The short answer is yes...
Neophyte;
The short answer to your question is YES.We will be hiring 10 pilots every three weeks for the foreseeable future, and it is important that whomever we hire shares our vision of the future. Our hiring committes would be remiss in their duties if they didn't ask themselves if a particular candidate would make a good owner.
the_far_side;
As far as I know, the process starts with a phone interview to ascertain one's continued interest in Westjet. I'm not sure if a candidate can be weeded out at this point or not. This is followed by a panel interview. The interview is conducted in a behavioural based format. That means the interviewers will ask you questions on your past behaviour, for example "Tell us about a time that you were called upon to make a difficult decision in the Captain's absense?' Stuff like that.
And yes... someone might ask you to tell them a joke, I told them I didn't remember jokes very well, but I could spin a pretty good yarn in the pub if necessary.
There is also a medical , a brief technical exam, and an English test. If you are medically fit, have been flying IFR and English is your first language, you should have no problem.
Finally, I feel the need to reply to Togalk, who has not been paying attention, while WJ has been raising the bar for everyone worldwide. I'll cut and paste my fellow Westjetter's comments from another forum, only because he has covered all the important points so eloquently..
RYAN COKE has this to say.....
I'll post some info, because I believe everyone thinking about their career options has the right to know what the details are. I just don't want to get into some silly flame war.
Hopefully most people are aware of the 4 main parts of WJ compensation;
1)base pay
2)employee share plan (ESP)-20% of salary matched-voluntary. Basically an optional 20% raise.
3)Profit share--bonus money
4)Options. This is where it gets complicated.
Some changes--base pay is based on 80 hr guarantee, blocking window is 80-85, anything over 80 paid at straight time. O/T above 85 or into min. guaranteed days off.
-Training days are now paid. You have the option of including training as part of your block, or training outside your block and getting paid extra (4.5/day at straight time).
-Guaranteed days off increase to 15 next year. So max you can be blocked in a month is 15/16 days depending on month.
-initial training is now paid at year 1 rate from day one. No lower training pay for new hires.
What this means:
Year 1 & 2 FO. Base pay unchanged. This is due to the fact that our starting base pay (not including other compensation) is already higher than than the average of our competitors, in particular AC and Jazz. So 40k year 1, 50k year 2. With full ESP participation, y1=48k, y2=60k. Add in 2 hrs/month=24 (blocked over 80)+45 hrs (train outside block) is 70 hours extra pay, so add 3k to yr 1 and 3.5k to yr 2. Very easily, yr 1 50+k, yr2 63k, not including any OT, profit share, or options.
For first 2 years, you get 5k expected value (Black & Scholes, or BS)of options, this is where it gets confusing. Basically, though this is the predicted value, they may be worth more, or less than that number depending on what the stick price does, and when you exercise them. The details of this could be a long post of its own, so I'll leave it at this for now.
yr 3 FO--this is like AC's version of formula pay, I suppose. Now you can take the BS option value ($29k for FO's y3 and up) and take up to 75% of that and add it to your base pay. y3 base then is 79k. That higher base pay then affects your ESP eligibility, your share of profit share, and hourly rate for extra time, OT, and training outside block. So 79k, + 16k (ESP), + 5.5k (70 hours extra time-see above) = 100.5k, before profit share, OT, or options. You still get 7k BS value of options.
yr1 Capt.w/75% cash option--base 105k, esp 21k, 70 hrs extra time 7.5k=133.5 k, not including OT, PS or option value. Captain options value is 10k in this scenario, or 40k if you select 100% options.
yr10 capt w/75% option--base 153.5, esp 30k, extra time 11k= 194.5k.
With anything after yr 2 FO, you have the option of keeping 100% options with the lower base pay, if you choose. Obviously much more risk, but if you think the stock is going to do substantially better than the BS value, then it might be worth it.
Feel free to ask questions.
What all this means to me is is that a third year Captain, who selects 25% options, participates fully in the ESP program, and elects to train at staight time on his days off, flying 80 hours per month, will earn $144,900. Flying over 80hrs, profit share and options will raise the income accordingly.