Dragonair DE FO Interview Experiences/Feedback
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Dragonair DE FO Interview Experiences/Feedback
Hi all,
Been invited to an interview for a Direct Entry position with Dragonair in the next few weeks.
Just wondering if anyone has any feedback or examples of what they were asked at interview?
I have worked through some other threads, but the information is more relevant to the Cadet Programme.
Any information would be much appreciated.
Been invited to an interview for a Direct Entry position with Dragonair in the next few weeks.
Just wondering if anyone has any feedback or examples of what they were asked at interview?
I have worked through some other threads, but the information is more relevant to the Cadet Programme.
Any information would be much appreciated.
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Skysook,
I trust you've been to link and seen the published requirements? These are what are being applied.
In accordance with HKG employment law and just like almost all other countries, work permits for foreigners won't be issued when sufficient local talent is available. As there is no industry (G/A, flying schools, regionals, etc) to 'feed' the airlines in HKG it's a vary rare thing for a HKID card holder to meet the DEFO experience requirements. Long story short: no, you don't need one.
Regarding experience, those who have been starting of late all have transport category aircraft / airline experience. Airbus experience is preferred but not required due shorter training requirements (read: saves time and money). It's not a job you go to from an aero club. If you aren't flying jets (either seat), multi-crew turbo props in airline ops (either seats) or biz jets (command) at this moment, you are unlikely to be successful.
Bongo,
A couple of interviewers are a little more tech-centric than the others but knowing company info (history, fleet, engine types, etc) your current type and AGK basics shouldn't be a challenge. By far and away, the majority of people come unstuck on the personal. They are unprepared for personal questions or speak off the cuff - disastrously - in response to personal questions they haven't considered.
The sim ride is stock-standard airline recruitment profile. Airborne, general handling, vectors for an ILS, go-around, some kind of failure (ie. engine failure), ILS and land. Raw data, hand flown. If you haven't flown an Airbus, get someone who has to talk to you about control inputs in normal law so you don't try and manhandle it around the sky. It becomes very easy....once you know how
I trust you've been to link and seen the published requirements? These are what are being applied.
In accordance with HKG employment law and just like almost all other countries, work permits for foreigners won't be issued when sufficient local talent is available. As there is no industry (G/A, flying schools, regionals, etc) to 'feed' the airlines in HKG it's a vary rare thing for a HKID card holder to meet the DEFO experience requirements. Long story short: no, you don't need one.
Regarding experience, those who have been starting of late all have transport category aircraft / airline experience. Airbus experience is preferred but not required due shorter training requirements (read: saves time and money). It's not a job you go to from an aero club. If you aren't flying jets (either seat), multi-crew turbo props in airline ops (either seats) or biz jets (command) at this moment, you are unlikely to be successful.
Bongo,
A couple of interviewers are a little more tech-centric than the others but knowing company info (history, fleet, engine types, etc) your current type and AGK basics shouldn't be a challenge. By far and away, the majority of people come unstuck on the personal. They are unprepared for personal questions or speak off the cuff - disastrously - in response to personal questions they haven't considered.
The sim ride is stock-standard airline recruitment profile. Airborne, general handling, vectors for an ILS, go-around, some kind of failure (ie. engine failure), ILS and land. Raw data, hand flown. If you haven't flown an Airbus, get someone who has to talk to you about control inputs in normal law so you don't try and manhandle it around the sky. It becomes very easy....once you know how
Milking a mouse
Thanks for your reply. I have 1500PIC on the Q400. I applied more than 6 months ago but have heard nothing since. So I'm just wondering what the experience and qualification levels are for those that have been invited for an interview. What you say about the HKID card sounds reasonable so I'm thinking the preference is airbus time or indeed jet time. Has anyone else with only the turbo-prop command time been successful lately? I would really like to know where I stand in terms of competitiveness.
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Hey there everybody.
So I've been to the interview/simulator assessment in HKG. Have not received a result yet and thought it might be an idea to post my thoughts here before 'result-bias' ends up clouding my judgement.
Interview; I found this part to be particularly demanding. Here are some questions.
