Virgin Blue Interview Help and Advice

[newjetpilot]

Hi there,
I have an interview with Virgin Blue in the up and comming weeks, is there anyone out there who can please give me some advice or help with this as it will be my first real panel interview and from what I have been hearing on the grape vine they are a lot tougher than they used to be. Some help would be much appreciated.

Cheers :) :)

[The Riddler]

newjetpilot,

Well done on getting the interview.

How many hours on what types do you have? DJ may ask you about this.

[coaldemon]

I believe that there is a psyce test , interview and sim check. I don't know the details on each component . Good Luck

[tryhard]

Coaldemon, I would watch out for the spelling test if I were you:E

[OPT/MAX]

Gday NJP,

Not too sure on the new VB process and if it has even commenced yet, will sniff around and see what i can come up with. Until then seeing it's your first sit down interview, I would suggest:

* High speed flight stuff (swept wing, winglets etc)
* Basic 737 knowledge
* Differences between -700 and -800
* Have a scenario ready that you have gotten yourself into/out of (be careful not to drop yourself in it with this one);)
* Maybe touch up on aims of CRM (If a Captain said this, how would you react etc)
* Company stuff. History, major events, The new Embraers
* Names of management people CP etc
* I've always wanted to work for Virgin yada yada!! :E

Pretty standard stuff and you probably have all this but it's all i've got at the moment. Hope it helps.

Good Luck and all the best with the interview. ;)

[Long John Silver]

I realise this thread has been dormant for quite a few months, but I'd like to resurrect it if possible with a few specific questions:

1. Is there a flight planning exercise similar to the Jetstar process?

2. I assume the sim is on a 737 (anyone know what approaches?)

3. Are the psych tests similar to the Qantas tests (ie computer based tests) or is it an actual interview with a psych officer on the board?

Any help would be really appreciated.

Cheers

[Marauder]

Suit and Tie would be smart,

You can always be invited to take it off, but its too late if the panel is already Fruited up

[Capt Fathom]

Where are you newjetpilot?
Some feedback on the interview process would be good. :hmm:

[mr.tos]

Don't worry, if you don't get a job at Virgin you could always go to Jetstar. lol

[airamerica]

Why bother with your post ? In the hope of an answer on a forum that is as dismal as the d&g forums,riddled with nothing but negativity and highly INintellectual advice.
Be yourself on the day and Best of luck

[waav8r]

OK - I'll bite, as I've just been through the interview and did get the nod.
Suit 'n tie is a definite YES. Interview panel wear ties and you will be invited to take your jacket off before the interview gets going. Forget CX style where you're encouraged to study up on a number of esoteric favorite pommie-captain subjects and are expected to know how many cold storage containers the Swire group owns in South-East Asia and the favourite ice cream of the Deputy Chairman. There is no flight planning exercise and thank goodness - no BS psych-test! The big thing in DJ seems to me that they want to get to know YOU, so just be yourself, and don't try to fit into a perceived mold. The whole interview is a very relaxed affair and is in my mind a very good example of exactly HOW airline interview SHOULD be conducted. They get to know YOU and there is ample opportunity to ask questions and satisfy your curiosity about the goings on in the company. There are 10 technical questions and as they will no doubt be changed for each round of interviews there is no point in trying to short circuit that process by quoting what I was asked. They are all relevant questions for operations in Australia and several questions would be familiar from the annual IFR renewal, so if you have time on your hands and want to study up, just treat it like an IF-renewal and know when to descend below LSALT at night etc. I have flown the 737 in the past, but was not given any 737 questions and only very rudimentary high altitude questions on the subject of IAS vs MACH#. Just remember, and this is important folks; it is more important HOW you deal with the fact that you don't know the answer to a particular question, than knowing everything they ask you. No BS - if you don't know, just tell'em up front instead of dancing all around the porridge without eating it! They really just want to know that you don't have di@#head written all over your forehead, and no-one wants to share a cockpit with a smartarse that knows EVERYTHING anyhow. Remember that the interview panel are pilots flying the line themselves and ask yourself what kind of person YOU want to share a cockpit with and try to be that kinda guy (or gal) - whether you are in an interview situation or not.
The whole affair shouldn't last more that 45-50 minutes, if it goes on for longer than that - good for you, thay must be interested in what makes you tick.
The sim-profile is probably the easiest you have ever flown. Just study the info pack they send you and stick to the standard calls listed. Nothing more - nothing less. It is all manual flight, FD and AP OFF for the duration, as is auto thrust. T/O Rwy 27 YMML with some manouvering to the west of Melbourne. The usual stuff , ie steep turns, climbs and descends to an altitude and heading with target airspeed being 170 throughout and flaps remaining at 5 after takeoff. Then intercept a nominated bearing (you'll be told which one only after the instruction is given) to Bolinda to enter a hold which will be continued straight into a raw data ILS for Rwy 16. You'll break visual at about a 1000'AGL with no wind. STAY ON GS all the way down and nothing fancy in the landing, just try to be on the middle of the centre line and give it a handful of reverse thrust after nose is down. That's it, all over and you should be home and hosed.
Good luck - see you in class soon!!

[saabsforever]

Bloke, thanks for that. I may have one coming up as well and it is good to know the basics of what to expect. So thanks for a useful coherent and positive post which as alluded to earlier can be hard to come by on some threads!

[Flightdeckone]

Waav8r,
thank you so much for that constructive and clear feedback. I have an interview in a couple of weeks and really appreciate your comments.
Cheers:ok:

[flugenbear]

Did the interview a couple of months ago, very similar as waav8r has posted.
Definately suit and tie...even for the Sim.
Interview questions a mixture of Behaviour type and 10 tech/IR type questions...got caught out a bit here as a lot of the questions I had related to flying in OZ(a lot of met...) and I've been overseas for years. Anyone coming back from UK or elsewhere make sure you study up on Aussie specific stuff.....General tech questions pretty standard.
Basic Sim profile as waav8r already posted....
I didn't find the panel (2 captains and 1 from HR) overly friendly at all...very very formal and one of them definately got out of the bed the wrong side that morning....take it as it comes, smile, be professional etc (mind, that didn't work for me!:{
Best of luck to all:ok:

[VB WANNABE]

Does anyone know if they have started interviews for the Embraer's.........or has anyone been invited to participate in the Embraer selection process.

cheers

VB WANNABE

[scramjet]

I understand that everyone since this round of interviews since early this year have been asked "Are you willing to fly the Embraer?" However having said that at least a few weeks ago resource planning have not actually allocated new F/o's to the e-jet yet. It is anyones guess as to when the change over will occur one would imagine very soon if not now. Latest memo said 289 new pilots between now and the end of 08. Not including resignations and the couple of skippers who might get a crack at the 777 toward the end of 08.

hmm as for interview questions like the other guys said 10 tech and 2 behavioral questions. And a tell us about your incidents question.

I was surprised at how in-depth the behavioral questions were. I thought I had put a very comprehensive answer covering the what happened, this is what I did, and this is the outome. There were Many probing questions, ok what did the company think of that? What could you have done better? How did you come to that decision?

Tech questions included, Winglets, angle of bank for rate one turns at various speeds, holding patterns, decoding met codes, TCAS, Low-Vis Takeoffs, ETOPS, 1 dot high on VASIS vs 1 dot high on PAPI.

Good luck

[Ang737]

Hi All

Can anyone inform me on who holds the current management positions in the company, ie: Cheif Pilo, Ops Manager, etc etc


Ang

[captwawa]

has anyone been given the nod from the september interviews