SQ Interview... need help here.

[ykyap]

G'Day,

I have an interview with SQ for Cadet Pilot next week ... would appreaciate it if anyone could just give me some guideline and what kind of questions they will ask. So that I will be more perpare for it.

Thank you very much!!

regards,
yk

[Aeronort]

Interview

Hey yk,

Be yourself, They ask these questions, Why do you want to be a pilot? Name three Aviation magazines? Are you afraid of the dark and confined spaces? do you smoke? wear glass? etc.

Are you going for PAX or Cargo cadet????

Aeronort

[Jim Morehead]

This might be easy for some to answer, but why is SQ hiring any pilots if they just had a big pilot layoff?

[sq111]

Interview

it takes 2.5 to 3 years to train a pilot. Now there are surplus but current cadetship will be timed to meet requirements down the road.

Todays Streats reports that 30 current pilots are interviewing with CAL and also some with Emirates. Many are locals, unlike the past experience.

No pay leave policy has also been lifted, but hiring freeze remains.

[ykyap]

Dear Aeronort,

Thank for your info. I'm sure I can answer this questions pretty well.. I'm not sure it is a pax or cargo one because recently SIA put up ads saying that successful candidate will appoint by SIA,Silkair or SIA Cargo.

Hi Jim Morehead, what sq111 said is true .. cadet pilot are more for future ... even now they have surplus of pilot but no one will know what happen to the future. Besides that SIA will start its 18 hours flight directly to US.. I'm sure they will need more pilot by then.

Hope that the aviation and travel industry will pick up soon!!

regards,
yk

[BlueEagle]

Wasn't such a big lay off, (except for those concerned), twenty six from a total pilot workforce of over one thousand.

[cpt744]

Jim,
This is simple aviation maths to the management here... Those they laid off.. old terms with seniority... more expensive.

Needless to say, they can do anything they want with the new cadets. Eg. NO more priviledge(FOC) ticket or in future check out as Captain no more first class upgrade.

With present union leadership style you won't even expect a fart from them regarding this deteriorating terms and conditions. Wait till you hear about the proposed wages for Capts and FOs on 744F... Looks to me that they( the management) figured there are lots of desperate pilots with 744 ratings out there..

[Jim Morehead]

thanks for your answers on the SQ question.

We all hope for improved business for all carriers in the world. It is overly encouraging for many parts of the world and the public all want cheap tickets. Not good for airline employees!

Most carriers will not take losses for too many years without making changes (usually downward).

regardless of the delicate balance between locals and ex-pats, can anyone post how many airplanes SQ has? How many were parked, sold, or traded? Are there more to follow?

[cpt744]

The answer on fleet number is no one really knows. Except that I know for sure there are 13 744Fs, just flown the newest baby not too long ago myself.
As for the 744 pax fleet, probably still 30 over?? Definitely winding down with quite a few flown to storage north of LAX. SQ is not certain of the decision in winding down completely of the 744s cos 777s do not really give that sort of substitute that they want for high load sectors.

[ykyap]

I would think that SQ have about 38 744 pax fleets and 12 are not in operation.

Cpt744, are you flying for SQ? Hear from the management that they will be lot of senior cpt retire down the years... is that true?

regards,
yk

[cpt744]

Your guess is probably quite accurate for the pax fleet. Nonetheless they're definitely retiring the 744 in stages according to their plan(which everyone knows how "good" are their plans nowadays).
Yes I'm with SQ and yes the number of Capts retiring from this year onwards will be escalating, not exponentially but definitely quite steeply. The background to this is easily traceble if you look at SQ massive intake of pilots(mainly locals) since the 70s. On the other hand, guys are checking out as new Capts too on 777 although I doubt they're able to replace the retired ones. That's why they're going all out to hire cheap labour at this time of the world aviation downturn; both locals and expats.
As for your case, I would suggest you get ready for questions like:

"Are you prepared to work for SIA Cargo ONLY? And NO transfer will be allowed to pax fleet to work with all the pretty stewardesses."

If you say "No" obviously you won't hear another word from them but if you do say "Yes", next question should very well be "WHY?", once you give your part of the bullxxxx( Don't take offence pls, we all did it and will do it again..) they shall immediately drop the next bomb shell..

