Virgin themselves are just as useless..

Thanks
How much total time did you have when applying?

Hi, guys. I have been through the phone interview with Zenon and now have received an email with a link for a psychometric test by Cut-e. Has anyone else got that and has anyone else done the test already? It'd be interesting to know what to expect. Thank you in advance!

Try this: https://www.pilotest.com/en/
Cut-E in there.

Thanks, mate!

Hi man,

I had about1700 total time when applying.

Does anyone know what the basic salary is on the B-payscale for 1500-3000h applicants, and if it includes any variable pay on top?

Cheers!

I’m interested to also know the answer to this if anyone has an information available?

Cheers

Year 1 FO - £63,500
Year 2 FO - £65,500
Year 3 SFO - £74,008

These figures are basic salary plus flying pay (fixed, non-variable 750hrs pa).
Occasional additional earnings available through overtime but no guarantee.

Finally, it isn’t a “B Scale” it’s just two extra rungs on the bottom of the existing seniority/pay ladder.

That’s great thanks a lot. I assume flight pay and allowances is around £1000 per month. Any idea how much overtime is??

Has anyone got through to the latter stages of the recruitment process with Zenon?
I believe the sim will be carried out in a 737. Does anyone know if it is similar to BA's fully manual 'LOE' style test?
And the interview with Virgin, does this sill include some technical questions, or is it assumed this has now been tested and its a more 'getting to know you' interview?

its such a shame Virgin has followed the rest with these absurd HR dominated processes !
so many good guys and girls not getting a chance because they haven’t said the correct thing

Any info on what to expect in the first stages of the process? Just a chat about motivation for joining etc or is it worth brushing up any bits of knowledge?

TIA

The above post said These figures are basic salary plus flying pay (fixed, non-variable 750hrs pa). so not sure if additional pay is an option

Hi,

I've done the first 3 rounds with Zenon now. For the first round, don't worry at all. It will just be questions regarding your hours, current position and of course the question "why virgin?"

The second round consist of online testing, testing your english, maths and psychometric thinking. It's all based on "non-experience grading". So don't worry when you think you didn't do too well on a round, because there are a lot of tests where you can show your qualities. And, no one really knows what they look for in the tests.

The 3rd round is a competency based interview. Questions regarding how you would react. They have some questions where you have to explain certain situations during your career as 'outside of the box' and 'where did you go an extra mile'.

Hope this helps.

good luck

These 3 stages are all handled remotely? i.e phone and computer? What next? Is there a Sim? Can anyone detail the whole Zenon process from 1st call to holding pool? Thanks

1) First call
2) online psychometric
3) Second call - competency
4) 737 sim @ Gatwick/Crawley
5) Virgin interview @ HQ - Scenario, technical, competency

Thanks, first telephone interview booked for next week.

+1. I wish they had told us that before I sweated blood preparing for the telephone interviews and psychometric tests - including buying new computer equipment in order to 'fly' down the rotating well !

One has to wonder what VAA want. On the one hand, many years' experience flying the same aircraft, same routes and same destinations does not seem to interest them, but on the other hand they only want pilots who will have flown within the previous 6 months at the time of joining - (May this year). Since TCX went under at the end of September last year, that excludes us.

Reading the thread back to September it appears 2 new pay points have been introduced. Do all new recruits start on the bottom pay point? Is it possible to enter the pay scale at a different point depending on experience?

What is the criteria for promotion from First Officer to Senior First Officer?

Join with 3000+ hours you go onto the original Senior FO scale. Join with 1500-3000 hours you start on the FO scale, after 2 years you'll move onto SFO scale scale regardless of hours. Not sure what happens if you join with 2500, and reach 3000 within the first year.

Hi,

the first 3 rounds are handled remotely, indeed. You'll initially have a phone call, then computer testing (make sure you have a mouse handy, because you need to do an assignment that is hard to do with a trackpad), then the 3rd one is again a phone interview.

After the 3rd round in can take quite a while, but can also be quick. this is because they send all your files, cv and results to VAA to check everything together. Once virgin is happy with that, they'll contact you to make an immediate simulator date. Give or take 3-5 days in between, fairly straight forward on an Fixed Base 737-800. LHR-LGW engine failure, hold, SE approach. second is LGW-LHR engine fire, hold, SE approach.

