AirAsia Cadet Pilot (Selection) - Stage 3 (Interview)

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

Assalamualaikum. Konnichiwa. This entry will be covering the most feared stage of the selection process for some and my favorite stage of all the assessment. This is, the interview stage (insert undertaker theme song)

This is one of the nerve-wrecking wait of the assessment as it took 10 long days for them to give us this email. I say it's nerve wrecking because they sent out emails for those who failed first and after about 5 days, they released the invitation to stage 3 emails. We were asked to fill out the Google Form and select our preferred date and morning or evening session. We have to be quick in selecting the dates because there are limited places as it's already Ramadhan and nearing Hari Raya. I chose the morning session on the 14th of June, 10 days after my birthday.  

 QUESTIONS

The questions for the interview really depends on your background. Sometimes they would just ask about yourself and they want to see how well you speak, your body language, etc. Some people got asked about basic aviation knowledge. People who have a background in aviation are more likely to be asked about things related to aviation. Even technical questions. Trust me, the captains knows their stuff.

PREPARATION

For my preparation, I revised what I've learned during my diploma and other things related to aviation. Also, I bought the Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition with Aerosoft Airbus Extended Addon and Logitech Extreme 3D Pro to familiarize myself with the Airbus A320 cockpit. I also read about AirAsia's history, the big names in AirAsia, routes, and things related. For the current news, I suggest that you read it in the morning before the interview so that if you're asked, you can give them the latest news. But just make sure you read everything, I mean everything related to basic aviation knowledge. DON'T FORGET TO BRING YOUR RESUME! 

MY INTERVIEW

During my interview session, it's a bit odd because there's only 3 of us that session instead of the usual 6. One is a cabin crew for Tigerair, one is a technician for Singapore Airlines and one plain ol' guy.  When we first arrive, we were asked to fill a couple of forms and waited for our turn in the lobby.I was the last to arrive and the last to enter. After each guy returns to the lobby at the end of their interview, we would ask each other what did the interviewers asked until one time the Captain said "don't worry, we won't ask you the same question". Among the questions they were asked were, what is the part of aircraft that creates drag? List 20 things you can find in the cockpit. Then I was called by Capt. N to enter the interview room.

There were 3 people that interviewed me. Two HR and Captain A. I was asked to fill out another form while they went through my resume and certificates. The first few questions were asked by HR. Captain A kept quiet the first few minutes. The first thing they asked me to do was to introduce myself and what I'm doing at the moment. Sometimes the simplest questions are the ones we didn't prepare for. I think my introduction was very plain and like the ones school students would answer when they were asked by the teacher. Next question was did I apply to other airline cadet and what would I do if I didn't get the part. I said I am really determined to get this part and all these last couple of months I've been preparing for it.

Because I said that, the next thing i was asked was my most anticipated question. "If you're so passionate about aviation, why don't you show me and my friend here what and where is the primary flight controls? You can use the whiteboard behind you" while handing me a whiteboard marker. I draw the all the flight controls and external lights. This was when Captain A started to ask me questions. One question that got me was what is the use of the nav lights other than to show where the aircraft is heading. 

After much explaining, I was asked to list 5 to 10 things you can find in the cockpit. I listed 10 and then they asked me to pick two from the list and explain. I picked the sidestick and TCAS.

For the sidestick, I explained all the possible things I know related to the sidestick. To be honest, I barely remembered TCAS, and yet I don't know why I chose to explain TCAS and alhamdulillah I can explain with ease. After all of that, I was asked to take a seat and they asked me what do I know about AirAsia. Before I could give a proper answer, Capt. N came in and asked what's taking so long and looked back at the whiteboard which is now filled with my doodles and writings. His first question to me was "did they bully you?". I just smiled at him and the HR explained what's really going on. Then Capt. N asked  me a question related to what I wrote.

With that, I continue to talk about what I know about AirAsia. The next to last question was how do I usually get my news from. After the interview is finished, they ask me whether I have a question and we continued to chat for about 5 minutes. The Captains and HRs are really a cool and awesome bunch. My interview lasted for about 50 minutes.

TIPS

Here are some tips that might help you in any interviews, be it this one or others

• Make a simple yet compact resume. (Can Google it)
• Don't forget to also make a cover letter
• Be courteous to the interviewers 
• Be fully prepared
• Show your interest and enthusiasm (easiest way is to act like the interviewers are your friends and you're telling them about what you know with passion. But do not act like a know-it-all)
• Be confident with your answer and say no if you don't know the answer to that question (the interviewers loves to provoke and put us in a pinch and see how we reacted)
• Have fun  

That is all for stage 3 - interview. I will update stage 4 very soon.