I just spent the best part of an hour and a half typing out thr plan I used for my CX interviews but alas lost all but the following. When I stop swearing and get around to it I'll try posting it again. Here's the last part of it anyway. It's practice interviews I put together using debriefs, notes, personal experience and Pprune. I hope they can be usefull.
Regards
Cronus
Cathay Pacific Sample interview [2]
Personal questions
Tell us about yourself?
When did you get interested in flying?
Did you ever consider the military? Why/Why not?
Why did you apply to Cathay Pacific?
To whom else have you applied? Why?
Tell me about each flying job you’ve had.
What will you do if we don’t hire you?
Why do you want to work for Cathay?
Did you target specific airlines or did you apply everywhere?
Career wise, would you do anything differently if you could go back?
Tell me about your present company?
How many aircraft/pilots at present company?
Why did you take the job there?
What are your duties there?
Why do you want to leave there to come to Cathay Pacific?
Tell me about your childhood?
What would you parents say is your weakness?
What does your wife/girlfriend think about the possibility of you being gone 3 to 4 days at a time and possibly being on the other side of the world?
How much notice if we were to hire you?
Which aircraft would you prefer to fly? Why?
Do you know ho long you will be a Second Officer?
What do you like doing in your spare time?
Do you think you will be able to do all those things in Hong Kong?
Have you thought where you would like to live in Hong Kong?
What is population of Hong Kong? What is the climate like?
How did you prepare for this interview?
Technical questions
Why do we have Carbon brakes on the 747-400?
Explain how a VOR works?
Explain how GPS works?
How many Satellites do we need for a 3D position? And for RAIM?
Why are there winglets on the 747-400 and not on the 747 Classic?
Why do we have swept wings on jet aircraft?
Why does a swept wing aircraft’s wing stall first at the tips?
What factors and design features reduce wing tip stall?
What engines do Cathay Pacific’s’ 747-400’s have?
What engines do Cathay Pacific’s’ Airbus 340’s have?
What can you tell me about the RB211?
How is the RB211 started?
What is the difference between N1 and EPR?
When would you use engine anti-ice?
How would using engine anti-ice affect fuel consumption?
What are the inputs to GPWS?
What can you tell me about EGPWS?
Explain Dutch roll.
Explain V1 and Vmcg and how they interrelate.
Does Vmcg change with a change of C of G?
Is a forward or rearward C of G better for fuel economy and why?
Explain Mach tuck.
What happens to stall speed at high altitude?
Do you have any questions for us?
Cathay Pacific Sample interview [2]
Personal questions
Whom are you flying for now?
What sort of work is it?
Does the company know you’re here?
What did they say when you told them you had an interview?
How many days a week do you work?
How did you get the job?
Whom were you working for before that?
Tell me about that.
How did you become interested in becoming a pilot?
Is anyone in your family a pilot?
Where did you learn to fly?
Why did you choose to learn there?
Tell me about your career to date.
What has been a stand out moment in your career? A highlight, lowlight or an incident?
What did you learn from this experience?
In hindsight, would you have done anything differently?
If you were teaching someone about this incident and with the benefit of hindsight, what advice would you give him or her if encountering the same situation?
What would you say are your strengths?
What would you say are your weaknesses?
Why do you want to work for Cathay Pacific?
Why don’t you want to fly for Qantas?
Have you applied to any other airlines?
Would you like to work for a regional airline?
Have you had any other interviews lately?
What do you have to offer Cathay Pacific?
How did you prepare for this interview?
Have you been to Hong Kong?
Do you see any negatives about moving to Hong Kong?
Where do you think you would like to live in Hong Kong?
What do you do on your days off? What sort of activities?
Do you think you’ll be able to do all of those things in Hong Kong?
Do you know how many pilots Cathay Pacific is recruiting this year?
Do you know how long you will spend as an S/O?
And what about an F/O?
Are you single?
Will anyone miss you if you move to Hong Kong?
Have your parents always supported you with respect to you career?
[u]Technical questions[u/]
What are the aircraft models on the table?
What engines are on the A340-300?
What engines are on the B747-400?
Excluding the engines on the A340 and the Airbus freighters with Air Hong Kong, what engines does Cathay Pacific use on it’s fleet?
What type of engine does the Metro 23 have?
Does the Metro 23 have a critical engine?
What can you tell me about the engines on the 747-400?
Does the 747 have acritical engine? Why?
Why does the 747-400 have winglets? What do they do?
What are some disadvantages of having winglets?
Why does the 747-400 have swept wings?
Explain Dutch roll?
What is Krueger flap?
What does Krueger flap do?
What is Fowler flap?
What is windshear?
Tell me about monsoons.
Tell me about typhoons.
Could one form over the Gobi desert?
Do you have any questions for us?
