5 things to do before a pilot selection

You booked your pilot selection day for your favorite airline. Now you are wondering how to organise yourself to get ready for it. We know how stressful it is to wait for certainly one of the most important days in your life. That’s why we prepare a list of the 5 things to do before a pilot selection.

Search for company information

The first thing to do before your pilot selection is to search for company information. There is nothing worse than a pilot applying for a job to an airline he barely knows. Even in case of a successful pass to all tests, no airline would take a pilot with no knowledge of the company.

This is why it is important to look for company information during your pilot selection preparation. We can divide company information into different subcategories:

History of the airline

You need to know when the company was born and what are its biggest achievements.

Culture of the airline

Each company has its own culture. As a pilot, your role is to work in adherence with it. It is logical to know the airline’s culture before you think about applying.

The airline fleet

To know the fleet of the airline you are applying for shows a minimum of interest. Get information about the type and number of aircrafts the airline has in its fleet. As a pilot, this is essential.

The airline network

What can we add to that? Expect the selection team to ask airline network questions during your pilot selection.

The management team

Know the CEO and the management you are going to deal with as a pilot. At least the names of the Operation Officer and the Chief Pilot. This list changes depending on the airline, some names are to be known in some of them, do your research! Also, no need to know the name of your future Base Captain unless it’s a small airline with only one base.

Knowledge of the company is accessible from the airline website. Also speak to people or friends already in the airline. If you don’t know anybody within the company, you can use forums.

Think about previous situations you had

Pilot HR interviews often include questions about your past experiences. The interviewers will be able to see how you react in different situations. So expect to have questions about time as a pilot you did show leadership, good communication and so on.

These behavioral questions need preparation in how to answer them. Use the STAR Method and practice the best way to answer. Quick advice, get your other half to listen to your answer and to give you feedback.

Prepare for it

Be sure that the vast majority of your competitors on a pilot selection day are prepared. Going to a pilot selection without preparation is a waste of time, you will fail it, on top of giving a bad impression.

There are plenty of websites that have pilot selection packages to prepare you for it. We recommend you to choose a package customised for the airline you apply for. For example, MySkyPlatform has a list of airline specific pilot selection packages.

Cut-e tests, in particular, need preparation to be able to pass them. The more you practice, the more you increase your achievable score. Getting recruited after a pilot selection depends a lot on your score.

In airline selection, mathematics tests are the most feared within the pilot community. They need the biggest amount of preparation due to a long period spent not practicing it. The mathematics test in pilot selections is composed of questions with specific ways of resolving them. Speed of resolving these problems is important as much as finding correct answers. Once again, preparation using question banks is key for you to pass your pilot selection.

Buy a suit

I am sure you already heard that “first impressions matter”. Especially in pilot selection where your competition is from the same background. Don’t be fool enough to think that you will appear as an approachable person if you wear jeans. As a pilot, you represent your airline and its authority. Therefore, you must wear a suit on the selection.

If you don’t have any suits available, go and buy one. No need to sell a kidney for the brand new Hugo Boss or a custom made at a tailor. You can find good enough suits for a budget of less than 200€. Prefer classic colors such as dark blue or black for your suit. However, if you are confident about it, you are free to use other colors and style it as you like. This will help you to get noticed on your pilot selection day.

Get a fresh haircut

As we spoke before, getting a nice suit is necessary. But how do you think you will look in your nice suit with messy hair and your beard not trimmed? Yes, you are right, your 200€ plus that you spent on a suit for your pilot selection day are useless.

So, what lesson can we get from that? You have to look professional on your pilot selection day. It is not a big investment to get a haircut; book your favorite hairdresser before you travel to your selection. For men, shave yourself before the assessment. For the ones with a beard, this is nowadays accepted, but you must have it trimmed.

To resume

Let’s resume the 5 things to do before a pilot selection we talked about before.

• First thing, know the airline you are applying for! Who knows, maybe you realised you don’t want to be a pilot for this airline anymore.
• Secondly, think about situations you had in the past. This will greatly help you for the pilot interview.
• Then, the most important of the 5 things to do is the selection preparation. Prepare as if your life depends on them.
• Buy a suit! You want to look professional.
• Finally, get a fresh haircut.

We cannot help you for your haircut and suit but we can do something for all the other points. Have a look at our pilot selection preparation packages and choose yours.