"Even if your take home pay will be 35-50% less than your peers in pax fleet?"

It's not that difficult to convince them( the typical Singaporean minded interviewers) if you know their mindset, think about it..

Last but not least, don't be despaired if things do get tough in there, just hold your head high in acknowledging your mistakes and stay firm in what you believe is right(Now that'll be tricky at times..). Whatever it is, get in first, work your butt out to get to the right seat and the rest you can decide later; like plan yourself to leave for another airline if they continue to treat you like dirt.

[9M_JON]

SQ Direct Entry FO

I salute you Cpt744 for your insights into SQ & helping those along the way to get onboard SQ.In their website SIA is only hiring cadets,was wondering if there are any vacancies for FO position either pax or cargo?What would be their requirements for that position?Or should we just send our letters & CVs and see if they'll reply with the application forms?

Thanks again,safe flying.

[ykyap]

Thanks Cpt744!! Actually my interview was on monday...any way thanks for the info. They did asked me about Cargo...and give me a choice of Pax, Cargo or SilkAir, and why i choose that. You are right about that.

Well, the inverview was not that bad, they asked me alot of questions on aircraft, eg "can you differ minitary and civilian aircraft, how many aircraft manufacturer...".

BTW Cpt744 do you know cpt Lim? He is the one who interview me. Is there any way you can PM me his email addr???

Once again thanks for your advice!!

regards,
yk

[sq111]

Cpt Lim, if I'm not wrong, its the brother of the environment minister interviewing you. You got to wait for around 3 weeks before they get in touch with you, then you got physcometric tests, IQ tests and the final interview with a panel of about 6 interviewers.

Go find out how a jet engine works. Think about what you want to fly, a 744? 777? A380? A320 (Silkair)If you answer B767, B757, B737 then kiss your chances goodbye

Be sure that this is what you want, cos there are locals who leave the industry altogether after their bond cos they don't like it

[cpt744]

YKYAP,

SQ111 should be quite right in his guess on Capt Lim who interviewed you, his a nice chap. I don't have his email contact and would advise you not to bother. If you fit the SQ cadet profile as a Singaporean or Malaysian, they WILL call you soon. If not, just try again the next round. So far the record that I know of from one rather new FO was 5 times attempting the 1st round
interview. It's the tea party interview that's lethal, if you fail that round; don't bother anymore as SQ Airline house mainframe computer has a huge hard disk.. with paper back-up too with all the "blacklists". If you do get to next round, it's more vital to keep a cool head while answering some of the real tricky questions, just one extra for you.. "Singaporean gets a chance for command upgrade in 8years, the rest gets it at 10, is it fair? Why??"
Think about this sort of question and try to stay focus as objective as you could whenever you provide an answer. No right or wrong most of the time but they just wanna see how you back yourself up. This is actually much to do with flying, what do you do as a Captain when you have to make a decision?? Whatever the answer, you must be able to justify it later when there's a need to do so. That's why they won't want a YES Man or NO man just for the sake of saying NO..

9M-JON,
You're too generous with your compliments, I'm just giving a few cents worth of opinion to those who find use in it. Other than that we're merely having fun dishing out our ideas aren't we?? Cheers to Danny for that on starting and maintaining PPRUNE for us.
In answering your questions, I have to say that SQ has not taken in any Direct entry FO for a long long time. Ever since we're able to self sustain in the mass production of cadets from Jandakot and I do not see any chance at all in getting in as a Direct entry FO for as long as you can predict.

Anyway, judging from your userID I would presume you're a FO with SQ love-hate brother up north, my suggestion is for you to GET your command first, you will enjoy that period of upgrade much more than doing it in SQ.

With MAS the upgrade selection is fair and you have a full tank 737 to bash around the vast land of West and East Malaysia for your initial command flying, this is perhaps the best you can get from this part of the world in building up your experience considering NOWHERE else in ASIA you'll find a place that ATC controllers speak fluent English and airports are generally of excellent standards too for your fun flying..

