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Interview Profile

Updated 05/15/11

• The interview will start either at 8am or 12pm at the Southwest Headquarters. You will be given a list of hotels ahead of time that provide shuttle service to the headquarters. The interview process now lasts 4 hours. It is divided into three sections, a records review, a two person panel interview, and a Line Oriented Interview (LOI).
• When you meet, all interviewees for the day (usually 6 pilots) will be taken to a briefing room where you will submit the paperwork requested (letters of recommendation, copies, etc.) and do some paperwork. You will leave your logbooks at this time and they will review them while you are doing the other portions of your interview. They will then describe the events planned for the day and the schedule. They will also tell you to relax and be yourself. The three phases follow each other fairly quickly and can happen in any order
• At some point during your interview day you will be told when the decision board is being held. It is anywhere form 1-4 weeks. During that time your references will be called. If you are successful they will give you a call and tell you that they are starting the background check and when you can expect a class date.

Interview Question Bank

Line oriented interview (LOI)

• This interview will take place between you and two pilot interviewers. It takes place with you in the left seat of a 737 cockpit procedures trainer. The interviewers will give you a sheet describing a hypothetical in-flight scenario
• The interviewers will then leave the room for five minutes allowing you time to consider options and formulate an initial plan. There is a dry erase board in the room to take notes on, if you choose. The interviewers will come back onto the room and start a laptop computer in front of you with a clock that counts down from 7 minutes and a fuel remaining indication that is obviously decreasing. The interviewers will play all of the supporting roles (dispatch, medlink, maintenance, ATC, your copilot, jumpseater, flight attendant, medically trained passengers, etc). They want you to use CRM to get all available information and then make a sound decision based on that information. After your scenario, the interviewers will again leave the room for a few minutes and give you time to think about your actions and decisions. When they return you will debrief them on your performance, things you would have changed and how you thought you did.
• If you do your LOI in the morning you will have to go to a holding area to wait for all the others in your group to finish their LOIs. If you do this part in the afternoon you can expect to be released after you LOI is complete.
  • LOI Scenarios
    • Typically bad weather at destination, marginal weather at alternate
    • Low on fuel
    • Medical Emergency
    • Smoke in the cabin
    • Passenger disturbance
    • Passenger with food allergy
    • F/O spills coffee on radio panel and you may loose communications

Logbook Check

• At some point during your day the pilot who checked your logbook will hook up with you and may ask a few simple questions
• Can we contact your current employer?
• Have you ever received a letter from the FAA indicating a violation or incident?
• Can we get a reference account for any times of unemployment?

One-on-one interview

You will have a two person panel interview. Each interviewer will ask you 6-8 questions each from a variety of topics.

