Again, not CX, but an example of how a$$hole checkies can set the wrong tone thereby setting candidates up for failure.
A colleague was up for his first jet command check-to-line. The checkie was overheard in the crew room to say words to the effect that the candidate had no hope of passing.
As they taxied out the candidate set the SID departure track on the course bar. This happened to be one degree different from the runway bearing. The checkie wanted the runway bearing and made some considerable noise about SOP requiring it. Wronggg - he was relapsing to his former Anal Airlines policy (that same screwed-up mob who insisted on transmitting on one VHF and receiving on the other). Never mind that the SID was only recently published and the runway had not been corrected for variation in over 10 years.
Unfortunately the candidate argued the toss, and the rest was history.....Cost the poor bugger about a year before he got another crack at it. Second time around with a checkie who knew how to check, so candidate was now successful, of course.
In any organisation some failures are to be expected, but if one or two checkies are consistently failing people at a greater rate than average for the whole company, perhaps it is they who need to be replaced.
Some of course don't have the balls to actually fail candidates, but still delight in nit picking. Whether one should humour these characters probably depends on where they sit, and where you sit, in the organisation. Tough if you are a junior F/O - you probably have to suck it up. But as a senior Captain you should be able to tell someone being unduly silly to just 'get a grip' !
Last edited by Mach E Avelli; 21st Jan 2014 at 09:00.