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First Interview for FI

So you are invited along for your first interview, first meet, for that valued Flying Instructor role. You have all the tickets, FI, ATPL FROZEN, A320 TYPE RATING, MULTI, NIGHT. The outfit is highly professional, highly regarded, within the Flight Training industry. How would you expect this to go? To elaborate, interviewed by whom? Brief for flight check? Content for flight check etc…..

Fly safe. I want this thing to land l...
EGPF Glasgow

Would be rare for someone with an A320 TR to be seeking a FI role? Anyway, I am usually the interviewer. For most newly qualified FIs it is interview with CFI/Head of Training then discussion about terms and conditions / days of week etc.. most set ups are essentially a zero hours contract with hourly pay / FI is self employed. Then an FI acceptance flight for standardisation is mandatory before any instruction is done, this would normally be an hour or so to cover local procedures and teach a few key exercises / cover school standardisation points. To be honest, it is a small world and I background / reputation check people before agreeing to meet them and I will make a judgement on where they have done their training as well. Some ATOs you know you are getting a good product, others I wouldn’t touch graduates from.

Now retired from forums best wishes

Thanks Balliol. So the candidate travels from Southern Europe, pays 600.00 out of his own pocket, gets a half hour with the CEO, then a half hour with the CFI…theory questions, then,, and I have to confirm this bit, is given a one hour ‘’check flight’‘, unbriefed, with a school instructor acting as student, the candidate acting as the instructor in the RHS. He is then ’’failed’’, due to look out process, and an unstructured ’’lesson’’. The school has very strict training guidelines and SOP, hence my original question.

He is then given an option of 30 hours…standardisation training, at his cost, less 5 hours which would be gifted by the school. They then may offer him an Instructor role.

I introduced him, he is feeling a bit let down, as am I. Now, I have never interviewed, nor been interviewed for an FI role, hence looking for a bit of advice. It screams not normal to me.

There are reasons for his situation re the type rating.

Fly safe. I want this thing to land l...
EGPF Glasgow

In my part of the world there is such a shortage of instructors there would be a good chance that if you turned up Saturday morning you would be with a student by the afternoon

BeechBaby wrote:

So the candidate travels from Southern Europe, pays 600.00 out of his own pocket, gets a half hour with the CEO, then a half hour with the CFI…theory questions, then,, and I have to confirm this bit, is given a one hour ‘’check flight’‘, unbriefed, with a school instructor acting as student, the candidate acting as the instructor in the RHS. He is then ’’failed’’, due to look out process, and an unstructured ’’lesson’’. The school has very strict training guidelines and SOP, hence my original question.

He is then given an option of 30 hours…standardisation training, at his cost, less 5 hours which would be gifted by the school. They then may offer him an Instructor role.

That is a weird approach from the school. I certainly would not want to work there!

ESSZ, Sweden

I am not an instructor but hoping to go this way reasonably soon, and my feeling it that it would certainly help to take the FI course directly at the school that would employ you once you successfully graduate.

LKBU (near Prague), Czech Republic

I am not an instructor but hoping to go this way reasonably soon, and my feeling it that it would certainly help to take the FI course directly at the school that would employ you once you successfully graduate.

This is now I know it too. Firstly I would only do the instructor course at an FTO which also lets you fly your assistant instructor hours (or whatever they call that now) without which the rating is basically worthless. (Don’t know how far this applies to the thread starter). And usually if one does a proper job during that time there will be no need to apply anywhere because the FTO will ask you to stay.

EDDS - Stuttgart

Well, the way I would have approached it. Come to us for two days. We would start with the flight school manual, we would the spend time going over the SOP of the training regime. After day one, a review would be carried out on will, or wont, the candidate fit into our structure. Day two would begin with a full brief as to the check flight. A clear and concise brief by the instructor assigned so there would be no confusion as to how the flight would then progress. After, a full debrief by the CFI and the instructor a clear and concise precise of where it went wrong, and where it went right. If additional training is required, then a description of when and where and how.

Now it may be that this candidate bombed entirely. I would have hoped that if that had been the case, then he would have been told outright. Not we will give you 30 hours of training, then you can join us. It sounds like a stitch up to me, which is pretty disappointing. Not surprising, but disappointing none the less.

Last Edited by BeechBaby at 20 Oct 12:13
Fly safe. I want this thing to land l...
EGPF Glasgow
8 Posts
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