Types of aviation positions you might need

Small businesses often have unique aviation needs. Unlike major airlines that hire commercial pilots, smaller businesses might need pilots to operate smaller aircraft. Some examples include:

• Charter pilot. If your small business owns and uses a private aircraft frequently, you might hire a charter pilot to fly it. 
• Helicopter pilot. Some businesses use helicopters for surveying from above or reaching remote areas. Helicopter tours can be a part of a tourism business offering sightseeing flights. 
• Drone pilot. They might not leave the ground, but drone pilots still need aviation experience to operate the equipment safely and within regulations. 

Identify your ideal qualifications

Before you start the aviation interview process, it’s helpful to have a clear idea of what you want. Going into the interview with that vision in your mind makes it easier to spot it when you see it. 

Your job description and posting should detail the qualifications you want from your pilot. Use these documents as you prepare for the interview. Create an outline of what your ideal candidate looks like.

Some qualifications, such as a pilot’s license, are non-negotiable. Others, such as aviation experience, are essential, but you have flexibility in defining those expectations. For example, you might require your candidates to have a decade or more of experience. 

The specific duties of the role could influence additional skills you desire. For instance, if you’re hiring a drone pilot to help film footage, you might set expectations for experience with video camera equipment or photography skills. 

Develop questions for the aviation interview

Creating the right interview questions ensures you can evaluate each candidate fully. You can ask some general interview questions, such as why they want to work for your company or their strengths and weaknesses. However, the bulk of the questions typically center around aviation topics, such as piloting experience and safety. 

Tailor the airline interview questions to the specific position, including the duties of the role and the expected skills and knowledge. Some questions to consider for aviation interviews include:

• When did your interest in aviation begin?
• What is your favorite part about flying?
• What type of aircraft do you have experience flying?
• Tell me about your flight training.
• What is your communication style with other pilots, air traffic controllers, flight crew and other aviation team members?
• Tell me about a time when you disagreed with another pilot or crew member and how you handled the situation.
• Walk me through your pre-flight preparation and post-flight activities. 
• How do you handle the stress of being a pilot?
• How do you keep your flight skills sharp?
• How do you stay current on the latest in the aviation industry?
• Explain your leadership skills within an aviation setting.
• Tell me about a challenging aviation situation where you had to make a decision quickly.
• What safety precautions do you take as a pilot?
• Have you ever faced an emergency while flying? If so, how did you handle it?
• Have you ever broken a rule or deviated from a flight plan? 
• Have you received any warnings, citations, violations or other incidents? 

You can also ask a wide range of technical questions related to the aircraft or the duties of the job. This might relate to altitude charts, airplane controls, maneuvers, systems on the plane, flight plans and any other relevant technical topics.

Create a rating and evaluation system

A consistent evaluation system for all your pilot candidates helps you create a fair hiring process. Using an interview scoring sheet with each question listed helps you stay on track and ask the same questions of each interviewee. It also lets you assign a rating to each answer and provides room for comments. Complete the sheet as you interview the candidate or right after the interview ends to get the most accurate ratings. After you’ve interviewed all of the final candidates, you can refer to the scoring sheets to compare your options. 

Assemble your interview team

If you’re using a panel-style interview, you’ll need to choose the people who’ll participate. A panel interview offers multiple perspectives on each candidate to help with the hiring decision. It can also help reduce bias as you interview people. Choose people who will work with the pilot directly. It’s beneficial to include people with aviation experience when possible to get professional input. 

Meet as an interview team before you start evaluating the candidates. This gives you time to get everyone on the same page in terms of the expectations and qualifications. You can also discuss each person’s role in the interview process. 

Screen the applicants

Screening processes shrink your candidate pool to help you find candidates that most closely match your expected qualifications. One option is to have candidates complete a pilot aptitude test. This evaluation process looks at their skills and traits to determine if they would make a good pilot. 

You can also conduct screening interviews. Phone interviews involve calling each candidate and asking them several screening questions to see if they meet your general needs. Candidates with the best responses might be asked to do a full interview. 

Virtual screening interviews are also an option. You can conduct them in real time using video chat software, or you can have the candidates record themselves answering the screening questions. Then, you can review the videos to choose the applicants who move on. 

Conduct aviation interviews

Your finalists go through a more detailed interview process to help you dig deeper into their qualifications. You might hold several rounds of interviews with your selected applicants. Each round might involve a different type of interview to help you gain a more well-rounded understanding of each person’s skills and qualifications.

Decide on the type and timing of the interviews. You might invite the finalists in for an in-person interview first. Then, you might narrow down that pool to come back for a second interview. Repeat this process until you’ve selected the aviation expert with the qualifications you want. 

Tips for conducting successful aviation interviews

The following tips can help you improve the results of your aviation interview process:

• Evaluate quickly. When possible, review each candidate quickly after the interview. A timely interview evaluation helps you recall details about the interviewee. 
• Create a checklist. Having an interview list to refer to helps guide the process and ensures you hit all the key steps. 
• Give yourself time. Aviation positions are high-stakes roles. Having high standards and putting the candidates through rigorous interview processes can help you improve the outcome of your hiring decision. 
• Focus on safety. A pilot needs exceptional flying skills, but they also need to place a high value on safety. Whether it’s protecting other people or goods and equipment, the chosen candidate is in charge of safety before, during and after flights. You can maintain your company’s reputation and protect your people and resources by hiring a safety-minded aviation candidate. 
• Consider personality. Character traits can come into play more so in aviation than in some other fields. Successful pilots need to communicate well and stay calm under pressure in case they face an emergency. It’s also important that they know how to interact with others, offer strong leadership and be willing to consider other expert opinions to achieve greater safety. 
• Evaluate your processes. If you anticipate hiring for an aviation position in the future, review the aviation interviews and get feedback from the participants. This can help you improve for the next time. You can also track the success of your hires by looking at their performance quality and how long they stay with the company.

With customized interview questions and a carefully planned aviation interview process, you can evaluate your candidates effectively and make a job offer with confidence.