Some A320's have sharklets, explain why and what they do? The 777 doesn't have sharklets, can you explain why? The RR Trent engine has 3 spools, can you explain why? Memory Actions for unreliable airspeed? Can you think of any accident in recent history where this happened and what do you think of it? Describe the airconditioning system of the A320? If flying from HKG towards indonesia with the sun in front of you, how fast do you need to fly to never see the sun set? What is CRM? Do you have good CRM? Can you explain this TAF? The WX system you see on the SIG chart, does it rotate clockwise or anticlockwise? Why? Low temperature corrections for approaches? Can you fly a managed non precision approach in really cold weather? What is a ceiling? Can you dispatch to this airport with this weather? And General questions about the history of the company and it's current fleet and destinations, why you want to leave your current outfit if you are flying somewhere, etc. What will you bring to KA? The questions in themselves were not rocket science, but truth be told I had a lot of difficulty as I felt under a lot of pressure. They were very good at making me doubt myself even if I was making sense on some rare occasion. They caught me off guard with the personal questions or company related questions, as I thought that was what the HR interview was for in LGW. Otherwise they were very friendly people in what seems to be quite a respectable company indeed.
The simulator I found to be quite straightforward. It was conducted on an A330 (which flies beautifully) and the requirement was the ROSE/VOR displayed on the ND. The AP/FD/AT were off. Fly around and do airwork, including some radial intercepts. Come back and fly a two engine ILS approach, missed approach on minima, vectors, engine fire with ECAM actions until engine secure and a MAYDAY call. Single engine ILS and landing. All in all my perception was that I did reasonably well in the simulator, but generally felt like I did bad on the interview. If you are flying from Europe to do this, make sure to plan your rest. I was on the back side of the clock and it badly affected me. All in all it's very difficult to say what the result will be, although I am expecting a no at the moment because as I said: they took me for a ride during the interview. The other candidates found the interview to be demanding also, although I did have the impression that it was me that struggled with it most.
After all of this they took us all for a company sponsored post-war beer in a very relaxed atmosphere in the Headland hotel at CX city.
Best of luck to all applying and make sure to read ACE or Pilots Reference guide or something. I spent most of my time preparing Airbus systems, but really had the feeling that every time I knew something they were keen to move on to talk about something else.
So I've been to the interview/simulator assessment in HKG. Have not received a result yet and thought it might be an idea to post my thoughts here before 'result-bias' ends up clouding my judgement.
Interview; I found this part to be particularly demanding. Here are some questions.
Some A320's have sharklets, explain why and what they do? The 777 doesn't have sharklets, can you explain why? The RR Trent engine has 3 spools, can you explain why? Memory Actions for unreliable airspeed? Can you think of any accident in recent history where this happened and what do you think of it? Describe the airconditioning system of the A320? If flying from HKG towards indonesia with the sun in front of you, how fast do you need to fly to never see the sun set? What is CRM? Do you have good CRM? Can you explain this TAF? The WX system you see on the SIG chart, does it rotate clockwise or anticlockwise? Why? Low temperature corrections for approaches? Can you fly a managed non precision approach in really cold weather? What is a ceiling? Can you dispatch to this airport with this weather? And General questions about the history of the company and it's current fleet and destinations, why you want to leave your current outfit if you are flying somewhere, etc. What will you bring to KA? The questions in themselves were not rocket science, but truth be told I had a lot of difficulty as I felt under a lot of pressure. They were very good at making me doubt myself even if I was making sense on some rare occasion. They caught me off guard with the personal questions or company related questions, as I thought that was what the HR interview was for in LGW. Otherwise they were very friendly people in what seems to be quite a respectable company indeed.
The simulator I found to be quite straightforward. It was conducted on an A330 (which flies beautifully) and the requirement was the ROSE/VOR displayed on the ND. The AP/FD/AT were off. Fly around and do airwork, including some radial intercepts. Come back and fly a two engine ILS approach, missed approach on minima, vectors, engine fire with ECAM actions until engine secure and a MAYDAY call. Single engine ILS and landing. All in all my perception was that I did reasonably well in the simulator, but generally felt like I did bad on the interview. If you are flying from Europe to do this, make sure to plan your rest. I was on the back side of the clock and it badly affected me. All in all it's very difficult to say what the result will be, although I am expecting a no at the moment because as I said: they took me for a ride during the interview. The other candidates found the interview to be demanding also, although I did have the impression that it was me that struggled with it most.
After all of this they took us all for a company sponsored post-war beer in a very relaxed atmosphere in the Headland hotel at CX city.
Best of luck to all applying and make sure to read ACE or Pilots Reference guide or something. I spent most of my time preparing Airbus systems, but really had the feeling that every time I knew something they were keen to move on to talk about something else.
Last edited by drfaust; 26th Aug 2014 at 18:09.
