Very conversational and engaging

rstharold, December 23, 2019, CJO Offered, United Airlines Ride Reports, 0

Which Airline did you interview with?	United
How many days between invite, interview, and listed availability?	Date availability on app said ‘2 weeks’
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?	NA
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	Preface: I’m a military only guy. Both rotary and fixed wing with the overwhelming majority being fixed wing. No civilian time. I used the flight time on my military records on my app, I did NOT use any conversion. Was slightly nervous going into this, especially with the Jepp Charts. In previous OCONUS missions, I had them as ‘backup’ charts but never actually LOOKED at them to completely understand them. About as good an experience as one could ask for, seriously. I did an interview with American and with United. Both organizations were very, very friendly and relaxed in the interview process. I was more anxious with United due to their technical portion but the two captains that conducted that portion were very down to earth. Quick overview: I received an invite to conduct the Hogan Test on a Monday. I decided to wait until a Friday to complete it just to get my thoughts in order. I took one day of leave to get it done in the middle of the day when my family was at work and my kids were at daycare. There were two Hogan type tests, one ‘Becoming United’ and another that’s the actual ‘Hogan Test’. Approx. one hour after finishing the tests, I received an email that I had passed and was moving on to the interview. The interview date was two weeks after I completed the Hogan test. I flew in the night prior to the interview and stayed at the Doubletree across the street. I tried to hang out in the bar but I got there late and it was already so busy with folks I felt a little out of place. I went to my room to review the callouts and Jepp questions. The next morning, I boarded the shuttle and got to the United area about 1.5 hours early. At the start time, the group of us were called in to do the corrections…BTW, there was nine of us I think…And all were military except one. Mostly Air Force with a couple Navy, Coast Guard and a couple Army too. After the corrections, I was met by two Captains and did the technical portion. The captains were extremely friendly. When I got into the evaluation room, one took off his coat and said, ‘you can take your coat off or leave it on. There’s not ulterior psychological test if you take off your coat or leave it on. We just want you to be comfortable. We both sat where you were years ago and understand you’re already nervous.’ After the technical testing, I went to the HR panel. Was interviewed by one HR person and a United pilot. Both were awesome, very conversational and engaging. They too were very disarming and made the entire experience, quite frankly, very relaxed. Finished the entire process in about three hours. Took the shuttle back to the Doubltree and had a beer in the bar. Made a few friends and then went to bed. Left the next day back home. Overall, great experience. Was interesting to see the differences and similiarities in the AA interview process (two days, interesting COG test, no technical but associated HR and aircrew panels) and the UAL process (one day, Hogan test, technical and HR portion). Both were great. My personal opinion, I felt more at ‘home’ with the United folks.
How long did you have your application in before you received an invite?	1-6 months
Did you attend a job fair?	No
Did you do anything special that triggered the interview invitation?	I had four internal recommendations. I did one application review with Checked and Set. The application review was WELL WORTH the effort, time and money! I honestly believe having my application reviewed by a professional organization made the difference in my application standing out…There was a lot of military jargon that I didn’t realize I was using…Also, there were quite a few mistakes that I didn’t even realize were in there that they caught and had me correct. I started my application over the summer and it wasn’t until the fall when I decided to purchase an application review. Shortly thereafter, I received the invite for the online testing and then the interview.
How many internal recs did you have?	3-4
How long was it from the time of your invite to the actual interview?	2 weeks
Did you have any issues with logbooks, application or paperwork?	I had some minor issues with my logbooks that I identified prior to the interview. I wrote a memorandum for record on the issues and the HR panel accepted them and my reasoning. Just like everyone said, at the very beginning of the interview day, the HR folks bring you in to a room with all the other applicants and sit you down at a table. They then give you a copy of the application. I don’t know for sure, but I bet that copy was printed the day you received the invite for the Hogan online test. I only guess at this because, prior to TAKING the Hogan test, I updated my application with a few minor corrections. I had expected they wouldn’t print the application until IF I passed the test and then received an invite. I was wrong. At the interview, they sat me at the table and gave me a copy of my application that was before I had made the minor corrections BUT after I had a professional service via Checked and Set review my app. So I bet they print the app the day they send you the invite for the Hogan. My corrections were quick and easy. The HR folks give you a red pen and have you initial at the bottom of each page, regardless if you made a correction or not. It was a little weird because you’re in a room sitting at a table with a bunch of other guys/gals and they are all doing the same thing. Some finished early while others took A LOT of time. The folks that took the most time correcting things at the end said they were feeling even more nervous because they had so much red ink on their application while the HR folks were waiting and the rest of the applicant group was waiting all at the table staring at them (for what its worth though, they were given a CJO as well!!).
