Interview stuff
Join Date: Oct 2003
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Also cover up any tatts and don't wear any jewlery especially on the tongue.
CVs should be in 'proper' English and not in the form which seems to be accepted by current school teachers.
Note you are endeavouring to become a professional aviator and there are stringent expectations for you to meet.
CVs should be in 'proper' English and not in the form which seems to be accepted by current school teachers.
Note you are endeavouring to become a professional aviator and there are stringent expectations for you to meet.
Join Date: Dec 1997
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got a job have you Scroggs?
Believe me, I do know what I am talking about. Your advice may be great for a wannabe Next catalogue model, but is OTT for normal people. Or maybe all pilots in Canada are trying for the Best Dressed Male list?
Scroggs
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wrong again..in the ideal fair play world where there is a job for everyone and you just have to go and take it you would be correct.
But it is not, and this industry is one of the most competetive at the moment.
Attention to detail is what makes a Professional in any field, and you only have three chances.
1. A professional attention grabbing CV
2. Looking and acting the ultimate professional at interview and 3. If you are lucky enough to get the first two right......performing well at your sim check because as a professional you have prepared for it.
Why spend £45000 and then blow it for the sake of a few minor and inexpensive details that if you don't do someone else will.
You do not know what the interviewers opinions are and how you look may be the clincher in a close call between two similar candidates unless one is a woman then she will get the job
But it is not, and this industry is one of the most competetive at the moment.
Attention to detail is what makes a Professional in any field, and you only have three chances.
1. A professional attention grabbing CV
2. Looking and acting the ultimate professional at interview and 3. If you are lucky enough to get the first two right......performing well at your sim check because as a professional you have prepared for it.
Why spend £45000 and then blow it for the sake of a few minor and inexpensive details that if you don't do someone else will.
You do not know what the interviewers opinions are and how you look may be the clincher in a close call between two similar candidates unless one is a woman then she will get the job
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All I’d like to say is that what one's interviewing is a person ( not their suit ) and, imho, I’d like that person to be able to give their best, i.e. wherein sitting there, endeavouring to get the chance of a life time job, all whilst sweat either trickles or pours from them – aided & abetted by an unfamiliar / uncomfortable suit - is not normally conducive to a good interview; is it ?! ( and that’s speaking from experience of both sides of the interview table ).
Indeed I’d encourage the candidates I was interviewing to (at least) discard their suit jacket, and try to relax / chill-out; as this helps both them and us with the interview process.
Advice wise – if one was wearing a shirt & tie to go with ones suit, one might finds it helps to make sure ones shirt collar is not too tight when buttoned up with a tie ( wherein I don’t know about you lot but, as the years have gone by, my shirt collars all seem to have shrunk - even when the shirt’s not been washed and new out of the packet ?!
).
pilotbear - I think the Simpsons are great, so a pilot interview candidate sporting a Simpsons tie would probably get my vote ( if only for having a sense of humour
).
Indeed I’d encourage the candidates I was interviewing to (at least) discard their suit jacket, and try to relax / chill-out; as this helps both them and us with the interview process.
Advice wise – if one was wearing a shirt & tie to go with ones suit, one might finds it helps to make sure ones shirt collar is not too tight when buttoned up with a tie ( wherein I don’t know about you lot but, as the years have gone by, my shirt collars all seem to have shrunk - even when the shirt’s not been washed and new out of the packet ?!
).pilotbear - I think the Simpsons are great, so a pilot interview candidate sporting a Simpsons tie would probably get my vote ( if only for having a sense of humour
).
Last edited by Puritan; 14th Jan 2005 at 06:51.
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pilotbear you don't get it, do you? I have spent a good deal of my flying career (28 years and counting) assessing people for careers in the flying business, both military and civilian, and I continue to do so today. In fact, I shall be doing so for Pprune's Ground School applicants next week, and would have been doing so for the Pprune/Astraeus Type Rating applicants tomorrow had I not been en route in my day job as an A340 pilot at Virgin Atlantic.