Cathay Pacific Sample interview [3]
Personal questions
Who are you currently flying for?
How long have you been working for them?
Do you enjoy flying Regional/freight/military?
There are two sides to every coin. What’s bad about working there?
When did you become interested in flying?
Doe’s anybody else in your family fly?
Tell me briefly about your career to date.
In hindsight, would you have done anything differently?
What would you say has been a stand out moment in your career?
Have you considered the joining the military?
Have you considered doing a degree?
Why do you want to work for Cathay Pacific?
Have you applied to Qantas, Jetstar or Virgin Blue?
What do you have to offer Cathay Pacific?
Regional flying is very different to International. Do you think you will get bored or miss hand flying?
Why do you think you were unsuccessful last time around?
What did you take away from the experience?
Preparation wise, have you done anything different this time?
What would you do if you were unsuccessful this time?
Have you been back to Hong Kong since?
Where did you go?
What new destinations are we flying to?
What destinations do we now serve in North America?
Can you tell me what fleet orders we have?
Do you have a girlfriend?
What does she think of the possibility of a move to Hong Kong?
Who do you know in Cathay Pacific?
What do you do in your spare time?
If you had the choice between the A340 and the 744, which would you choose? Why?
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Do you know how many second officers Cathay Pacific intends recruiting this year?
[u]Technical questions[u/]
How does a VOR work?
What are the inputs to GPWS?
Tell me about GPS/DGPS.
What are the errors in the GPS system?
How does an INS work?
How many accelerometers does it have?
Why do jet aircraft have swept wings?
How does sweep back work?
Where does a swept wing stall first?
What happens to the C of P?
What pitching moment does this cause?
What do aircraft designers incorporate into the wing design to reduce this?
How does the A340 burn fuel?
Does moving fuel from the centre tank aft, to the stab tank cause an aft C of G?
What is the effect of an aft C of G when flying for range?
Explain Dutch roll?
Why do aircraft have winglets?
Explain Vmcg and Vmca?
How can you increase the BRW on a Vmcg limited take off?
What do you about Carbon fibre brakes?
How much lighter are they?
What do you know about aquaplaning?
Can aquaplaning occur on take off as well as landing?
What is a microburst?
Explain windshear in a microburst
How does a typhoon form?
What sort of considerations might you give to operating in and around a typhoon?
-Taxi
-Take off
-Landing
Do you have any questions for us?
Cathay Pacific Sample interview [4]
[u]Personal questions[u/]
Who are you working for now?
Do they know you’re here?
What did you tell them?
What will be their reaction if you are successful?
How did you get the job there?
You are flying the same aircraft as your previous job. What were your reasons for leaving?
What are your duties there?
Do you like flying for an airline?
Why do you want to leave?
Why did you become a pilot?
Who do you admire most in the industry and why?
What would they say about you?
How would you say your mother and father have influenced you?
What would you say are your strengths?
What would you say are your weaknesses?
What kind of person would your friends say you were?
Is there anything about your Captains at work that you don’t like?
How would you handle a problem at work?
What do you think makes the difference between a good captain and a bad captain?
How would someone in your cockpit really annoy you?
When did you first write to Cathay Pacific?
Why Cathay Pacific?
Have you applied to any other airlines?
If one offered you a job, would you leave Cathay Pacific?
What do you have to offer Cathay Pacific?
Who do you know at Cathay Pacific?
What do you know about the Swire group?
What are your hobbies? What do you like to do in your spare time?
What do you know about Hong Kong?
How do you think your lifestyle would change living in Hong Kong?
Where would you live?
Can you tell me what the duties of the Second Officer are?
Do you know how long you will be a second officer for?
And what about a First Officer?
Would you have a problem with waiting that long?
Have you ever had an incident or an accident?
Tell us about that.
What did you learn from the experience?
With the benefit of hindsight, would you have done anything differently?
You have done some diverse flying over the years. Tell us a story.
How did you prepare for the interview?
Why should we hire you?
[u]Technical questions[u/]
What aircraft are you flying now?
Tell me a little bit about it?
What engines does it have?
How do they work?
Tell me about the take-off performance.
Is there a critical engine?
What determines this?
What is asymmetric blade effect?
Is there a critical engine on a jet? Why?
Explain each take-off segment with each climb gradient.
What is the most critical segment for your aircraft?
What is the relationship between V1 and Vmcg?
What is the difference between your aircraft wing and a jet aircraft?
Why do they have swept wings?
What are the disadvantages of swept wing?
Why is tip stall bad?
What do designers incorporate in to a swept wing to prevent tip stall?
How does sweep effect lift?
How do they counteract this?
What is Fowler flap?
Why do they have slots?
What is Krueger flap?
Does it have slots?
How do they work?
In long haul jet transporters, they have rear fuel tanks. Why is this?
Talking about range versus endurance. Why would we fly at best endurance?
For jet transport aircraft set up in long range cruise, what happens to speed?
Why do they reduce speed?
Why would we fly at best range?
What speed is this in relation to best endurance?
If ATC asked you to hold above FL140 in terminal airspace, what would you do?
Why do they use Carbon brakes on jet transports?
On a double bogie assembly, which brake would get hottest? Why?
Tell me about aquaplaning. What types are there?
How do the three types occur?
How can we estimate if there is a danger of aquaplaning on a runway when landing?
What navigation aids do you use on your aircraft?
How does a GPS work?
Do you know of INS and IRS?
What is the difference?
In an INS, what is a Shuler’s loop?
In jet transporters they have Yaw dampers. Why?
How does a Series yaw damper work?
How does a Parallel yaw damper work?
What is Dutch roll?
Cathay Pacific Sample interview [5]
[u]Personal questions[u/]
Tell us about your flying career to date?
Why did you want to be a pilot?
What was your first job?
Why did you leave that job?
Whom do you presently fly for?
Do they know you’re here?
Tell me a about Regional Express.
What don’t you like about your current job?
What are two bad points about yourself?
If I rang your workmates, what would they say about you?
What do you believe to be your strengths?
How do you feel about being a S/O for up to 4 years?
What is the role of a S/O on Cathay aircraft?
Do you have any applications with other airlines?
Tell us about your most memorable flying incident/accident/moment.
What was flying with Pel-Air Express like?
How is what you’re doing now different from Pel-Air Express?
How do you like Hong Kong?
Is there a significant other?
How does she feel about coming here?
Has your girlfriends been to Hong Kong?
What will your girlfriend do whilst you’re at work?
Who will miss you the most, if you move to Hong Kong?
Did CX make a profit last year? Do you remember what the amount was?
Have we added any new routes since February 2003?
How many aircraft do we have?
How many aircraft orders do have?
Do you have any other applications with other airlines?
If offered both QF and CX at the same time, what would be your motivations and reasons for choosing CX over QF?
Do you have any questions?
[u]Technical questions[u/]
What are these 2 aircraft on the table?
How can you tell it’s an A340-300 as apposed to an A340-600?
What do you think you’ll be doing as a S/O?
If you were on long haul aircraft, where in America would you be going?
Do we go anywhere in South America?
Where in Europe do we fly?
Describe the pressurisation system on aircraft you\'re flying.
What is the normal differential limit on the ......?
On the ........, how is the air coming into the cabin is cooled?
What sort of de-ice/anti-ice systems does the 747 have?
Which components of the anti-ice system use bleed air?
Would that affect engine performance? If so, how?
What de-ice/anti-ice systems does the..... have?
What is TCAS?
Why when we have an engine failure in the B747 does our checklist tell us to turn our TCAS from RA mode to TA mode?
What is EGPWS?
What are the inputs to GPWS?
Does the ..... have EGPWS?
What a/c is this? (747-400)
How can you tell it’s not a 747-200 or 747-300?
How do we set thrust on the B747?
Why do we use EPR instead of N1?
What is EPR? Is it better using EPR than N1?
Do we still need to know how fast the fan is spinning if we set EPR?
Why does it have winglets?
Why doesn’t the B777 have winglets?
Where is the fuel kept? How many fuel tanks does it have?
What’s the reason for fuel in the stabiliser?
Can you move the fuel from the forward tanks back into the stabiliser tank?
What would be the advantage of doing this if you could?
Why do we want to change the C of G whilst in flight?
Explain using the model why less tailplane down force needed with a rearward
C of G?
Why would the C of G be ahead of the C of P?
What sort of flaps does the..... have?
Are they hydraulic/pneumatic/electric?
How are the flaps powered on the 747-400?
Can you see any differences with hydraulic power versus electrically powered flaps?
What sort of brakes does the Metroliner 23 have?
Why would we use carbon brakes?
Do carbon brakes wear more when they are cold or hot?
What would you consider if you were taking off in a windshear environment?
What about landing in windshear?
What’s the most important instrument when encountering windshear?
What code do you set on the transponder for radio failure?
What engines do we use on our fleet and why?
What are the advantages and specifications to the RB211?
Why are wings swept?
How does it affect Mcrit?
Do swept wings produce more or less lift than equivalent straight wings?
What are the disadvantages of a swept wing?
Explain Dutch roll?
What is Krueger flap?
What does Krueger flap do?
What is Fowler flap?
Does the..... have critical engine? Why/why not?
Does the 747 have a critical engine? How does crosswind affect it?
Why is aft cg better for cruise?
What is Vmcg?
What is the difference between a Typhoon and a Monsoon?