ATPL subjects that come up in interview questions

[Captain_Scooby]

Hello all,

As the prospect of a job any time soon is small, I thought I'd make good use of my spare time and read my ATPL books again, ready for interviews. However, as most of us will know, there's a lot of information to read! So I'm wondering which would be the best subjects to read first. I don't want to spend weeks reading Air Law and leaving, say, Powerplant for a few months, if there's a good chance I'll get asked Powerplant questions in an interview.

What subjects have people generally found come up in interview questions?

Cheers

CS

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

I think there are a few threads kicking around with typical questions that get asked, it may be worth doing a search.

In a nut shell, the sort of stuff that gets asked it pretty basic, like basic aerodynamics etc. There is no requirement to memorize the whole ATPL syllabus ;).

[PAPI-74]

Buy the book 'Ace the technical pilot interview' and ASA's 'Checklist for success'.
Then move onto a selection of psyco babble books

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Yeah Ill second getting hold of Ace the Technical Pilot Interview by Gary Bristow. If you know that back to front then that's a very good grounding for interview questions. However there are a few errors in it but that should keep you on your toes :)

Another useful one is JAR OPS in Plain English by Phil Croucher. Alot of interview questions are based around this sort of stuff, so if you know your fuel planning from your CAT I, II, III minima you're laughing.

[potkettleblack]

I would split your question prep into the following:-

1) background research into the company you intend/have an interview with

2) typical HR style questions - strengths/weaknesses, give us an example of a situation where you had to deal with conflict etc. Why did you choose this school, run through your CV in detail etc.

3) ATPL stuff.

In terms of number 1 google is your friend. No 2 I would invest in a decent interview book which goes into detail about why the recruiter is asking the question so you can then plan a descent reply. For no.3 there is a Ryanair thread running to a gazillion pages which has just about every conceivable question known to man. I would copy and paste them into a word document and take it from there working out which ones you have nailed and which require some book hitting.

[G SXTY]

Depends what job you're applying for. If it's a TP, expect one or two questions on propellers, de-ice boots, that sort of thing. If it's a jet you might be quizzed on mach tuck, coffin corner etc.

Other than that, I've been asked to decode a TAF with follow-up questions, define LDA, explain the relationship between IAS/TAS/CAS etc.

You can't possibly know the answer to everything, but good preparation is essential. Ace the Technical Pilot Interview is a good start, as is getting advice from people who've already been interviewed by the company. Interviews often follow a standard format and the same questions keep popping up again and again . . .

[brummybirdlover]

Just a word of caution-Ace The Technical Pilot Interview does contain some rather glaring errors. What about the ones you don't spot? I gave up on it in the end. Some technical study definetley a good idea, just so you don't reply "Um, er, just a minute-I remember this one.." but agree with other posts that most questions are fairly straight forward. Having said that I had an interview with BMI Regional a couple of years ago (didn't get the job) and although the interview board questions where fairly laid back and simple the written exam beforehand had a few head-stratchers in it! Can't remember what my score was, I was a bit disappointed in it but was apparentely average. I think they used it more as a talking point to go over things you got wrong in the exam. (Eastern Airways used same technique.)