CX general info for those interested in passing the interview
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Atlanta
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One question left unanswered....
Hey CKlinger, thanks for the info!! And S7700, I see your point too, however.....
Not to open up another can of worms, I don't want to set anyone off again, but do we have to strip naked in front of the nice female doctor??!
Sounds like an even more important question to me than jetstreams or accelerated stall speeds, if you know what I mean.... 
Not to open up another can of worms, I don't want to set anyone off again, but do we have to strip naked in front of the nice female doctor??!
Sounds like an even more important question to me than jetstreams or accelerated stall speeds, if you know what I mean....
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: UAE for now
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Just glanced at this post...I realize it was started quite a long time ago.
Why are you worried about getting a stick shaker in a steep turn? Why are people talking about why the stick shaker came on as if the guy was in a real airplane at the time? He was in a SIMULATOR. The SIMULATOR probably screwed up. If you guys have never seen a simulator screw up, you have never been in a simulator. As new or advanced as they may be, simulators still screw up sometimes.
Why are you worried about getting a stick shaker in a steep turn? Why are people talking about why the stick shaker came on as if the guy was in a real airplane at the time? He was in a SIMULATOR. The SIMULATOR probably screwed up. If you guys have never seen a simulator screw up, you have never been in a simulator. As new or advanced as they may be, simulators still screw up sometimes.
Join Date: Dec 2005
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Why are you worried about getting a stick shaker in a steep turn? Why are people talking about why the stick shaker came on as if the guy was in a real airplane at the time? He was in a SIMULATOR.
Join Date: Dec 2004
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I've been requested via various PM's to share my experiences of the Cathay interview. Firstly, just want to thank everyone here for their contributions. The inputs proved to be invaluable. May I make a suggestion that experiences be posted under this thread, as it is a link from the sticky at the top of this forum. Otherwise the info gets lost with time - just a suggestion.
Wrt the interview, Cathay really make you feel at ease from the moment you check into the hotel, so there is no need to worry (easier said than done). I believe if you go there with a positive attitude about Cathay, Hong Kong and your previous companies, then you'll already tick a few boxes. KNOW YOUR PREVIOUS AIRCRAFT! Especially if it is part of the Cathay fleet, or if there is a chance that the interviewer flew it in his previous life (ie B737). Most questions asked were already mentioned here on pprune ie: winglets, swept wings, etc etc. Here are some of the questions that caught me off guard:
1st Interview:
What are the lats and longs of Hong Kong
?
Luckily I knew that it was on the Tropic of Cancer (About 23°N) and that it is UTC+8 (8*15=120°E). Not an exact answer, but it seems as though he was happy with the answer.
What is mandatory fuel and what does it consist of?
Never flew long haul, only short haul, so didn't know the answer, but he started asking other questions to lead me to the correct answer. ie Over Pacific ocean you need enough fuel to divert at 10 000ft incase of a pressurization issue or with an engine issue at your drift down altitude. I think the former is normally most restrictive.
There were a few questions on fuel planning. ie What minimum reserves consist of. What is contingency etc etc. What does your total uplift consist of.
2nd Interview:
The interviewer was an ex-737 driver in his previous life, so he killed me with tech questions. ie: All the FMA annunciations from the moment you press TOGA for take-off, to the moment you press TOGA for a go-around
. Your oxygen pre flight every morning and the maximum allowable pressure drop when you do test it (100psi). When does the weather radar automatically start scanning for windshear on take off? And on landing? Do you need to have Wx radar selected to get Predictive windshear alerts? Can you get a predictive windshear on a clear day? (I believe you need to have precipitation to receive any radar returns). Passenger oxygen system - how it works and how long will it last. We started talking about winglets and why we have them. "OK then, so why are the 737 winglets so big?" 
. uuummm... uuuhhhh???? Don't have the faintest idea. They look cool though.
That was about it. The rest was all standard stuff. I didn't do any Sim prep for the check. Purchased MS flightsim "Ready for push back" and just flew the profile over and over again. There was a vast improvement between my first and second ILS, and they asked me whether I felt that there was an improvement during the interview. I guess thats what they are looking for. They also asked me to rate my sim check from a 1 - 10. It's probably not a good idea to sound like an Ace of Aerospace and give yourself a 10.
Anyways, thats about it. I'm eagerly awaiting a start date at the moment. Good luck to all! Advice? Be positive and smile! There were questions that I couldn't answer, so just be honest.
Wrt the interview, Cathay really make you feel at ease from the moment you check into the hotel, so there is no need to worry (easier said than done). I believe if you go there with a positive attitude about Cathay, Hong Kong and your previous companies, then you'll already tick a few boxes. KNOW YOUR PREVIOUS AIRCRAFT! Especially if it is part of the Cathay fleet, or if there is a chance that the interviewer flew it in his previous life (ie B737). Most questions asked were already mentioned here on pprune ie: winglets, swept wings, etc etc. Here are some of the questions that caught me off guard:
1st Interview:
What are the lats and longs of Hong Kong
?Luckily I knew that it was on the Tropic of Cancer (About 23°N) and that it is UTC+8 (8*15=120°E). Not an exact answer, but it seems as though he was happy with the answer.
What is mandatory fuel and what does it consist of?
Never flew long haul, only short haul, so didn't know the answer, but he started asking other questions to lead me to the correct answer. ie Over Pacific ocean you need enough fuel to divert at 10 000ft incase of a pressurization issue or with an engine issue at your drift down altitude. I think the former is normally most restrictive.
There were a few questions on fuel planning. ie What minimum reserves consist of. What is contingency etc etc. What does your total uplift consist of.
2nd Interview:
The interviewer was an ex-737 driver in his previous life, so he killed me with tech questions. ie: All the FMA annunciations from the moment you press TOGA for take-off, to the moment you press TOGA for a go-around
. Your oxygen pre flight every morning and the maximum allowable pressure drop when you do test it (100psi). When does the weather radar automatically start scanning for windshear on take off? And on landing? Do you need to have Wx radar selected to get Predictive windshear alerts? Can you get a predictive windshear on a clear day? (I believe you need to have precipitation to receive any radar returns). Passenger oxygen system - how it works and how long will it last. We started talking about winglets and why we have them. "OK then, so why are the 737 winglets so big?" . uuummm... uuuhhhh???? Don't have the faintest idea. They look cool though. That was about it. The rest was all standard stuff. I didn't do any Sim prep for the check. Purchased MS flightsim "Ready for push back" and just flew the profile over and over again. There was a vast improvement between my first and second ILS, and they asked me whether I felt that there was an improvement during the interview. I guess thats what they are looking for. They also asked me to rate my sim check from a 1 - 10. It's probably not a good idea to sound like an Ace of Aerospace and give yourself a 10.
Anyways, thats about it. I'm eagerly awaiting a start date at the moment. Good luck to all! Advice? Be positive and smile! There were questions that I couldn't answer, so just be honest.
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hong Kong
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JL, you'll be wanting the Cadet scheme - wrong thread (unless you're up for direct entry at 18 - pretty impressive!). There's plenty of good stuff under the FHW forum for the cadet scheme with lots of useful info on interviews etc. Good luck!
