Guys, you need to understand that not everyone who sends a CV is then called for an interview, even if you fall within their requirements (whether they're officially stated or not, like being under 30, first time passes, etc..).
They do take onboard a lot of low houred guys, probably somewhere between 250 and 400 a year at the moment, but there are at least ten times more guys who apply each year from more than a hundred schools across Europe.
I know a couple of people who have been called just a few days from sending their application in, some have been called after a few months and I know at least two who waited some two years before getting the phonecall.
Sometimes they do send a negative answer to your application, sometimes they don't. The fact they don't doesn't mean they will call you eventually.
One last thing, on my selection day, we were 8 guys, 7 of us were modular guys and only one was integrated, none of us from Oxford. One thing we had in commun was we almost all completed a jet MCC, not on a FNPT2 like the one at BCFT but rather Oxford's MCC or European Skybus'.
As far as I remember, the youngest guy was 19-ish and the oldest 24-ish.
Interview-wise, I was asked on:
- Swept wings at low speeds
- Mass and balance, what happens if ... , why do we have a load sheet?
- Can you give me 7 weight limitations?
- Runway limited performances
- Mach Tuck
- Which area did you struggle in during your training?
- What base would you like? What base would you hate the most and why?
- What if you lose your medical?
Sim wise: Out of Belfast City (bear in mind that this is a short runway - 6000ft / 1830m long - when you come to land), SID, general handling (basic turns, 25° angle of bank in various climbs and descents, at 220 and 250 kts), emergency (cabin fire), "how would you enter the hold from here?" but we didn't have to do the full procedure then, we were vectored for an ILS approach, crash-landing (my sim partner went on idle thrust at 100ft and hold it back until it stalled... and failed to react when I said "go-around"). As PF I had to do the exact same flight, without the crash-landing.
Well fun overall, other than for the wait on the day (some 5 hours between the morning briefing and the interview...). Got the good news a week later, only 2 of us were successful, out of 8.