Technical Test Questions	All the test questions found in the UAL ground school. Mostly dealing with reading Jepp Charts (including symbology) and knowing what to do, or what not to do, on STARS, SIDS, etc. Know your callouts! Know each phase and know beyond JUST THE CALLOUTS, such as ‘pitch at 2.5 degrees a second, aircraft takes off around 9 degrees, continue pitching to 18 degrees’. The two captains asked me what else there was on the study sheets other than just the call out memory items such as that stuff. They knew my ENTIRE time was military, so they were going quite deep in the Jepp questions. But they were very upfront and friendly. They had mentioned that they needed to test my understanding of Jepp charts but knew I was not an expert in them. I fumbled around on a few and they were understanding. They said they couldn’t help me BUT they also knew that military are not trained in Jepp charts so I think there was a ‘little’ leniency there…Finally, they ask you do to a departure and arrival brief. I briefed my normal departure and arrival brief for my military aircraft with all associated speeds, specifications, etc for my aircraft. The evaluators did not seem to mind. I believe they were just ensuring I was covering certain things such as weather, NOTAMS, abort procedures, what to do after V1, over max gross landing weight for immediate return, etc… Was also asked a few other questions such as Max Holding Speeds, How do you calculate a TOD, How do you calculate a VDP, what is a MORA, MAA,, some off the wall question about weather patterns (dealt with Cold Fronts)that I forgot but I think I got right, etc. The flight was from DEN to IAH. They asked me to read the weather and the NOTAMS. They gave me about five minutes to review the charts, etc. The iPad is a little tricky if you are not familiar with their system. If you know anyone that has a United iPad, it would certainly help to play around on it for an hour or two. I had one friend that let me utilize his iPad the week prior for about an hour just to know where to go. The captains at the interview opened the iPad for me and displayed three windows, the charts (that also had the weather, NOTAMS, etc), the OM and the Quick Reference Handbook (checklist). **On the QRH, if you press on the procedure in the Table of Contents, it will take you to the procedure! The emergency procedure was a door light. Remember to TRANSFER the flight controls to the FO. Break out the checklist (on an iPad) and read EVERYTHING on that certain procedure outloud. Contact the folks in the back, contact dispatch. The procedure had me verify if the door latch was closed. I asked the FA to verify. He said it was not closed. I told him to close it. The ‘light went out’ and we proceded as scheduled. Was asked if the procedure was done and I said a very hesitant ‘yes’. He asked how would I know. I responded, ‘because the light went out and that is what started this whole process.’ We then had to divert due to a security issue at IAH. He asked me what I do now. I TRANSFERED the flight controls to the FO. Talked to Dispatch, talked to the FO, talked to the FA and made an announcement to the pax after making a decision. I was given three alternates. None of them were bad. I was low on fuel and was told I could go to airport A, 11 minutes away but it is a SWA hub; airport B, 20 minutes away but is an AA hub; or aiport C 25 minutes away and is a United hub. All airports had good weather and services, etc. I chose airport A and told him my reasoning. He questioned why I wouldn’t go to any of the other airports and I stuck to my reasoning. Bottom line: Don’t sway. Stand fast to your decision.
What was the hardest technical question or content you experienced during the job knowledge test?	How do you calculate a VDP? Not ‘what is a VDP’ but how do you calculate a VDP?
HR Questions	TMA yourself TMAAT you saw something bad was about to happen and you didn’t do anything to stop it TMAAT you had a disagreement with a co-pilot while on a flight Why United TMAAT you disagreed with a superior (forgot what else, but I think it was, ‘and carried on with their orders knowing there was a better course of action’)
Cog Test
How long prior to the interview did you prepare for the HR portion of the interview?	Four months
Which HR Prep service did you use and did it help?	Emerald Coast.
Any additional information you would like to add.	Good luck to everyone! When you get the interview and schedule your dates/times just remember the airport is about a 30 minute drive from the training center. I flew in the day prior and left the day after the interview because I didn’t want to rush.
Is there anything you wish you could have done different to prepare you for this process?	A little more study on general knowledge aviation stuff. Flying just about every week, I find myself getting into a routine and sometimes if I need to dust off ‘simple’ aviation knowledge.

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