Hi all,
Firstly a big congrats to Holdmetight, a very well deserved result
Secondly, i wanted to post up a bit of my experience with the selection process.
I did not make it past stage 1
.
A bit about the Stage 1 assessments - this was done in HK
Wombat test. - don't worry if you don't know too much about this test, they will send you a booklet when you are invited for stage 1, explaining what it exactly is and instructions on how to play the game - the only thing i can suggest for this is read the instructions carefully and try and be familiar as possible with them before turning up. At the start of the test on the day, the game will take you through the instructions one more time, but once that time elapses, you are on your own to play the game and you cannot revert back to the instructions once the game has started, so hence being familiar with how the game works before the big day. The game itself is quite fun, but definitely draining.
Personality test
You are given some statements that best describe yourself and you have to rank them according to how well they describe you. No tips here, other than monitor the time you have remaining to complete the test.
Reasoning Test.
There are 2 parts. The first part you are only given a few minutes to complete a couple of questions. Then the next part you are given more time to complete a more extensive range of questions. They do get quite hard towards the end, so don't be worried if you find that during the test! Only thing i can suggest is, go through and complete all the questions you can, then come back to the ones you couldn't complete the first time round - spending too much time on one question will most likely penalise you in time for completing other questions.
Job Knowledge Test.
Can't remember exactly, but there should be about 50-60 questions from memory. The test itself shouldn't be overly difficult if you have studied the JKI booklet and have knowledge upto a BAK standard.
Interview.
The interview itself was quite easy going now that i look back on it, offcourse during it at the time i was dead nervous!
If you haven't already, you should read back on what people have previously posted about the questions they were asked in the personal section, because i got alot of them during my first part. Such as
1) what made you want to be a pilot
2) why Cathay
3) what do you like about HK
4) Have you set yourself a time frame on which to become a professional pilot
5) how would a close friend describe you
6) why did you choose what you did at uni
7) whats your favourite plane and why
8) locations we fly to
9) where do we conduct our flight training
10) have you looked at the cost of housing here? do you know we don't offer housing allowance anymore
11) how do you pay for your training
12) what are your interests
There were a few more, but its all been covered before.
Technical part.
At the time of my interview, i only had about 20-25 hours, so nothing major. The captain i got was very nice, and overall i thought the questions he asked were very fair, not easy, but something that would not be unreasonably beyond someone of my flight experience. He used to be a flight instructor so he knew how to tailor questions to suit someone of my level. The thing that i look back on and really pops out at me was how quickly i was asked the questions, it was like a machine gun, the questions just kept coming and coming. never really had a chance to stop. But it did go by very quick, before i knew it the interview was finished!
he started off with basic questions that are found in the JKI booklet, then moved onto questions of BAK level and very general questions about the aircraft i flew
1) how did you find the JKI booklet
2) what is the difference between true north and magnetic north
3) given magnetic north is this and variaton is this, what is my magnetic direction
4) what are the cycles of the piston engine
5) hows it different to a jet engine
6) what is ISA
7) given this height, what is my temp in ISA
8) tell me about the engine on your aircraft
9) how much fuel does it have, what fuel does it use
10) what plane is this? what will the controls look like if i am turning right
There were a whole bunch more that extended from the questions above (i.e. went to a greater depth), but i think these give a general idea of the level that was asked of someone of my experience. I think it really depends on who you get for your interview, so the questions probably are never the same between any 2 captains.
I did answer some questions that weren't quite right the first time, but the captain will lead you to the right answer in a subtle way to see if you can work out that you've made a mistake.
A week or so after my Stage 1 i was invited for the ICAO english test. This test does require concentration, but if you can speak and understand english reasonably well, then you should be fine. The test is made up of a few parts and goes for no more than about 40 mins.
1) you are given some words and you have explain what you think they mean e.g. if someone was to say "you're in a for a fight with this one", what do you think it means?
2) listen to some recordings of coversations, then answer questions about them
3) describe a picture, what do you see? then answer questions as if you were the person in the picture.
4) given a list of items, you select a few then explain why you chose them
5) watch a short video, answer questions relating to the video
I hope that helps, happy to answer anymore questions.
Rough time frame of the process
applied late Oct 2009
first interview Sept 2010
ICAO english test Sept 2010
Dec 2010 notified i wasn't successful.
- i actually got called, not emailed (although an email did follow the phone call)
It is a long process, but don't give up hope and continue with whatever you are doing be it training, working, studying etc, but don't just sit there and wait for luck to come! I would definitely recommend getting some flying lessons under your belt if you applied with 0 hours, you will certainly learn more about flying than reading books!
Goodluck everyone