Smile ~ Arrive early
Be polite to everyone
Be positive
Say "Please" & "Thank You" Talk pilot ~ Don't interrupt
Listen

There are three main types of interview techniques being used: "Behavioral Based" , "Technical" and "Standard". Virtually all airline interviews combine factors from each. "Behavioral Based" has become a common technique at many airlines. The essence of this type of interview is that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. During this style of interview, you will be asked to describe events that occurred during your career that provide examples of specific skills, judgment and reasoning. You will not be asked opinions and you will not be asked "what if".

The "Standard Airline Interview" is more of a get-to-know-you chat, with elements of "Behavioral Based" as well as opinions about topics and on what you might do in a given situation. In either interview, you must be prepared to discuss experiences you had as a pilot and professional attitudes about the airline, your career and yourself. In a standard interview, you may also be asked elements from a Technical Airline Interview: limitations of your current aircraft, knowledge of FARs, Jeppesens, airport markings, weather or any other topic pertinent to their operations and your experience. Responsible companies will not ask any illegal questions as defined by state and federal employment guidelines.

Many questions with answers are out on the internet, however good interviewers can tell the difference between an honest, heartfelt relation of your personal experience and something that you made up to fit a gouge example you found or were told. Memorizing answers to them can lead to failure. You must listen to the questions and answer the questions asked HONESTLY, not tell a story that you read on an internet site or learned in a quickie prep course.

Types of Interview Questions

Since questions asked often vary - some very slightly in tone or content - ChecklistComplete.com has several pages of questions that you may encounter. Review them to develop good, honest, personal answers. You may not be asked those exact questions, but it highly likely that something very similar will be asked.

Behavioral Based ~ Standard ~ Confrontational ~ Technical ~ Illegal

Aside from reviewing interview question possibilities on a list, you may also have them "asked" of you by using our Flashcards. Another good preparation technique is to have someone else ask you these questions so you are forced to verbalize your answers. Set this up as a mock interview in a quiet room with office table and chairs. Reading and writing answers in the quiet of your home certainly helps, but nothing beats having to say them aloud to another person!

What Interviewers Want to Know

The general nature of behavioral based interview questions is to tell about your experiences with emergencies, poor crewmembers, poor situations, etc. Interview questions about your EXPERIENCE as a pilot start with: "Tell me about a time when you ..." then proceed to specify the type of situation they wish for you to describe. A two-to-three minute answer is all they want.

Standard interviewing is a gauge of your fit within their company. Do you display the judgment, maturity, customer service and work ethic the company values? What has been your experience? What type of person are you? What are your goals? How do you deal with failure? Many standard interview questions may seem quite easy, but in reality the answers are very difficult as they may evoke awkward moments or you may not know which details to include and which you can safely bypass. A good example of this is: "Tell me about yourself". Simple, but how do you effectively describe yourself, your career, your goals and your fit within their company in less than three minutes?

Technical interviewing questions test your knowledge base. The harder ones are almost like an oral exam. You must be thoroughly prepared to discuss anything that could pertain to professional flying. You must know your current aircraft cold and it is a good idea to have researched some information about theirs.

In any type of questioning, if you do not have an answer or are not sure of the answer, ensure the interviewer understands this. It is worse to come across as a wrong know-it-all than to be ignorant on that particular subject.

Confrontational interview questions are asked to see how you perform under stress. They also may be asked if the interviewer detects something s/he doesn't like or trust. For example, if you look terribly out of shape, yet discuss in the interview how you like to run two miles every day, the interviewer may very likely probe this in a confrontational manner. If you really do run two miles everyday, then you should be quite well prepared to defend against this confrontational line of questioning. However if you only said this because you think the company values it, then you could very well sink your candidacy on a white lie or overstatement as s/he digs deeper into the doubted statements. Always be honest and you can't go wrong!

To answer questions properly, you must listen listen listen to the question being asked. Brief periods of silence are fine while you compose your answer. Do not answer a question you memorized, answer the question being asked.

Interviewers like to see a prepared applicant, but not too prepared. If you are "reading from a script", you will come across as fake. See also our discussion of Interview Mistakes and How to Answer Questions for further guidance.

If interviewing makes you nervous, practice with a coach and film it. Any professional interview situation is good practice! It doesn't have to be airline related to be effective. Take it seriously: dress and groom as you would for the real thing and set up your practice interview across an empty desk or table. Try videotaping it, and critique yourself when it is done. If you don't do well with the practice interview, do it again.

Lastly, never assume that having good interview means you've landed the position. Always carry on with your job search while you're waiting to hear back from an employer so you don't lose momentum hoping for a call that may never come.