Lear70, You've got heaps of experience and I guess you'd be applying for the DEFO rather than DESO position.
In my case, sqeaky door worked well in the end. I was interviewed in 2000 and was not successful in the first round. I wrote to them saying that even though I was very dissapointed, it didn't reduce my desire to work for them. I updated every 3-4 months until 2004 when I came to HK for a visit and phoned them when I arrived. They set up a meeting the next day where my girlfriend (at the time) came with me. We had a great chat for about an hour.
She commented on how big the file was on me, and that she was impressed I had kept writing all these years.
Returned home…3 weeks later, a call for an interview…2 weeks after that a call for the second interview…and after that…we're living in HK now. All within a matter of months.
As advice given in the posts above. If you really want the job you have go that little bit extra to set yourself apart from the thousands who are applying. Come to HK and ask to speak to them in person, they are more than happy. They will be impressed that you've come all the way here to look at the country that one day you be living in.
Good luck
WP
P.S. And get your hands on "Handling the big jets" not "Flying the big jets". They are 2 different books and the interview is aimed at HTBJ by Davies.