Cathay Pacific Interviews - London, 3rd September
 

Hi guys,

I see many of you in Australia have been called to Sydney for interviews starting today, 23rd July. Firstly, all the best!

Let this be a new thread for us Europeans who've heard from Cathay - I've been invited to attend round one of Cathay's selection process in London on 3rd September. I've browsed through various posts here and can't really find much about what to expect. I'd be interested to hear from others who've been called to London also.

If anyone has been through the selection process before, I'd be grateful if you could provide information on the following:

1. What type of assessments need to be completed on the day;
2. The overall structure of the assessment/interview process on day one;
3. Sources of information to practice for assessments;
4. Whether a verbal presentation on some topic needs to be made;
5. What the nature of the face-to-face interview is;
6. Any other things to be aware of in terms of what the recruiters are looking for, or more importantly, not looking for.

Could someone also please confirm whether the medical is carried out on day one. It would seem to make sense that it is, as some has pointed out here.

Any information would be very much appreciated.

Thanks, and best to all,

steelbranch.

I've been called to London for for the 2nd of September and would also appreciate some feedback on the process, It would be particually helpful if somebody who has done the SYD interviews could relay their experiences as the more recent the better.

Best of luck to everyone both in LON and SYD

Can you guys tell me when you sent your application in.

Thanks:ok:

ok well i had my initial testing today in sydney....it's been a long day, i'm back in brisbane now.

i don't know if the testing will be the same between australia and uk, but mine was divided up into 3 parts.

1. Interview (45mins)
2. English Test (1hour)
3. reasoning Test (45mins)

1. Pretty laid back, they get you to talk about yourself and they refer back to your application alot. When you arrive at the very beginning they should give you your timetable and an introductory brief. Read it as many times though as you can before you get called, because they ask questions from it.

2. Not very hard at all, just listening to a CD for the first part and ticking what you think you heard. Second part is a grammar test.

3. Reasoning test is completely those shape matrices things. 48 of them in total, can be quite stressful when your doing it.

That's all I did, no medical. Return of service is 7 years in Cathay if accepted.
I find out in 7-10 days if I win my free trip to Hong Kong :D

Hope this helps =)

Hi Emjai

That helps a lot!! On the reasoning test, are they more how different shapes fit together or one of those where there is a sequence and you need to choose the next piece in the sequence from a number of options. Thanks again for the feedback and hope you get good news soon.

Curvature: I sent my application online on June the 27th

You said "return of service"? Does this mean a contractual guarantee to work for CX for 7 years? Or is this just the average time people spend at CX after the CPP?

Also, does anyone know the pay during CPP and the pay when you become a SO?
Are pilots that go through the CPP program paid on the same wage scales as the other pilots, even though they funded your training?

Thanks for the help.

Do you guys have a HKID? Or are you 'true' expats going for the cadet program?

From my understanding, cadets slide onto the 'normal' payscale rates. But they don't get the perks (housing, education fund). This is a fair amount of cash over your career. Financially, if you can afford the training costs, you'd be better off taking the few years to get yourself the DESO qualifications and then joining that way.

there was no testing done with computers or joysticks at this interview, the 7 years is a contractual agreement, which means you MUST work for them for that long, and the matrices things where just what comes next sort of things.
hope this helps, bye

delete post plz

Hi Emjai,

That's very helpful, thanks a lot for posting that information. It gives us a good idea of what to expect in London. I wish you all the best in getting the trip to HK!

Curvature - application was sent in on 9th June. They say they'll be back to you within eight weeks, so best to get busy and not think about it too much :)

Someone raised the point (sorry I've forgotten the name already!) about cadet SOs not receiving the same pay and benefits as DESO candidates, and I think this is a good point which needs a bit of further investigation by us all.

However, surely once you've done your initial four years as a cadet and are then promoted to JFO etc, as would be the plan, these benefits would start to kick in. For me at least, entering the CPP has more certainty than going modular, heaping up debt and then just hoping for the best. Food for thought...

Still interested in hearing from other London candidates, if you're out there.

Cheers,

steelbranch.

Steelbranch,

It doesn't require any extra investigation.

DESO/FO (i.e expats) were given the typical allowances any other legacy carrier would have in order to attract experienced pilots. Housing benefit, school benefits for kids and an ex-pat salary.

Instead, all cadets will be placed on the local HK pay scale for a SO for the next few years before you get promoted. I'm not sure what the allowances are once you are an JFO or FO but it won't be great.

One of the other threads on this forum or the other one explains why this scheme is a win-win for Cathay. It is titled something like CCP open to all nationalities. You get a lot of information there as to what you won't be getting.

Steelbranch and BRS Flyer. Thanks for the replies and best of luck.

