Cathay Pacific Cadet Program - Interviews

There are 3 interviews throughout the selection process, each conducted by 2 interviewers: a pilot and someone from Cathay's HR department. The interviews can be divided into a number of topics:


Personal:
1. Tell us about yourself
2. Why did you not study anything aviation-related at university?
3. Why did you not pursue an aviation-related career to begin with?
4. Why do you want to fly for Cathay? (As opposed to your national carrier)
5. How much will you be earning on completion of your training with Cathay?
6. Have you been to Hong Kong before?
7. What do you like/dislike about HK?
8. What is the population of HK?
9. Where would you live in HK and how much is the the rent approximately?
10. Are you single or married - is your partner able to to move to HK as well?
11. How did you fund your studies, do you have any debts?
12. What are your hobbies?
13. Have you ever had any leadership roles?
14. What are you strengths/weaknesses
15. How would your best friend describe you?


CRM:
1. If you suspected your captain of turning up to work drunk, what would you do?
2. How will you get along with people you don't necessarily agree with in the cockpit?


Technical:
1. What aircraft is this? (referring to model aircraft on the table)
2. Describe the fuel system on the aircraft you trained on
3. Where is fuel stored on an A330-300?
4. What effect does CoG have on range?
5. How are Rolls-Royce engines different to others?
6. What is meant by a triple-spooled turbo-fan and what makes it so efficient?
7. Why do some aircraft have winglets?
8. Why does a 777 not have any winglets?
9. Estimate the lat/long of Moscow
10. How much fuel would it take to fly from Moscow to HK using Taipei as an alternate (I was required to write down calculations on the white-board)
11. What countries do you fly over from Moscow to HK.
12. What types of cloud are typically found in a warm front?
13. Describe the fire-supression systems found on our jets
14. What runways does HK Airport have?
15. What is the aquaplaning formula?
16. If you double your velocity what is the effect on lift?
17. What is 'P Factor'?
18. Describe the ITCZ
19. Why do our aircraft have swept wings?


Cathay:
1. How many aircraft does Cathay have in the fleet?
2. What types of aircraft are there in the fleet?
3. How many destinations?
4. What is the latest destination?
5. Name 5 European destinations Cathay operates
6. Tell me about the cadet training program
7. What does a Second Officer do?
8. Who is the CEO/COO/DFO?
9. Who founded Cathay and when?
10. What was the first aircraft operated by Cathay?


This is not an exhaustive list - I will update as and when I am able to recall more questions!