Republic Interview

[falconvalley]

When I went to the ALPA organized job fair last week, I visited a few different tables. Republic was one of them. I had applied at Republic after leaving AirNet and never heard back from them, but this time they offered an interview date on the spot. This excited me very much!

I nonreved in for an interview that occurred yesterday, February 5th. Like most others, I stayed at the Holiday Inn at the interview rate of $41 a night. After taxes, I think it was $45 or something. I also read the latest gouge on aviationinterviews.com and studied the user posted questions. I finally did find the actual "Chautauqua Study Guide". You have to pay for access to the websight and definitely do not "donate" money for the study guide so I hear. If anyone needs a walkthrough on how to find the studyguide, send me a pm and I'll get back to ya.

I met most of the interviewees the morning of the interview. There were 4 of us from Skyway. The others were a captain on the Do-Jet and 2 Beech first officers. There was also a captain from Mesa and a gentleman from Big Sky. I didn't really get to chat in detail with the others, but I think there were a couple part 91 guys. I think there were 10 of us in all. We all piled on to the bus at 7:45 am sharp and the driver proceeded to HQ, which is right around the corner. We went inside and met Shane, a real nice guy. He waited until 8 for a few that never showed up and we proceeded into a room with tables and chairs and such...

We filled out PRIA paperwork and Shane gave a brief overview and history of the company. Great growth and great opportunities. At about 8:45, most of us had finished the paperwork, so we took the Wonderlic test and company written. The written was a piece of cake for me, as I had been studying the Inst OEG and the other study guides. The Inst OEG covers alot of stuff that you should know anyway. I heard people that didn't study the OEG or the Chautuaqua Study Guide say they stumbled through the test.

After the tests, we were led to the break room and company HR began selecting people to do sim, face to face interviews, and finger printing. Things went fast. I was selected to interview within like 5 mins or so. I had a nice HR lady and a Captain, who used to fly the Beech. GReeat, I thought. The Captain threw some Beech technical questions out and I snapped the answers back, no problem. He realized after 4 questions or so that I know my stuff and that he'd have to dig for something that I didn't know. Know your airplane and you'll be left alone! Typical HR questions, nothing new. They asked me about swept wing aircraft in a way to find out how much I know about something I've never flown before, I think. I got the anwsers right, but I had to think about the questions. Asked me about speeding tickets. Alot of questions created from reading my application, which I had updated the night before. The previous update was 2006 and the HR appeared to be not happy that she had that copy. I told her I had updated it and she then became happy and came back with the update. They will automatically match your resume name with what's in their system. I had given my resume at the job fair and within hours gotten an email from them with my 2006 address on it. They are quick, so keep that application updated.

The others reported different types of face to face interviews. One of the Beech FOs had to do the sim, even though they had the same amount of Beech time and 121 time as me. I think the fact that I had upgraded made the difference.

All in all a very good experience. Kinda like going to a concert to see your favorite band and having a new favorite band after seeing the opening act (thanks to whoever gave me that analogy, I like that!)

[falconvalley]

Alright! They called with a Chautauqua E145 offer! Indy here I come. March 5th!

[wildfreightess]

Congrats!! Hope to see you on the line soon. Which base do you want?

[SoCalAprch]

Welcome to the fam. good to see more people coming over to the CHQ side.

[falconvalley]

I'm not really sure which base I want. I'd prefer an easy commute from MKE with a quick line and I've heard some of the latest intel, but we'll see. It's an adventure!

[SoCalAprch]

Originally Posted by wildfreightess

Congrats!! Hope to see you on the line soon. Which base do you want?

Where are you based?

[Doug Taylor]

Congrats man!

I still can't get over what happened with Skyway

And now MEH hired Kolshak so I'm convinced Hoeksema has lost his ever loving mind.

[LoadMasterC141]

Thanks for the writeup! So not a single rookie in your interview group either it seems? That makes a "not-even-rookie yet" guy like me a bit nervous, especially seeing as REP is the airline I really want to work for.

