What kind of an experience did you have during your initial regional interview after graduating ATP? I’ve seen there is usually a technical aspect, including aerodynamics and weather, as well as a short written ATP exam. I know most airlines make interviewees go over Jepp charts as well. Does ATP provide these charts to student pilots from the get-go? So basically, how much time did you all spend preparing for the airline interview prep when leaving ATP? How technical was the interview? It seems like based on ATP’s advertisements, going from ATP to the regionals is a fairly seamless transition.
Great question. Not sure if I’d call it seemless (and I don’t believe ATPs ads claim it is?) but I was definitely well prepared. Interviews vary from airline to airline. Some have simulator evals. Most there are some tech stuff about your current airplane, weather, charts etc (ATP wasn’t using Jepps at the time I was there, they may be now but regardless it’s really no biggy. There’s tons of info online). One of the biggest items are the HR aspects. There are often scenario based questions “what would you do…” which can be technical but often are about personalities and interaction. If you Google there are tons of very specific Q&As for specific airlines. The intangible is every airline wants pilots who will fit with their corporate culture. In short you could have a Masters in Aviation with tons of hours, if you’re a jerk you might have a hard time.
I’ve been using https://www.aviationinterviews.com/ for interview info. The website is very informative and free; at least the basic subscription. That being said, I’m not an airline pilot, but I did sleep at Holiday Inn last night.
The typical regional interview goes pretty much the way you described. You will have a technical portion that includes turbine aircraft systems, high altitude aerodynamics, part 121 regulations, Jepp charts, etc. The second part will include HR questions, like Adam said.
ATP will not provide any dedicated interview prep for you, you will be on your own for that. The internet is full of interview prep websites with everything you need to know about the process. The Turbine Pilot’s Flight Manual by Brown and Holt is what most people read in preparation for the tech portion, I found it helpful. The Jepp charts were pretty easy to figure out. At ATP you will use NACO charts, but the transition is just a matter of going over the Jepp chart legend (the information is the same, symbology has some differences).
JetCareers has a few useful threads for interview prep. “Your’e the Captain…” has HR scenarios that are common at interviews, so you might find that information insightful.