• What qualities do you have to offer SWA?
• Why do you want to work for SWA?
• Why should we hire you over one of the other qualified applicants?
• If we threw out all of qualifications and experience what would make you stand out?
• With out talking about experience tell me why we should hire you.
• Tell me how you got interested in flying and how you came to apply with SWA.
• What are the top two reasons you are here today.
• Sell yourself to us in two minutes or less.
• What are you best and worst characteristics.
• Describe yourself in three (four) words.
• Tell us about your current job. What do you like and dislike about it?
• How did you become interested in flying?
• Has your integrity ever been questioned?
• Tell me about your most memorable flight.
• TMMAT you had to use patience at work.
• How did you get started in flying?
• What do you like the most about flying?
• How did you become interested in flying?
• TMAAT you worked the hardest and had the most satisfaction from your flying
• TMAAT where you thought it was best to disregard the rules
• TMAAT that something has detracted you from your job.
• TMAAT recently when you sacrificed something in your personal life for work.
• Tell me about your flying career
• Tell me about a low fuel situation you have had
• What was your most stressful situation in the cockpit?
• TMAAT your most challenging flight in the past 6 months/year/ever.
• TMAAT a flight got progressively worse
• TMAAT you that had to divert to another field.
• Give me an example of a decision you make in the airplane every day
• TMAAT you delayed a decision.
• Have you ever made a split-second decision in the cockpit?
• TMAAT you got out of your normal routine to accomplish a task.
• TMAAT you were distracted while flying.
• TMAAT you were forced to plan/fly through bad weather
• TMAAT you did not receive all the information or pertinent facts while flying?
• What is the toughest decision you ever had to make?
• What was your hardest decision in the last six months/year?
• What is an accomplishment you are most proud of?
• How do you define a good job?
• Tell us about a policy you changed.
• TMAAT you had to bend the rules to get the job done
• Have you ever witnessed anyone violate a regulation, SOP?
• Have you ever witnessed anyone violate a SOP?
• TMAAT a policy you changed.
• TMAAT a time when another crewmember broke company policy.
• What ideas or policies have you changed on the ground, unrelated to flight?
• TMAAT you had to correct another crewmember for not following SOPs
• TMAAT when a coworker broke company policy and what you did about it
• TMAAT you were pressured to break policy
• TMAAT you saw someone break a rule and what you did about it
• TMAAT you saw someone else break a flying rule - what did you do?
• TMAAT you broke a rule/policy
• TMAAT you broke a rule.
• TMAAT when you broke a rule/regulation or went against established policy.
• Have you ever made a change to a standard operating procedure?
• Tell me about a situation where you felt it was best not to follow directives?
• Have you ever intentionally violated a standard operating procedure?
• Tell me about a policy or procedure you were forced to implement but did not agree with.
• TMAAT you didn't do enough planning.
• TMAAT a flight that you did not plan enough for.
• TMAAT when you did not adequately plan for a flight.
• TMAAT you had to change your plan.
• TMAAT your work schedule had to change.
• TMAAT you had to alter your plan when a deadline was moved up.
• TMAAT when you realized you had to change you strategy or action to meet a deadline?
• TMAAT when you had to expedite to make an on time takeoff.
• TMAAT you changed game plans but couldn't solve the problem.
• When has a slow work situation caused a delay?
• TMAAT you diverted
• TMAAT you had to make a quick decision.
• TMAAT you got someone to do something they didn't want to do.
• TMAAT you had to reprimand or correct another crewmember
• TMAAT you had to take charge.
• TMAAT an unpopular decision you made.
• Did your crew ever disagree with a decision you've made? How did you handle it?
• TMAAT when you had to correct another crewmember for not following SOPs?
• TMAAT when you had to discipline someone in the air.
• TMAAT you helped a fellow worker; unrelated to flying, in the last six months/year?
• TMAAT you helped out another pilot with his flying
• TMAAT you gave someone help outside of instructor responsibilities
• TMAAT you helped someone go above and beyond studying for training
• TMAAT, outside of being an IP, when you helped someone with their flying.
• Describe a time when you were able to help another crewmember, not during work.
• Have you ever seen CRM breakdown in the cockpit?
• TMA a challenging flight.
• TMAAT you had to take aircraft control away from someone (not as an IP)
• Have you ever had to deal with a personality conflict?
• TMAAT when you became frustrated, impatient, or angry with another crew member
• Have you ever had another crewmember disagree with the way you were operating
• TMAAT a time when you acted a certain way towards a coworker and regretted it
• Have you ever seen CRM breakdown in the cockpit?
• TMAAT a time when you've made an unpopular decision.
• Have you ever had to deal with a personality conflict?
• Have you ever flown with a tough captain?
• Have you ever been reprimanded in the aircraft?
• TMAAT a time you were counseled.
• TMAAT you had to fly or work with a difficult person.
• TMAAT you had to get someone to do something they did not want to do.
• TMAAT you regretted the manner in which you dealt with a crewmember.
• TMAAT someone you work with did something you didn't like and how you dealt with it
• TMAAT you didn't get along with someone and how you dealt with it.
• Have you ever flown with someone you didn't like?
• Have you ever had to deal with a big ego in flying.?
• TMA a hard person you have had to work with.
• Tell me about working with a difficult co-worker.
• TMAAT you had to deal with a difficult crew member.
• TMAAT you had to handle a difficult crew member.
• Have you ever dealt with an extremely sensitive person/situation?
• TMW you disagreed with someone in the cockpit.
• How have you dealt with a personality conflict in the cockpit?
• Describe a situation when you became frustrated/impatient/angry when dealing with a difficult crewmember or co-worker.
• When did you last lose your temper with a co-worker or crewmember?
• Tell me about crew members you worked with that did not work together well.
• TMAAT you had to work closely with crewmembers to get a mission accomplished?
• Have you ever had another crewmember disagree in the way you were operating?
• What problems have you caused for other crewmembers?
• TMAAT you had to deal with an uncooperative group you were not in command over.
• TMAAT you had to use diplomacy in your workplace.
• TMAAT when you said something to a coworker and later regretted it.
• Tell us about a mistake you made in the airplane.
• What do you like the least about flying?
• Have you ever made a split second decision, and then changed your mind.
• TMAAT you had to alter your plans/actions to meet a critical deadline.
• TMAAT a mistake you made.
• TMAAT a time a flight departed and then did not go as planned.
• TMAAT a problem you caused in the aircraft.
• TMAAT a problem in which you were the first to recognize in the past 6 months.
• Have you ever been reprimanded in the aircraft?
• TMAAT a time when your performance was below standards.
• TMAAT a time when your crew's performance was below standards recently.
• TMAAT a checkride where your performance wasn't up to your own standards.
• TMAAT you were dissatisfied with your flying performance.
• What was the most difficult part of obtaining the 737 type rating?
• TMAAT you regretted the manner in which you dealt with a crewmember.
• TMAAT you wished you could something over again.
• TMAAT you became frustrated / impatient / angry when dealing with another crewmember or coworker
• TMAAT when you made a mistake while flying.
• TMAAT when your performance was below standard
• TMAAT you weren't happy with your performance.
• TMAAT when your work was below standard and a time when it was above standard?
• Tell me about an experience you learned from
• TMAAT you changed game plans but couldn't solve the problem.
• TMAAT you landed and wished you had done something differently.
• Tell me about a situation that you wish you had handled differently.
• Describe a situation in which you wish you had acted differently with a crew member or co-worker?
• Tell me about a recent failure while flying and how you handled it?
• TMAAT when you made a mistake while flying?
• Tell me about something you worked really hard for, and didn't have happen.
• TMAAT that given the chance you could do it over again?
• Tell me about a mistake you made in the cockpit.
• Tell me about an idea that was overturned by a supervisor?
• Have you ever disagreed with an evaluator on your performance during an evaluation?
• Tell me about a project you started and why
• Tell me about a major project you were responsible for and how it turned out.
• Tell me about a project you started and how it ended.
• Tell us about a major project you were responsible for, and how it turned out
• Tell me about a project you recently had to take action on
• Describe a project that you have completed within past year. Did you ask for help?
• What projects, not necessarily your own have you sold?
• What is the biggest problem/project you have had/done at work within the last 6 months?
• If you were Gary Kelley for a day what would you do?