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If flying from HKG towards indonesia with the sun in front of you, how fast do you need to fly to never see the sun set?
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I question the relevance of said question also, but for slightly different reasons. It was made clear that you are flying towards the west. The point is more that, you don't have a map, you don't have any distances, speeds, bearings, etc. They want to see how you would solve a problem like that.
skysook: two of us were close to 4000TT, the other was 8000TT. One guy rated 330, me rated 320 and other non rated but plenty of heavy time.
skysook: two of us were close to 4000TT, the other was 8000TT. One guy rated 330, me rated 320 and other non rated but plenty of heavy time.
Last edited by drfaust; 27th Aug 2014 at 09:45.
drfaust
Sounds to me as though you will be fine.
CX/KA interviews are renowned for the odd really strange question that seems totally irrelevant and just trying to catch you out. Over the years many have tried weeding these out of the interview process but they always seem to creep back in due to the "wisenheimers" who love trying to trick people for their own personal satisfaction.
That particular gem is simply trying to ascertain whether you know where Indonesia is (roughly spread out along the equator) and what the circumference of mother Earth is at the equator. 24 hours one revolution etc.
Never try to read too much into any question. They can invariably be solved by some 1:60 rule combination or commonsense. I think the answer crwkunt roll suggests is, while correct, not going to be well received...bit like the candidate who was asked about the engines on the 737-400 he flies ...."blue ones" was the response.
Usually the sim session is more important. Doing well here shows that the company cannot afford not hire you as you have already saved them millions in training costs.
If you can get across the message that you know a bit about the history of the group and that you want to live in HKG then that also helps.
FWIW
Sounds to me as though you will be fine.
CX/KA interviews are renowned for the odd really strange question that seems totally irrelevant and just trying to catch you out. Over the years many have tried weeding these out of the interview process but they always seem to creep back in due to the "wisenheimers" who love trying to trick people for their own personal satisfaction.
That particular gem is simply trying to ascertain whether you know where Indonesia is (roughly spread out along the equator) and what the circumference of mother Earth is at the equator. 24 hours one revolution etc.
Never try to read too much into any question. They can invariably be solved by some 1:60 rule combination or commonsense. I think the answer crwkunt roll suggests is, while correct, not going to be well received...bit like the candidate who was asked about the engines on the 737-400 he flies ...."blue ones" was the response.
Usually the sim session is more important. Doing well here shows that the company cannot afford not hire you as you have already saved them millions in training costs.
If you can get across the message that you know a bit about the history of the group and that you want to live in HKG then that also helps.
FWIW
CX/KA interviews are renowned for the odd really strange question that seems totally irrelevant and just trying to catch you out. Over the years many have tried weeding these out of the interview process but they always seem to creep back in due to the "wisenheimers" who love trying to trick people for their own personal satisfaction.
That particular gem is simply trying to ascertain whether you know where Indonesia is (roughly spread out along the equator) and what the circumference of mother Earth is at the equator. 24 hours one revolution etc.
That particular gem is simply trying to ascertain whether you know where Indonesia is (roughly spread out along the equator) and what the circumference of mother Earth is at the equator. 24 hours one revolution etc.
At HKGs latitude (22N) you would need to be flying M1.46 to meet the earths rotation, at the equator, M1.57, and in Jakarta (6S) M1.56 [1.57xcos(latitude)]. Track to Jakarta is 195, 4 hour flight time traveling through 28 degrees of latitude.
The other ballpark way is by looking at the earths rotation, it rotates at around 900 kts at the equator (360 degrees x 60 nm per degree/24 hours), in the 4 hours flight time to Jakarta it will rotate 3600 nm. Mach 1 is close enough to 600 kts (574 kts at FL360 on a standard day).
The answer is a big number either way, well in excess of what any airliner is capable of. It is not really relevant to passing of failing the interview. What is being assessed is the logic/problem solving, and the persons demeanor.
Think about it from a CRM problem solving model point of view. If presented with a problem one did not know the answer to on the line, would you B/S the other crew ? or would you tell they you don't really with the information you have, CLARIFY if there is additional information available (e.g. how long does it take to fly to Jakarta ?) offer your input/logic so the problem can be solved (look for solutions and evaluate) as a group.
Interviews are interactive, you can always seek additional details or clarify the problem.
Then they follow it up with two questions on what your perception of CRM is, and if you think you have good CRM. Then they have the comparison of how you put it in practice with the sunset question.
Someone has put some thought into the interview structure.
