BA interview
 

Hi guys,

seems that I get an invitation for the BA interview, as I have no idea what to expect, I hope some of you can give me some information.

thanx a lot

What! No aptitude tests first?

Is your interview from the DE advert? When is your inteview due?

Yes it is, what they told me so far, is that there will be an interview, some tests and an assessment, but what exactly can I expect?

EAM

Here is the link to BA Careers website with all the requirements.
Start at DEP recruitment then work through assesment etc.

BA Recruitment

One point I feel I must make is how come you didn't look here yourself? There are going to be some tough days ahead if you want to fly "the BA Way" so get cracking on your research. Try the search function here at Pprune and how about Google?

PS I have dropped a key phrase into this post for you to quote at an appropriate time - can you spot it?

Thanx ETOPS,

I found a section "Our Recruitment" on the BA site, but its different from the one for pilots which I did not find before.
Google and even pprune does not give many information about it, and I would like to hear from people who already did the BA selection and their experience.
Anyway I know there will be a lot to do and thats why I try to find out everything I can about "flying the BA way":O

Think what EAM and myself would really like to know is what can we expect in the interview!

ie, are they asking those daft "Name a time in your life when......." questions or are they asking relevant ones, etc???

If anyone has done a BA interview then your feedback would be appreciated, got an interview myself.

Thanks.

definately the former, s c

Don't know how you get on with such questions - I generally sit there like an imbecile going err, err, umm, umm...

Have any of you guys done your interview yet?
Anyone know the sim profile/ detail?

Akiki/ others/ what date is your interview?

It will be similar to the following. Two interviers one from flight ops and one from people department and the questions will be much the same as any other Corporate style. Experiences, what can you bring to the company, you may be asked about your knowledge of Oneworld, its members and its goals. Also be on the ball with BA's corporate / environment / good neighbour concepts which should be on the web site. Be aware of size of fleet / income earned / general knowledge of the industry and problems at present.

On arrival you should make sure you read the weekly 'BA news' and get a feel for what has happened this week. The interbviwers will mark on several key areas; Attitude / ambition / avaition knowledge and business knowledge. One will be writing all the time. Make sure you answer the questions acurately and stay focused. If you are not sure or do not know say so or ask the for the question again. it is also good to show flexibility (an example) and an idea of your goals and career targets, without being over confident.

They will mark you as well on how attentive you are and your manner. Sit upright , lean forward and make surebthey see you are really up for it and totally focused. If you get a chance look up some of these issues and get some one to interview and get them to comment on your style and possible improvments.

That said you will fine it very relaxed and friendly. Be suited booted and a business tie (not to loud). Good luck.

Try the following for useful BA company info.

http://www.bashares.com/phoenix.zhtm...=IROL-factbook

ATB

Sean

Their website asks for "TYPE RATED" Pilots only.
Guess there aren't too many 747-400 or 777 crews wanting to jump ship at the moment.

Probably not with what BA will be paying at paypoint 1. ( About 40K)

Preppy,

You taking the micky or are you serious? What are your sources?

Cheers

Splat

All pilot recruitment has indeed been suspended due to the failure of BA/Balpa negotiations re pension arrangements for new entrants.

Some half truths here.

Although BA basic pay is around £40k for new entrants, you can add at least £10k pa to that for flight pay.

BA have not suspended recruitment. They were recruiting people to go into the hold pool. This means that people go along to an assessment, and if successful they go into the BA hold pool.

When BA need pilots they go to the pilots at the top of the hold pool list and send out offers of employment. Presumably this should happen in the next few weeks for the first batch, who presumably are needed for the new A321s coming on line end of October.

At the moment BA cannot issue contracts to new pilots, for "internal reasons" presumably those mentioned above.

So technically they have suspended recruitment, but as they haven't yet technically offered anyone a job then I guess there is really no change.

Airbusgirl you would make a great BA manager!

then Don't panic if you are going through the process at the moment, BA will need you in the next few months. Get behind BALPA they are fighting to drastically improve your terms of employment. BA is a tough ruthless machine in these battles. The guys at BAPLA are doing some fantastic work and are never given the praise they deserve. The T&C's at BA eventually get reflected in the UK aviation sector as a whole so it's in all our interests that BALPA win this battle.

Whatever happens BA will need 120 pilots by the end of this year.

