The interview was very relaxed. Met with a senior captain and a member of HR from Skymark. Reviewed my documents and had an informal conversation.
A profile will be distributed a couple of hours before the simulator. Very simple and straight forward and really nothing to write home about.
The Simulator was very straight forward too. No non-normals, no briefing, just a plain vanilla evaluation of one’s basic flying skills and attitude and judgment. The interviewing captain occupies the right seat and is very helpful and provides all instructions. No guess work. All that is required of the applicant is that they can fly the jet, and follow suggestions from the support pilot. Do not question his recommendations, just do as advised to do.
Normal takeoff to 3,000’. Clean up an accelerate to about 220 kts. F/Ds and A/T ON.
Then positioned to about a 6 mile final. F/Ds on and A/Ts off. Accomplish a normal CAT I ILS approach to a full stop landing.
Second flight… Visual Pattern with F/Ds and A/Ts off.
Very simple.
They will be interviewing for the next 2 weeks or so for both May and July classes. The May class is just about filled, they said. Applicants will be notified either way after the inteviews have been completed.
As can be easily found here, Parc used to be top of notch (had a good experience with them 12 years ago), Rishworth something to avoid at all costs. No idea about the others.
RE: agencies, just for info for anyone looking at SKY and making no recommendations (refer above post):
- commuting and days off, you do get 10 days off per month however the word "consecutive" is all important and needs to be very clear, some indicate 10 days with 9 consecutive, some just say 10 days;
- bases, presently Tokyo and Kobe with others being considered however any inference that you may have your choice of base flies in the face of the way Japanese management prefer to operate;
- transport at base, presently SKY generally provide/arrange transport on overnights however at base it is public transport (in all weather conditions and except for very early/late starts and finishes) and SKY will re-imburse the cost;
- upgrades, yes announced that SKY will get A330 and A380 however no-one (least of all SKY) have nailed down how they will be crewed....and much will happen in the next 12-18 months.
Just a few items to consider regards the agencies and SKY - and it's not impossible that individual agencies have negotiated a better deal, however very unlikely. And if they have....ask them about the SKY/TAXI contract issue a few years ago....and whom the agencies supported.
Surprise - it wasn't the pilots.
fullforward - things change, I had a pretty fair contract with Rishworth 10 years ago in Japan, I think that's the key as the tax issue in Japan is very clear for ALL agencies. Rishworth in other parts of the universe........??
6969 I am quite surprised that you are asking those questions because according to you on another post (Air Japan) you have 2 friends on training with Skymark now and they tell you everything . As far as agency they are all the same. They are very good until you put your name on the contract. After you are by yourself Parc use to be the best but unfortunatly since Oxford control them they are like the other one. Only good thing with Parc (so far) money is always there around the 26 of each month No expats have been offered transition on Airbus now and it will not happen until mid 2013 if they do it
F me...hey Lindbergh, give it a rest. Yes, I know a couple people in training, they are both with the same agency. I doubt that they know all the ins and outs of all the contract agencies, hence my post. Seriously, you, and the other 2 dooshbags need to get a life and focus your anger towards something/somebody else. Just trying to get all the facts before I accept an interview for this job. Got a problem with that?
I'm currently checking out this job through several agencies and I agree, there seems to be a few differences between the contracts offered. The biverbial carrot dangling over the cliff which some agencies love to use (which P$%%es me off), regarding the A330/A380 conversion is not a factor in my decision making.
I'm also not clear on the 10days off issue,...does anyone know if this is 10 days consecutive ?...and if so, if Skymark will let you do a 20/40 cycle?
Regarding the agencies, I have been a Contract pilot for many years and I can only echo other posts on this issue: the agencies are happy to sign you up and after that the assistance is minimal. In the end they all have two clients to serve and they will always side with the client who pays them, simple.
Good luck to everyone going to the screenings, will be interested to know how you got on.
Anybody knows Skymark's actual requirement? I have 5000TT(mostly turbine include boeing), 1500PIC on business jet. I don't have any answer. What's the actual flight experience for the interviewee?