Believe me, people, the advice I gave above is correct. If you come over as someone who is obsessive about your dress, you will not be giving the right impression to your interviewers. Be smart but comfortable; there are more important things at stake than how you look.
Scroggs
Believe me, people, the advice I gave above is correct. If you come over as someone who is obsessive about your dress, you will not be giving the right impression to your interviewers. Be smart but comfortable; there are more important things at stake than how you look.
Scroggs
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Dear pilotbear,
I am worried. I fear I cannot find a tie long enough to hang 2-3 inches below my waistline, as my beer belly occupies that particular space. Should my tie therefore hang 2-3 inches below my beer belly? Can you recommend a good shop for purchasing a tie which matches my ripped and egg-stained suit interior? Oh, the colour was originally sort of grey. Hope that helps.
Secondly, will I still have time to fly the aeroplane once I have finished filing my nails and giving myself a French polish for that glamorous, professional touch? I am increasingly concerned that doing so may eat into my valuable hair styling schedule.
And finally, once your colleagues establish that you are indeed as much fun to be with over many sectors as you sound, can I have your job?
Yours in hope,
Witchdoctor
I am worried. I fear I cannot find a tie long enough to hang 2-3 inches below my waistline, as my beer belly occupies that particular space. Should my tie therefore hang 2-3 inches below my beer belly? Can you recommend a good shop for purchasing a tie which matches my ripped and egg-stained suit interior? Oh, the colour was originally sort of grey. Hope that helps.
Secondly, will I still have time to fly the aeroplane once I have finished filing my nails and giving myself a French polish for that glamorous, professional touch? I am increasingly concerned that doing so may eat into my valuable hair styling schedule.
And finally, once your colleagues establish that you are indeed as much fun to be with over many sectors as you sound, can I have your job?
Yours in hope,
Witchdoctor
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Puritan,
Nice post, couldnt agree more re the lose collar
Though from a candidates point of view the simpsons tie works well if you have a relaxed light hearted person interviewing you who knows who the simpsons is and likes them !
However what if the person interviewing despises the simpsons, ut oh, already you are in an uphill battle. Therefore I think the flintstones would be more appropriate
FS
Nice post, couldnt agree more re the lose collar
Though from a candidates point of view the simpsons tie works well if you have a relaxed light hearted person interviewing you who knows who the simpsons is and likes them !
However what if the person interviewing despises the simpsons, ut oh, already you are in an uphill battle. Therefore I think the flintstones would be more appropriate
FS
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if someone can't handle the stress of the interview, how are they going to handle the stress of a life threatening situation??
putting effort into first appearances for the 'job of a lifetime' shows determination and commitment.
"And finally, once your colleagues establish that you are indeed as much fun to be with over many sectors as you sound, can I have your job?"
Witchdoctor, What has pride in appearance has to do with that??
How many of your female colleages do you criticise for dress sense? Are they not normal people?
Flystudent, I prefer Futurama but haven't seen any ties for that.
I'm off to cause a stir somewhere else now
putting effort into first appearances for the 'job of a lifetime' shows determination and commitment.
"And finally, once your colleagues establish that you are indeed as much fun to be with over many sectors as you sound, can I have your job?"
Witchdoctor, What has pride in appearance has to do with that??
How many of your female colleages do you criticise for dress sense? Are they not normal people?
Flystudent, I prefer Futurama but haven't seen any ties for that.
I'm off to cause a stir somewhere else now
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if someone can't handle the stress of the interview, how are they going to handle the stress of a life threatening situation??
Perhaps you are one of those individuals who gets a kick out of the way you dress, and finds solace in Armani suits and similar such designer labels. Insofar as it goes, that's fine - but don't bring your prejudices to this forum. If you want to look like an escapee from the Harrods menswear department at your interview with me, and feel comfortable doing so, that's OK by me. Please understand that I will not be giving you extra points over and above the candidate who is averagely and appropriately smart. I will not be measuring how far your tie dangles, or giving a damn about where you got your shoes, or whether your cufflinks are a particularly fine example of designer chic.
