I had a phone interview for a position within Emirates prior to interview in DXB.
Whilst i've only ever had 1 phone interview before I have to say it was average for the world class airline i thought i was applying to and certainly the questions asked of me wouldn't have gave any indication of my experience / potential. I was asked had i done my home work on DXB. After the initial phone interview I had another from HR and the impression given was that there was no standard salary scale for the job applied for (i.e. i was asked how much i was currently on in the UK and i was advised it would be the same in DXB)
The one that put me off however was accomodation - i may get it if i was lucky and something was available, if not i had to take the allowance (of which i presumed wouldn't cover renting somewhere if i read these posts correctly - and i'm not even a "nigel")
Anyway I appreciate that getting Pilots there is difficult but with the big orders for A380 they need the back stage staff also