Curves:)

I applied for DEFO last August (2008) and received a date for initial assessment in London however it was cancelled due to the whole credit crunch business.

Is this a restart of previous applications or a totally new round of recruitment?

Hi all ,

Mine interview would be on 2nd september in Hammersmith . On the e-mail they sent me , they did not mention anything about a panel interview and it is only half-day ...(we do get a new 'Job knowledge test ') . However , they said the next stage would be in HK , so I guess if we pass this stage we would be straight into the 2nd stage without the old '1a,1b' system.

Emjai is pretty much spot on for the initial interview stage.

The job knowledge test is 50 Questions - about 40 are directly from the booklet they give - literally. Anyone who doesnt know anything about flying, but had memorised the booklet would get 40 correct. About 7 or 8 are derived from the subjects in the booklet, and you will know them if you've either have some aviation type degree/studies, got some kind of very basic ppl knowledge, or are genuinely passionate and have searched forums/cathay website. There are about 2 or 3 where you either know or dont. As such, most people will get 45+ on this and so it won't distinguish awesome people from good people. It will distinguish awesome people from those who turned up to the wrong interview.

The english test is a doddle if your native or fluent. To give you an idea, most people finish in about 20mins and use the rest of the time prepping for interview. Its basic grammar testing. Trick is not to read it too hard and go with instinct.

The reasoning test - by far the hardest test and the one test that realistically will help distinguish awesome people from very good people. The Quantas test booklet doesnt really prepare you for this, they are basic easy ones. The closest I know is to go to Non-Verbal Reasoning Test and learn how to solve the harder ones towards the end - get an idea of what types of transformations/patterns exist and what to be looking for. Most people will nail the first 18 or so, but after that they get more complex and time pressure means you'l probably end up guessing the last 7. Agreed you either can recognise logic sequences or you cant, but those who have practiced will score 5 or 6 more than those who havent and will stand out.

Interview

This is all about homework, basics and consistency. About 70% is on the cadet program, ie do you know where it is, how long, how many hours approximately would you fly, what planes would you fly, where is adelaide on the map, what company trains you, what would you learn, would you be paid a salary - if so how much, what does a second officer do, how long for, in 10 years time where would you be if you were an awesome pilot and got promoted as early as possible, is it conditional we offer you a job at the end of your CPL, whats an instrument rating, how much sim time you think a captain, FO, SO gets each year.

About 20% on cathay in terms of where do we fly etc, what planes do we have, have we bought any recently, how many pilots for each. The most technical question ever was roughly as an approximation, do you know how heavy a typical jet is e.g a330 etc (incase you say like 10,000lb etc), do you know roughly how much they cost Cathay to buy new (ie ballpark figure incase you say US$'000).

They seem to follow up on almost everything if you dont seem to be too confident or a seem a little hazy. Ie, do you know where we fly in North America and you say yes, X and Y, followed by a few curveballs like, do we fly cargo there, which one is more North than the other. Basically, if you say something, be able to support it with something.

10% was on history of you, normal interests and how you and family would be happy with you moving etc, where hong kong is on a map, approximate exchange rate. If your serious about this, they expect people who are saying they will move to live in HK and Adelaide for the next 5 years to at least know where it is without really hesistating.

Not one technical question (for my interview but maybe for others i dont know) on aircraft, engines, recognition, aero, all that good stuff you hear about - that comes later apparently when a pilot is there. This is purely a screening stage where you need to be careful, particularly if you are genuinely worthy of this oppotunity, to make sure you dont forget to nail the basics, because everyone else does and it seems you will stand out if you dont.

I can see by this interview how you can be a person who has the underlying ability or passion, but instead of getting told no by a pilot after a proper assessment - which is fair play, they get told no by HR because they didnt practice interview basics. You can be the best pilot in the world, but you have one chance, and the first chance is with HR so my advice would be to brush up on basics as a first priority re the program details and logic reasoning test.

Wish everyone the very best for the initial and second stages! Hope to see you all in HK!

That reasoning test is certainly not as easy as I expected , and I dont think you can prepare for it. It started off ok , then Q20-32 take abit more thinking (especially Q28) . and the rest are just guesses based on the probability of getting it correct as 50/50 .....I think most people would get >25/36 correct.

Does anyone know when they will inform us about the outcome of the interview and would it be by e-mail or a phone-call ?

London Applicants
 

Hi,

Likewise, I've submitted my application just last month, but so far I've only got a reply saying, "You application will be up for consideration along with other elegible applicants in your geographical area". But so far, i haven't heard anything. I've put London as my primary interview location then Hong Kong as my secondary.
I've read up on a forum somewhere a while ago, that the wait could be anything from 6weeks upto 3 months. Is there any calrity on this?

Regards,

Myke