[falconvalley]

We were all nervous, man! Hey when you get the time to apply, study hard and practice your interview skills. You'll be just fine. Everybody's gotta be rookie to start!

[falconvalley]

Originally Posted by SoCalAprch

Welcome to the fam. good to see more people coming over to the CHQ side.

I sounds like you guys need the most people. They're calling about 145s alot.

Originally Posted by Doug Taylor

Congrats man!

I still can't get over what happened with Skyway

And now MEH hired Kolshak so I'm convinced Hoeksema has lost his ever loving mind.

He has, well either that or he plans on going fishing very soon.

[CcrlR737AMT]

Originally Posted by Doug Taylor

Congrats man!

I still can't get over what happened with Skyway

And now MEH hired Kolshak so I'm convinced Hoeksema has lost his ever loving mind.

Yeah I am still wondering why too. They had those 328Jets(and were the only airline flying them in the US as a commercial carrier!!!!) and I actually wanted to work for them when I get my A&P and they came to our career fair looking for pilots.

Congrats to you! I hope you like the ERJ!

[falconvalley]

Originally Posted by CcrlR737AMT

Yeah I am still wondering why too. They had those 328Jets(and were the only airline flying them in the US as a commercial carrier!!!!) and I actually wanted to work for them when I get my A&P and they came to our career fair looking for pilots.

Congrats to you! I hope you like the ERJ!

And as the story goes, we were the launch customer for those things and for a short while they were all the rage. ACA and Ozark had them. They're gone also. For a number of reasons, now we're going. It's really hard to operate when the manufacturer goes under and the companies stop producing after market parts and events following Sept 11 mess us up enough, financially to not be able to go beyond training a couple crews for a new aircraft, much less buy some. The knife was Midwest putting out an RPG for routes. They were asking for something we couldn't come up with fast enough and they weren't going to help us out. It didn't fit their "vision". Higher fuel prices and an ever changing market necessitated the death of the 328Jet.

[LoadMasterC141]

Originally Posted by falconvalley

We were all nervous, man! Hey when you get the time to apply, study hard and practice your interview skills. You'll be just fine. Everybody's gotta be rookie to start!

Oh no sir I meant it makes me nervous that you had no rookies from a "bar" level standpoint. The notion that not a single candidate in your group was just a lowly CFI previously is the part that makes me worried that the market is quickly filling up with higher qualified pilots and 800-1000 hour CFI's may not be making the cut.

[mtsu_av8er]

Congrats, Falcon - welcome aboard.

SoCal . . . I think we met and didn't even realize it!

[deadstick]

Originally Posted by Doug Taylor

And now MEH hired Kolshak so I'm convinced Hoeksema has lost his ever loving mind.

One cannot lose what one has never had.

[Shhhh, not while im flyin]

so did they offer you republic or give you the option of the three. I want to work for shuttle america and im not sure how they decide which of the three you would work for

[falconvalley]

Originally Posted by LoadMasterC141

Oh no sir I meant it makes me nervous that you had no rookies from a "bar" level standpoint. The notion that not a single candidate in your group was just a lowly CFI previously is the part that makes me worried that the market is quickly filling up with higher qualified pilots and 800-1000 hour CFI's may not be making the cut.

Ahhh. Well, a couple of the part 91 guys could have been CFIs. I didn't get to get everybody's story. They don't seem to have a dislike for anybody specific, so even "lowly" CFIs are gonna get a chance.
Besides, with the market the way it's been we're gonna need people with instructing experience down the road, when all the Check Airmen start moving on.

[falconvalley]

Originally Posted by Shhhh, not while im flyin

so did they offer you republic or give you the option of the three. I want to work for shuttle america and im not sure how they decide which of the three you would work for

When they have a need for enough pilots on a specific certificate, they offer class dates for that certificate. At this time 2 different were available, but they sometimes only offer one and you have to ask for what else there may be. Republic is full for the moment, but that will change soon me thinks.