After this the result gets back to you quite quickly and you are able to make an appointment for the interview.

hope this helps.

good luck

Great shame they outsourced.

used to be an interview and nothing more ? Making the assumption anyone coming with the experience required can do the flying bit

Not everyone has been having engine failures, guys I know just had standard flights with gen handling. Do they give you guidance prior to the S/E? Seems a bit unfair to give someone who hasn't flown a boeing a S/E with no prior knowledge.

When invited for the sim assessment, you receive a briefing package. this package contains information what you might be able to expect. It says you get a non-normal, but indeed it does seem a bit unfair for non-boeing rated pilots to handle it.

An acquaintance of mine informed me that only rated pilots get the SE-approach.

Why is that? As a non rated DEC to EZY I had to shut an engine down due to a fuel leak on my A320 interview sim...?! They aren't expecting immaculate flying skills (luckily). If that concerns you too much I’d advise that you’re probably focusing too much on the wrong skills for a sim assessment.

Can someone please shed some light on the cut-e assessments? Are they similar to the EZY ones?

thank you!

Lots of things you can do in the sim to test a candidate’s pilot competencies in a non-technical way... medical emergencies, disruptive passenger; bomb onboard, weather deterioration, diversions, pilot incap, severe turbulence, blocked runway etc etc etc.

As important as it is, this industry’s focus on SE work is a bit crazy at times.

Has anybody actually got any idea of what the recency requirements are within the 6 months - Will 3 TO and landings in the sim be enough ?

Correct - my point being it’s not unfair to sometimes see if someone can fly/manage a single engine.

I sort of agree, but it depends how it’s assessed. Ultimately, it’s not a fair playing field in a fixed based B738 sim if Candidate A has 1000hrs Boeing 757 and Candidate B has 2000hrs A320.

You’ll get drilled to death on SE procedures in the TR anyway, so why not give the guys and girls the chance to show some basic handling skills and pilot competencies in a more general way.

If they’re going into the 787 they’ll barely touch the rudder again anyway...

Good question. Maybe there is hope yet.


Edit: Save your money; I've asked the question and SIM flying does not count.

Ironic, given that my qualifying take-offs and landings for my A330 CCQ were all done in the SIM !

Rumour on the vine is that the sim assessment is going to be dropped.

Has anyone else heard similar/to the contrary?

I know this is a Virgin Atlantic thread, but would it be better to go for a US carrier (I’m living in the US) or go the extra mile, convert licenses, and come to the UK?

dylanhk,

If you haven’t yet got your frozen ATPL, I would recommend you invest your money in a more secure career. Aviation is going to take years to recover from COVID and there is going to be a very large supply pool of unemployed, highly qualified pilots all ready to fill any vacancies that become available in that time period. Unless you already have the licences put your money elsewhere. With hindsight, medicine, law or computer science would have been far more secure!

I appreciate the advice. I currently have an ATPL (ATP Certificate Holder officially) however I have yet to convert my licenses to EASA. Aviation is really going downhill right now but I believe converting licenses while keeping my job is possible? That’s why I’m asking I guess; whether it would be better to stay at a US regional and eventually go to a US major, or stay at the US regional, convert my licenses, and come to the UK.

Of course I don’t plan to look for jobs in the UK atm until this situation clears up. Few months or a few years maybe, I just like to plan ahead.

Stay in the US and do your EASA ATPL, I believe you can just sit the exams without any ground school and only a sim check on type is needed if you have 500 MPA. The US airlines have much bigger support from the government and the retirements coming up. In the meantime you can watch the market in the UK and jump ship if something better comes up. Good luck.

Well I’m going to admit it , wish I stayed at BA now . Been at Virgin for around 2.5 years now on the 787 and yes the lifestyle is the best . But now we will probably face redundancies due to the current situation , nothing in stone yet but I reckon it’s a 98% chance 20% of us will go .....
so much for the “Virgin Family” that really cares for its staff .......

at least at BA yes you may get treated like dog **** but you will still have a job at the end of this
just my little rant

Not so confident about BA. I think we will keep all our pilots in employment but it will come down to us the pilots to make it happen. You know the score, BA “we don’t care how you do it, just make it cost neutral”. In this case it will be deliver savings of x.

The appetite seems to be to spread the pain to carry everyone through the next few years. Will 20% go? I hope not, we would be looking at 900 to 1000 pilots.