In addition, just for info, we already have quite a few SQ Malaysian FOs who are real pist off( who isn't at this time??) and had already put in their resumes and CVs to MAS for a group entry in revisiting the 1990s saga; where we have 10-12(I stand corrected on this figure) FOs who were taken in to MAS and given command after a year or so later.

All in all, better watch it if you do wanna leave MAS as personally I say MAS is an airline that still takes care of it's employees and you don't get the kind of shxx that we are getting here where the highest level of management(SG Govnt inclusive) intends to bury the pilots if they could with paycut and etc. They WILL pay peanuts if they have a chance and don't bother telling them that they'll get monkeys by doing so, as they are not even convinced pilots are of any live forms but simply just some irritating staff numbers with huge payroll digits in their eyes. I personally thank the existence AND presence of EXPATs(and don't bother with any rebuttal on this from anyone of you reading this that I'm a expat or siding the expats, I'm a SINGAPOREAN who reads facts) pilots in the Airline. You can darn sure mark my words too that they will continue in their attempts till they succeed...

All said.. I'm leaving for my flight in a couple of hours time crossing the pond, I'll still do my best in making fuel and fly as safely and efficiently as I can for the PRESENT company that I'm working for... I know 9 1/2 out of 10 out there are like that too, that's why SQ can always count on our "reliability" and abuse us year after year..

Cheers to all who just wasted your time in reading this load of crab from me...

[Bokomoko]

Hello cpt744, just a question:
Do you see any opportunity for DE captains in a near future?
Thanks...

[cpt744]

You got me just before checking out...This is gonna be brief..
SQ will always take in DE Captains, unless we're in deep trouble.
If you're from anywhere else that pays less than a most junior 777 commander's pay (take the pre-cut figure which is SGD9k+ pre-taxed basic pay, right now with the cut it's so low that it's not worth mentioning) in SQ, then this is the place for you. I'm saying this cos that's in their pipeline to shaft this down our throats adhering to the new guidelines issued by National wage council, and more to come which we shall discuss further when that happens.

If your seniority in your airline(presumably in South East Asia..) is high and earning close to a mid rank Captain in SQ, I would go for KAL, Asiana or CAL to earn the real hard cold US$. Failing which SQ should have no problem taking you in if you're really sick and pist off with your own carrier for whatever reason that would be.

[ykyap]

Cpt744,
Thanks a lot really appreciate your advice!! Just wondering what is the tea patry interview all about? Actually what kind of answer they expect from us? Am i right to say that they are looking for someone who is mature (mind), stable, good in judging and reasoning?

During the intreview, Cpt Lim did't ask much question, quite quiet. Most of the questions are by a foreigner (Caucasian), I did't remember his name. According to the HR personnel, he is the neutral party.

Sq111,
Thanks for the info!! Are you flying for SQ too?


regards,
yk

[sq111]

After your panel interview, about 6 to 1, you will gather in a meeting room whereby some food and beer will be served. Once all 10 of you guys have completed the interview, you all will gather there. All the panel interviewers will be there and you got to mingle with them, talk about anything, but usually related to flying, the company, etc. Be at your best and don't ask stupid questions (eg, Do I get Business class to rest? or Do I get to transfer to SIA from SIA Cargo? Or Can I fly the A340-300). You can ask how's your chance for A380? How's the life like? How many long haul per month, etc. The interview may be over, but the interviewers will still be observing you. Feel free to eat something, cos many will just listen while the interviewers drink beer and eat and talk to you guys.

No hard and fast rule, but if you show interest in aviation, not that difficult. But remember to address all interviewers SIR!

[Aeronort]

Just think yourself very lucky to have the opportunity to apply for such a job or even get in. You may hear lots of stories about SQ good and bad, but when you think about it. Do you want fly or do you want to have lots of money? These bitter guys had both. and are losing the money. Nothing is this world is fair. During these tough times anything is better then nothing. Expat and Senior Capt, Getting Paid 250K-500K plus is going to be a thing of the past. To be able to fly Boeing Airbus any large transport is a privilege in this industry not a right and there are thousands of common old Joes that want to do it but can not. This is what airlines like SQ, CX ,MH,QF, LH and BA (all having cadetships) are realising. They are making it harder to fly the best civilian aircraft in the world.

Aeronort