Keep applying. More applications will help BALPA with current efforts.........hopefully.:cool:

And a good politician!!!!

Sorry, that first quote was meant to say "postponed" which is what was said in the previous post.

I just wanted to stop a halt to the scaremongering style of that post; there are probably some poor FOs out there who think they are now not up for a job at BA!!

So I deduce that you are swimming in the pool then Airbus Girl ?? !!

Having just read the descriptions of Terms and Conditions in the posting called <<Attention all BA wannabes!>>, I reckon that there will be a lot less type rated people applying...
...wait 15 or more years for a shorthaul command or 20 years for long haul, stuck at the bottom of the list, useless pension and never get a weekend off?
No thanks mateys, they can shove it... might be good for some, but not for me.

Silver Birch

You have hit the nail on the head. It will be very interesting indeed to see how many people in the 'hold pool' -

(We are desperate for pilots right now - why do we need a pool?)

- actually bite the bullet, and ACCEPT a job offer from BA, in the face of the excellent post on another thread explaining what they can expect from such a move!

Very many people are tempted, out of curiosity, to test the water with another operator. Not all will be tempted to climb aboard!

Silver Birch,

Just out of interest, would an offer including a decent Final Salary Pension make a difference to you or would the other disadvantages you highlighted still keep you away?

Consider this a straw poll......

Well I'm a veteran of the Sept 11 hold pool.

June 2003: Got a very nice letter saying thanks for your attention, and when we start recruiting again, you'll be on the A-list. Lack of meaningful rating (I'm a military mate, and 40 years old with a family) means nobody's calling me. Looking at some of the posts around here, BA is a total non-starter for somebody who is 'demographically challenged' like me.

If you're under 30 and don't mind time away/weekends it's still a no-brainer if you need an income. If you don't, consider float planes in the Seychelles. Now that beats slot times/FMS/all the other pants that constitutes route flying.

A wise old Navy aviator once said to me, " It doesn't matter what you are flying, as long as you are enjoying your life." I went to Canada once and met a young Canadian who was flying F-18 Hornets. Fantastic. Except he was based at a place called Cold Lake, inside the Arctic Circle (I exagerrate for emphasis). Working against impossible odds to lose his virginity(to a human). His mate was flying C-130s all over the world, visiting different places and generally putting it about as best he could. I know who was the happier.

It's always horses for courses, but think carefully before you make a big move.

Human Factor.

I think the main incentives that would encourage pilots to jump ship would be:-

- Final Salary Pension or much improved Money Purchase Scheme
- limit of 800 flying hours per year ( or less!)

I think it is right that many people may not actually jump ship when it comes down to it, but I think the 15 year to command argument, although good, isn't the big thing.
Most of the big holiday charter companies have no plans to expand, and possibly plans to contract, and that means there are no commands in sight, probably for the same kind of time at BA.

However, most charter companies have a limit on the max flying hours per year and also some still have Final Salary Pensions (though not necessarily to new joiners).

Also, most charter company's pilots work near enough every weekend and are still flying the crap routes even if very senior.

That would be a nice incentive for those of us who are already there. :{

Hi Airbus girl, don't mean to be cheeky, but what exactly (in general terms) constitutes a 'crap' route?

Some of the routes junior pilots fly to in BA, may soon turn out to fit that bill!

Only a thought.

For those who have attented the interview, may I ask do they actualy ask technical questions? Maybe on the second round?
Any info regarding the process would be handy, thanks.

Tandem - thats the point ! JUNIOR guys fly them in BA, but you wont the rest of your life ! Charter guys have no choice.

As for example ? Any night flight to turkey......

Anyway - back to the thread title.

Anyone actually been for an interview got some info on what happened ? Is it like the DEP selection review on the PPRUNE front page, although has it changed since then ?

Does any one have feedback on the BA selection days at all??

OK, as I started it, here are some infos,

Day 1:
Group exerscise;

Numerical reasoning test, not very difficult but 25 questions in 12 min;

Verbal Reasoning, 13 text parts with 52 questions, very difficult even for english guys, 25 min;

Interview, very relaxed .. tell us a situation when you had to deal with..... no questions about BA or any technical questions;

multipad, test on a computer, about 1 1/2 hour, some easy some difficult.

Day 2: SIM on BAC 1-11::{