Comments

• I interviewed withe southwest and would never do it again. The questions, even though industry standard, are pointless.
  They ask you to come up with stupid answers they got from some psychiatrist. They put you through hell, make you pay your own hotel and make you get a 737 type rating just for the privilege of working for them as a FO for 10 years. No thank you. I'll stay a senior captain at my present airline, what was I thinking. (12/24/08)
• This was the most laid back interview I've ever had. Everyone was extremely nice and glad we were there. The only stressful thing about it was that I wanted the job so badly. Good luck to all who interview, SWA is a great company! (07/15/08)
• Interviewed in late July, all the questions came straight off this gouge (06/30/08)
• When in the interview, remember: "STAR" = Situation,TASK,ACCESSMENT and RESOLUTION (note: this is advice on a way in which to answer "tell me about a time" questions.) (04/09/11)
• Anyone know if southwest has already called the people for interviews for the newest hiring? (4/22/11)
• The interviews began on April 13 and will end on May 19. The first class begins on June 8 and continue every 2 weeks with notifications going out on May 8th. (long time to wait and ponder) until they have the 100. They only called 174 applicants for this wave. (4/24/11)
• If your references haven't been called a week after the interview does that mean you're out of luck? (05/05/11)
• I interviewed on 21 April but I haven't gotten word on a hiring decision yet.   The experience was great because they are such nice folks.   3 parts to the interview...LOI, 1 on 1 records review and 2 on 1 panel interview.   For the LOI just make a good safe decision, using all assets within the time allotted (it zips right by) and DON'T violate any FARs or limitations.   Your "crew" will be very competent and helpful...you just have to ask them for help.    Records review was straight forward with a few TMAAT questions (gouge on this site is pretty good).    The only question that was new was, "If you were Gary Kelley for a day what would you do?".   Make sure your paperwork is in proper order and complete.    Many of the questions for the 2 on 1 were from this site, but I really felt like I was having a conversation more than being interviewed.   Very positive experience and I hope to get hired....I don't want to work anywhere else after meeting the SWA folks!! (05/05/11)
• The Decision Board is meeting on Friday, May 6, to decided on the first wave of new hires. Good Luck to all! (05/05/11)
• Has anyone who interviewed in April gotten a call?? (05/09/11)
• Interviewed on 4/18/2011.  Second timer. Refs called on 5/2-3 and PRIA was within days of the interview, per the copy sent to me by the FAA.  It was a long and quite stressful few weeks but got the call on 5/9/2011. No class date yet.  Good luck to all and hang in there. (05/10/11)
• Well.the wait is over. Got an email today.  Not sure what they are looking for.  Its a great company and I'm sure that 90 percent of the interviewees fit the culture.  Now the wait begines for the reapply.  Good luck to all who have applied and interviewed. Its got to be the best place in the world if you have the magic to get through the front door.  Thank you. (05/15/11)
• Ouch! Got an e-mail today saying thanks but no thanks. Not even an interview. Career Military, lots of heavy time, Type Rating and Time in 737. Just the way it goes. (5/22/11)
• Interviewed yesterday.  This gouge is spot on.  Good luck! (12/7/2011)