[SIUAv8r]

Congrats and welcome!

[Airdale]

Congrats and welcome aboard! There is a guy in my Republic class right now that is from Skyway. I think you made a good decision to come over here. A lot of places appear to be sinking, yet this place is still hydroplaning across the water.

As far as RAH hiring CFI's, you bet they do. It just so happens that the "other" Regionals are bleeding pilots like crazy and RAH seems to be the refuge for everyone. My entire new hire class is coming from "other" carriers with the exception of a few CFI's. The CFI's on the Republic or Shuttle certificates seem to be rather high(er) time CFI's (900 and up).

Just to give you an example of the companies guys in my new hire class are coming from:

- Great Lakes
- Skyway
- Mesa
- Colgan
- American Eagle
- ExpressJet
- Comair
- Gulfstream
- Piedmont



Its nuts! In my Colgan new hire class we were ALL newbies! Also keep in mind our new hire class is 80+ (including the Shuttle side).


If RAH is where you definitely want to work, then MY advice is keep instructing until they hire you. Don't fall for the first crap hole offering you a job.

[LoadMasterC141]

Originally Posted by Airdale

Congrats and welcome aboard! There is a guy in my Republic class right now that is from Skyway. I think you made a good decision to come over here. A lot of places appear to be sinking, yet this place is still hydroplaning across the water.

As far as RAH hiring CFI's, you bet they do. It just so happens that the "other" Regionals are bleeding pilots like crazy and RAH seems to be the refuge for everyone. My entire new hire class is coming from "other" carriers with the exception of a few CFI's. The CFI's on the Republic or Shuttle certificates seem to be rather high(er) time CFI's (900 and up).

Just to give you an example of the companies guys in my new hire class are coming from:

- Great Lakes
- Skyway
- Mesa
- Colgan
- American Eagle
- ExpressJet
- Comair
- Gulfstream
- Piedmont



Its nuts! In my Colgan new hire class we were ALL newbies! Also keep in mind our new hire class is 80+ (including the Shuttle side).


If RAH is where you definitely want to work, then MY advice is keep instructing until they hire you. Don't fall for the first crap hole offering you a job.

It is good to see you happy again big dog

[Airdale]

Originally Posted by LoadMasterC141

It is good to see you happy again big dog

Thanks man.

I am pretty excited to be here. This company is completely different from my last place. You'd be hard pressed to find too many pilots that aren't happy working here (line pilots). I talked with the Chief pilot this morning for a good 15 minutes and he's a really great guy. He is formerly the CHQ Chief pilot, also the one who did my interview here. Really honest and sincere guy that wants you to be happy here.

Traning is, eh, training. Its fun the first time you go through it, but second time around is pretty boring (indoc anyways). I'm looking forward to systems and sim training, thats where it gets a lot more fun. We have about 7 Captains in our class that are coming over from CHQ and Shuttle, they all have at least 6 years with the company and they are very happy being here. Nothing in this business is perfect, but so far I've gotten a really good idea of what its like here and I'm looking forward to getting on the line.

[ozziecat35]

Cool to see you made it! I'm in the same boat as LoadMaster and just hope I make the game early enough before 1000 hrs isn't competitive anymore. Congrats again.

[Aviation.miller]

Yea, I have an interview on 3/12 so I hope all goes well. I only have 800 and some hours but most of its multi time but I am definitely on the low side. All you can do is study and hope for the best I suppose.

[sigpilot]

Breakdown of my class;

2 Colgan
1 Piedmont
2 Great Lakes
1 Pinnacle
1 Air Midwest
1 328 Driver (forgot who flies em, wanna say Midwest Ex?)
1 TSA
1 135 Guy

and 18 CFI's! So they are representing pretty well out there, depends on the class I suppose. Most had over 1000TT but some where less. Just apply, if they want more time then keep instructing but you cant be hired unless you have your stuff in! They are still hiring like mad so nows the time to get in.