I still cannot believe that it's finally my turn to give an interview write up. Wow.
The years of hard work and sacrifice are finally beginning to pay off.
My interview was Monday, 4-9 at 8:30 a.m. The gouges were fairly accurate, but there is some disparity between what they report and what happened. In any event, here's my experience.
First, prepare yourself for a very long day. Despite my best efforts, I didn't sleep much the night before. The alarm clock went off at 5:30 a.m., and I arrived at FlightSafety at 7:30. I did my best to calm my nerves, as I sat in my car in the parking lot, reviewing the ATP book.
At about 8:00, I walked inside and was led to the correct room. Over the next 15 minutes, more applicants trickled in. The first thing we did was complete some paperwork. Then the sim. There was no presentation on the company. A Colgan instructor named Carlos passed out a profile. He was very nice and very professional. We were led to a different building to the King Air C-90 sim. We selected partners and went over the profile as thoroghly as we could. I made notes on power settings and such, which turned out to be for the Beech 1900. I was in the right seat first, I did everything I could to help my partner -- airspeed callouts, gear, altitude callouts, heading bug, anything I could. My turn was next. My partner did the same for me. We flew runway heading, leveled at 2,000, a few vectors, received holding instrctions, then vectors for the ILS 26L at IAH. We both actually landed the sim. Really cool. Despite a few hickups on my part, I advanced to the next phase, which was the technical/HR interview. Two line Captains who were also very nice and professional asked some questions about
:
*Flying an ILS
*Hydroplaning
*Judgement concerning thunderstorms
*Critical engine aerodynamics
*Relocation
*Any violations, judgements, offenses, etc.
And that was it for the interview. Not bad at all. They could see that I was nervous and told me to relax and stay loose. Good advice.
Next was the knowledge exam. 50 questions, and nearly all of them were directly out of the Gleim ATP book, which I studied feverishly for a month.
Definitely study that book, and you can disregard any questions with reference figures.
Then we waited for the HR person to return from deliberating with the two Captains and Carlos on who would stay and who would go home.
Eventually, she called us all into the classroom and told us that they reviewed all aspects of the interview and consulted Chuck Colgan via phone of our performance. Then, we all went out into the hallway and were called in one by one. The first 3 applicants didn't make it. then she came out into the hallway and asked us to come inside. When we all had our seats, she walked to front of the classroom and said, "Well, congratulations. Welcome to Colgan Air." My class date is the 23rd in Houston. It felt amazing. Then we did fingerprints and went a few blocks away to a clinic for the drug screening. By about 3:45 p.m., I was driving home, and I was finally able to return the 5 voicemails from friends and family that eagerly awaited an outcome. In fact, I called nearly everyone in my cell phone to share my good news.
Chuck Colgan called me today to welcome me aboard (so long as my drug screen and paper work check out
). I'm really excited.
Well, studying and preparation was the key for my experience. Take it seriously and swing for the fences. Definitely wear a nice conservative suit and nice shoes. I definitely believe that your appearance and presentation is considered throughout the process. Thank you to everyone who helped me out here at JC.
Please do not hesitate to PM me if I can be of ANY help. Good luck to everyone, and God Bless.