogan question “My boss has no idea how great I really am. Someday he will find out”….Um WUT?
How long prior to the interview did you prepare for the HR portion of the interview?	1 Month.
Which HR Prep service did you use and did it help?	ECIC and RST. I do not think I would have been hired without both of them. RST study materials and the ECIC webinar/tech seminar/top off were invaluable.
Any additional information you would like to add.
Is there anything you wish you could have done different to prepare you for this process?

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