I was invited to New York City for the first interview. I arrived a few minutes early. The office girl asked for the documents I was asked to bring. The documents were:

• Passport
• Current passport size photo
• All log books
• Proof of education
• ATP license
• Radio license
• Current first class medical
• Medical in confidence form in a sealed envelope

I arranged all the documents neatly in a zip up binder. I made color photo copies of everything and placed them in clear sheet protectors. Along with copies of pilot licenses, radio license, medical, I included college transcripts, sim training records, PC’s, line checks. I included all certificates from Simuflite, Flight Saftey, etc. I included military records and rewards, civilian recognition rewards, and letters of recommendations.

I was asked if I wanted to start the test right away or rest for a wile first. I told her I wanted to get started on the test. The office girl asked for my cell phone and escorted me into an office with one desk. You get 30 minutes for the test. I was told to write down my own start and stop time. The test did not have any questions from previous gouges. And, I did not recognize any questions from prep books I read. I think the tests are different for every set of interviews. Half the questions seemed easy, but there were several that required an educated guess. Questions had to be read a few times, because the wording and aviation terms are very different from what we learn in the US. I can only remember a few questions:

• Deviation changes due to what?
• What is the relationship between TAS, Mach number, and Speed of Sound in an equation? (_=_X_)
• QNH set to 989 instead of 998 What will the error be?
• What is the definition of a wet runway in mm of water?

Even with skipping several questions and coming back to them I finished in 8 minutes.

After the test I was asked to wait in a chair. There was a lot of reading material on the table next to the chair. Included on the table was the CX magazine that is placed in seat back pockets. This was a great tool for a quick review of CX’s fleet and route structure. It had better information than I could find on the website.

After another interview finished, my documents and log books were taken into the room to be looked over for around 15 minutes. I was then greeted by a very nice human resource lady and a nice gentleman.  They had all my log books out and had made several notes. The Interview was exactly 1 hour, 30 minutes HR and 30 minutes technical.  This was just like other gouges. The questions were all ones I had studied for, so no big surprises. HR was first:

• You have an unfinished degree. Will you finish it?
• Do you enjoy ground school?
• Why CX
• How many aircraft does CX have in its fleet?
• Who is the director of flight ops, chairman, CEO?
• Where in North America does CX fly?
• Have you been to Hong Kong?
• What do you think it would be like to live in HK?
• What is the average size apartment in HK / are you OK with a small place?
• What is the population of HK?
• Who would be most affected by you living in Hong Kong?
• How do they feel about it?
• What do you think the duties of a SO are / will you land the airplane?
• How do you feel about only landing the simulator?
• How often will you be in the sim?
• Will you like being in the sim every 5 weeks?
• Why not fly in the Army?
• Why did you wait so long to make flying a career?
• Describe previous jobs?
• What was my least favorite flying job, why?
• What would co-workers say about you?
• Where do you see yourself at the end of your career?
• What do you do when you are not flying?
• What are your strengths?
• Describe yourself in one word.

Technical questions:

• What do you like about your current aircraft?
• Why a swept wing?
• What is Mcrit?
• Where does it happen first on the wing?
• Look at a weather map of the Pacific. What season do you think it is?
• Where do Typhoons form?
• What are considerations when landing near a Typhoon?
• How would you brief wind shear?
• What equipment does the 777 have to help detect WS?
• At what altitude does predictive wind shear work?
• What is your current company’s WS recovery procedure?
• Why not raise the gear?
• Explain EGPWS
• What are the inputs for GPWS?
• Can EGPWS work without GPS?
• Take the model of the 777 and explain Dutch roll.
• What devices do the aircraft have to prevent DR?
• Why do some aircraft have more than one yaw damper?
• What is the relationship between V1 and Vmcg?
• What effects Vmcg?
• Wet runway considerations
• What equipment does the aircraft have? (Breaks. Reverse trust, etc.)
• Explain auto breaks
• What are the three types of aquaplaning (hydroplaning)?
• With a crosswind from the right which engine on the 777 is critical, Why?
• What additional things can be done if unable to keep directional control on landing?
• Do you have any questions for us?

I was told I could call Hong Kong in 10 days to find out if I got the second interview. Four days later I received an email inviting me to Hong Kong for the second interview.

My advice for preparing for the first interview: