he following are samples of interview questions which you may be asked.
They are broken into categories: Traditional, Behavioural, CRM, Company specific and Aircraft specific.
12.1. Traditional
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself
2. Are you enthusiastic and easy to work with?
3. Can you work under pressure?
4. Can you manage your time effectively?
5. Can you handle constructive criticism in a productive manner?
6. Are you objective in evaluating yourself and others?
7. Where do you see yourself in three to five years time? Ten years?
8. Why do you want to work for us?
9. Why should we hire you (over the other applicants)?
10. Have you had any interviews with other companies?
11. Why did you become a pilot?
12. What do you think about being a co-pilot for three years? Five years?
13. How do you think your sim session went? If you had to give it a rating out of ten (ten being the highest) how would you rate yours?
14. What do you think makes a good captain? A bad one?
15. Tell me about the CRM training you have had?
16. If you had to give a definition of CRM what would it be?
17. Have you heard of the “Swiss cheese” model? What is it about?
18. Have you had any accidents or incidents? Tell us about it?
19. Have you had any in flight emergencies?
20. What is the biggest mistake you have ever made?
21. What is the most rewarding thing about flying?
22. What are/is your strongest point? Your weakest?
23. What do you do outside of work?
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25. What is your engine failure brief? (If you don’t have one then make sure you get one before any interview occurs)
26. We see your flying various types of aircraft for different companies, how will you feel about coming to work here and flying just one type of aircraft? Do you think it will become monotonous or boring?
27. What’s the best thing about charter/instructor work?
28. Can you brief this approach for us? (after handing you a chart) 29. How did you prepare for this interview?
30. What do you want out of us?
31. If you fail this intake will you try again? (Yes)
32. If you fail to get in here who would you target next? Why?
33. As a pilot what is your most important task?
34. To date which company have you enjoyed working for the most? Why?
35. The least? Why?
36. What was your worst flight? Why?
37. Will you work in any of our bases?
38. How would you handle a situation where your Captain didn’t seem to like you or talk to you?
Hint: Beware of the interviewer who repeats the last few words of your answer and then remains silent whilst looking at you. They are looking for you to respond further, checking to see if you are confident in your answer.
12.2. Behavioural
1. What mistakes have you made in pursuing your aviation career and what have you learned from them?
2. Have you ever set yourself a goal? Did you achieve it? Tell me what your goal was and how you achieved it?
3. Give me an example of a time when you were able to build motivation in your co-workers or subordinates at work.
4. Describe a time when you have had to adapt and fit into a situation different to the one you are used to.
5. What are your achievements and what have you learned from them?
6. I am sure you have been involved in a team, either at work or on the sports field. Can you tell us about your role as part of that team and what team works means to you?
7. What was the biggest challenge you ever faced? How did you handle it?
What was the outcome?
8. Describe an incident in which you disagreed with a supervisor? How did you resolve it?
9. Give me examples where you have demonstrated leadership, teamwork problem solving and conflict resolution skills? What were the results?
10. Describe a time when you have been under great pressure to achieve a deadline? How did you cope? Would you tackle the situation differently?
11. Describe a situation where you have been totally un-motivated? How did you re-motivate yourself? How have you avoided lack of motivation since?
12. Tell us about a time you were unfairly criticised? How did you react?
13. What was the greatest difficulty for you to overcome to be where you are today?
14. What is your greatest achievement outside of aviation?
15. Have you ever had a conflict on the flight deck? How did you resolve it?
16. Tell us about a time when you thought you made a big mistake? What did you learn about the whole situation? Surely it would have been better to do……? (Whatever they can come up with. They are trying to get you to justify/defend your decision)
12.3. CRM questions
1. The flight attendant comes up to the cockpit and tells you that he/she is having trouble with a passenger and they won’t do as she asks. The passenger is beginning to worry the other passengers. The Captain looks at you for a response. What would you suggest? How would you handle the situation if you were the flight attendant? What would you say to the
2. The Captain continues an approach below minimums; he tells you that he’s shot the approach a thousand times. What will you do?
Hint: The pregnant pause – is sometimes a deliberate ploy to see if you change your answer. It’s a mini stress test. The antidote is to remain calm.
12.4. Company specific
1. What do you know about our company?
2. What sort of aircraft do we fly?
3. What engines are fitted to (aircraft) that we operate?
4. Where do we fly to?
5. Who is the CEO of our company?
6. The Chief Pilot?
7. Manager Training and Checking?
8. Fleet Manager?
9. What other companies do we own?
12.5. Aircraft Specific
1. What aircraft are you most familiar with?
2. What is its maximum take off weight/landing weight/zero fuel weight etc?
3. What is the generator voltage?
4. In the event of a complete hydraulic failure how would you lower the gear?
5. What type of engines does it have?
6. Does it have ni-cad or lead acid batteries? What are the differences?
7. Describe the fuel system?
8. The list is significant but the bottom line is making sure you know your current aircraft.
Hint: Sometimes a question is repeated or worded differently. This may be because they want to -1) check the truth or consistency of your answer & 2) get more information from you. The important thing is to not let it frustrate you.