I want to know what your personality is like; whether I can work with you for up to 16 hours at a time, and whether you have the technical knowlege and intelligence to attempt the training I will require you to undertake. I will find out about your ability to handle stress in the simulator, not from what you wear or how you wear it. In fact, I would be somewhat suspicious of a candidate who has spent as much if not more time on deciding what to wear, and how to wear it, as he has on preparing mentally for the interview ahead. I would have to question that individual's grasp of the priorities at hand, and wonder if he might employ similarly inappropriate decision making in the flight deck.
Your dress is just a small part of the overall assessment that will be made of you at interview. As long as you are adequately smart, your interviewers will be concentrating on much more salient aspects of you as a person and a pilot. If your dress is a distraction, either by being conspicuously scruffy, or by being conspicuously expensive or time consuming, it will go against you.
Scroggs
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Just to expand on this a little further.
What is the advised dress code for attending the sim assessment once you've passed the interview?
Would a pilot shirt be appropriate, or the same as you wore in the interview?
What is the advised dress code for attending the sim assessment once you've passed the interview?
Would a pilot shirt be appropriate, or the same as you wore in the interview?
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Scroggs - well said that man !!!
Drew - It really doesn't matter what kind of shirt one wears in the sim ( albeit I'd advise that it's whatever you feel comfortable in and so long as it's within the provisos of what scroggs suggests, i.e. it is adequately smart ).
My own preference would be for something that doesn't reveal profuse sweating ( where some sims checks are indeed tadge warm affairs
- especially if the seat is still hot from the previous chap 
).
Drew - It really doesn't matter what kind of shirt one wears in the sim ( albeit I'd advise that it's whatever you feel comfortable in and so long as it's within the provisos of what scroggs suggests, i.e. it is adequately smart ).
My own preference would be for something that doesn't reveal profuse sweating ( where some sims checks are indeed tadge warm affairs
- especially if the seat is still hot from the previous chap ).
I always thought a panda outfit was the way to go. Join Date: Apr 1999
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thats what I like, a nice heated discussion. Brings out the facts and the most useful info eventually.
Scroggs- apart from the fact I didnt mention expensive clothes or anything that was time consuming, the rest of your last post was good information for any prospective candidate
Scroggs- apart from the fact I didnt mention expensive clothes or anything that was time consuming, the rest of your last post was good information for any prospective candidate
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How many of your female colleages do you criticise for dress sense? Are they not normal people?
I would have thought that as long as someone presented themselves promptly and clean and smart it really doesn't matter about the length of tie, type of belt buckle and so on. A good knowledge of the company and it's operations is surely far more important. Not sure I would advocate The Simpsons tie, but then of course that's as tongue in cheek as my above about the ladies
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My point is this;
I feel that one of the qualities of a good pilot/potential captain is the ability to pay attention to detail, even small things to make the big picture work.
When you meet someone for the first time they have only how you present yourself at interview to make up their minds about you. First impression is visual and this can be crucial (all the real social behaviour experts will tell you that this is formed in seconds).
So what I mean is demonstrate in the one way available to you that their company is worth going the extra mile for, that you are prepared to make an effort over and above the norm.
I agree wholeheartedly with Scroggs
about the trainability, sociability of the candidate etc, but at that stage in the process it is just talk and most will have the right things to say and the technical knowledge etc. for the interview.
I feel that one of the qualities of a good pilot/potential captain is the ability to pay attention to detail, even small things to make the big picture work.
When you meet someone for the first time they have only how you present yourself at interview to make up their minds about you. First impression is visual and this can be crucial (all the real social behaviour experts will tell you that this is formed in seconds).
So what I mean is demonstrate in the one way available to you that their company is worth going the extra mile for, that you are prepared to make an effort over and above the norm.
I agree wholeheartedly with Scroggs
about the trainability, sociability of the candidate etc, but at that stage in the process it is just talk and most will have the right things to say and the technical knowledge etc. for the interview.
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Now I'm wondering if my career has now reached its zenith, its peak, its apogee! After all, pilotbear has just told me I got something right - I am bathing in the warm light of his approval. After all, he's the man that knows.
Apparently.
Scroggs
Apparently.
Scroggs