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Dr Faust,
Sounds like you did really well!
My experience, albeit with Cathay, is that you don't need to be brilliant just show you have cared enough to pull your finger out. Make them believe you really want the job and that you have made some effort to get it. Sure, some of the questions, are a bit obscure but they will just be checking that you have some knowledge, can apply some common sense and are generally going to fit in. The common sense bit is quite important as Asia (china) is going to offer up many interesting challenges which you are just going to have to deal with.
When you get here, tuck on board the bit about 'make them believe you really want the job and that you have made the effort to get it' as this applies to all assessments here. You get left alone 95% of the time but for your 2 PC's, your line check and any upgrades just play the game and make some effort. Easy.
Sim check? Just do what you would do normally. If you stuff up the approach, go around! Don't land on the grass like one former colleague did because 'he thought they wanted to see a landing'.
Good luck. Enjoy Hong Kong. It can be a fabulous place to live.
Sounds like you did really well!
My experience, albeit with Cathay, is that you don't need to be brilliant just show you have cared enough to pull your finger out. Make them believe you really want the job and that you have made some effort to get it. Sure, some of the questions, are a bit obscure but they will just be checking that you have some knowledge, can apply some common sense and are generally going to fit in. The common sense bit is quite important as Asia (china) is going to offer up many interesting challenges which you are just going to have to deal with.
When you get here, tuck on board the bit about 'make them believe you really want the job and that you have made the effort to get it' as this applies to all assessments here. You get left alone 95% of the time but for your 2 PC's, your line check and any upgrades just play the game and make some effort. Easy.
Sim check? Just do what you would do normally. If you stuff up the approach, go around! Don't land on the grass like one former colleague did because 'he thought they wanted to see a landing'.
Good luck. Enjoy Hong Kong. It can be a fabulous place to live.
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M1.46? Hmm.
I am about to shoot myself in the foot, I'm sure, but here goes nothing.
Assuming a track of 195 degrees towards Indonesia, surely the speed required in order to make the "horizontal" vector equal 900 Kt would be about 3,477kt?
Turning the problem into a right angle triangle, with the hypotenuse being your track to Indonesia (15 degrees left of South), and the short ("opposite") side being 900kt:
Speed = 900/Sin 15 ?
Edited to add: Of course you could also be on a heading of due south (towards DPS), in which case the speed required would be infinite..
Go ahead: shoot, flame, educate!
I am about to shoot myself in the foot, I'm sure, but here goes nothing.
Assuming a track of 195 degrees towards Indonesia, surely the speed required in order to make the "horizontal" vector equal 900 Kt would be about 3,477kt?
Turning the problem into a right angle triangle, with the hypotenuse being your track to Indonesia (15 degrees left of South), and the short ("opposite") side being 900kt:
Speed = 900/Sin 15 ?
Edited to add: Of course you could also be on a heading of due south (towards DPS), in which case the speed required would be infinite..
Go ahead: shoot, flame, educate!
Last edited by OK4Wire; 29th Aug 2014 at 05:34.
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21,600 nautical miles, as a nautical mile is a minute of longitude at the equator, so 60 minutes in a degree times 360 degrees in a circle = 21,600 NM in 24 hours, = 900 knots ground speed is the answer they are looking for I am guessing. Either way, dragons crappy old airbuses will need a 450 knot tail wind, not very likely at the equator.
short flights long nights
I have no idea how to work this out, how did I survive 22000 hours?
Although a relative greenhorn with only 19,000 hours, all I've ever used is fifth form physics and the three-times table.
Being able to work out crap like the above is now supposed to be a substitute for experience. The industry really is screwed.
Being able to work out crap like the above is now supposed to be a substitute for experience. The industry really is screwed.
Last edited by Captain Dart; 29th Aug 2014 at 09:23.
Trick question. Heading south, you're not going to be able to keep the sun in one place. If you wanted to keep the sun in one place, you will need to fly West. At the equator, with the earth about 24,000nm in diameter rotating once in 24 hours, about 1000knots.
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Seems like we had a CX invasion here. If anyone else has some experiences to write down from the KA interview, please feel free. It might be easier for future candidates to prepare for this stage than it was for me, as I found it really hard to come by any information. I'm really happy for you guys and your logbooks though 
.
If anyone else has some experiences to write down from the KA interview, please feel free. It might be easier for future candidates to prepare for this stage than it was for me, as I found it really hard to come by any information. I'm really happy for you guys and your logbooks though .