I was contacted by Mr. Bernard Burns (spelling?) to setup the interview via a phone call.  I had been trying to coordinate this for several months but my military obligations prevented me from committing fully.  Bernard and Citation Shares worked with me and remained professional and patient through out the process until the timing was right for me to be able to retire from the military and interview with Citation Shares.

I stayed at the La Quinta Inn (spelling?).  It was the hotel that was recommended by Citation Shares.  They will pick you up at the White Plains Airport (HPN) and take you to the interview in the morning as well.  They will also pick you up after the interview and take you to the airport for your flight.  The hotel staff was very accommodating and nice.  They serve a continental breakfast in the morning and the cost was 99$ for the night.  You need to make sure you tell them you are there for the Citation Shares interview and request the Citation Shares rate.

I arrived for the interview a bit early.  The hotel is only 10 minutes away from Citation Shares headquarters and the shuttle from the hotel leaves on the hour.  If you setup the shuttle for a 08:00 am departure for the 8:30 am interview, you will arrive with plenty of time left over. 

Bernard met us at the main doors of Citation Shares headquarters.  He is very accommodating and professional.  He makes you feel at ease immediately.  He reassures you that you would not be here if Citation Shares didn’t want to hire you and makes his best effort to put you at ease.  I was suspect on the sincerity of it all but later found, that is the sentiment of the the personnel in the company.  The company has a strong family, friendly feel.  I really liked it.  The camaraderie I witnessed is inherent to how the company operates.  They were all very nice and friendly.  It really made me want to do well in this interview.  I came into the interview 90% sure it was the right company for my family and me and left 100% certain it was the right company for us.

Bernard gave us a brief introduction and took our bags so we could continue unencumbered the rest of the day.  You will need to check out of the hotel because the interview runs from 08:30 am to around 14:30 pm or so.  He escorted us to the break room and gave us a copy of our application to critique.  We were to make sure the information was correct and then sign and date it in three different areas.  He also collected our passport, current resume, FAA license, Class 1 physical form and two copies of a passport size photo.

We were then briefed on how the interview day was going to transpire.  Afterwards, Bernard left the break room and the 5 applicants drank some coffee and got to know each others background until the process started.  Bernard came back in about 10 minutes later and took us on a tour of the company headquarters.  He requested we ask questions when they arose and was very thorough during the tour.  I was very impressed with the company.  From the beginning to end, the facility was top notch.  I was surprised that I hadn’t heard more about it prior to my arrival.

After the tour was completed, Bernard took us to a waiting room.  It appeared to be a conference room.  It had comfortable chairs and large table that we all sat around.  We were told who was going to conduct the different interviews and what departments they worked for.  He also told us where the bathrooms were and informed us we were allowed to use the break room as we needed.  Again, I cannot stress enough how accommodating and friendly the whole process was.  They do their absolute best to make you feel at home and relaxed. 

Bernard then left the room and came back about 5 minutes later with “I have a little surprise for you guys.”  He had 5 different versions of a 25 question test consisting of questions right out of the ATP manual.  He assured us no body has finished it and we only had 10 minutes to complete it.  I took my time and answered the questions in order and to the best of my knowledge.  I believe I finished 10 to 15 of them.  Others went through and answered the ones they knew while skipping the ones that took more time to figure (wind aloft trends, reading weather reports, etc.) due to having to go to the back of the test manual and reference charts.  After the 10 minutes was up, he came back in and took the tests and reassured us that was going to be the only surprise of the day.  After he left the room, we sat around and questioned how much that test was going to weigh into the interview results.  Nobody in the room finished the test.  Two of us that I know at this point in time that were hired, took the test in different manners.  I took the test by taking my time and answering the questions in order.  As mentioned, I think I answered between10 to 15 questions.  Another that I know was hired took the test by answering the ones he knew right away.  He skimmed through it and tried to get as many answered that didn’t require him to page to the back to reference the charts.  So I am not sure how the test results are weighed in the process.  Two different techniques used here and we were both hired.  I would recommend doing your best, in the way that works for you, and drive on.  Don’t let it bother you and don’t let it interfere with the upcoming interviews.  The sun will still rise in the morning.

I was first interviewed by Stacey (spelling?).  I believe she worked in HRO.  She was very nice.  She seemed sincerely happy with her job and smiled a lot.  Bernard told us prior to our meeting with her that she was a very happy person and she really was.  I felt very at ease and found her to be very easy to interview with.  She wanted to know about my flying career.  She wanted to know if I ever had an angry passenger and how did I handle the situation.  She wanted to know what the hardest part of working for Citation Shares would be for me as a pilot.  I could have spoken to her for hours.  She was so nice but to the point and knew how to make you feel at ease while getting the information she wanted.  I left that portion of the interview feeling happy.  She escorted me back to the waiting room and took another applicant for her interview.

I then interviewed with Kurt (spelling?).  I believe he is the Chief Pilot.  He told me he was going to have two other folks sitting in on the interview with us.  I believe Jennifer (spelling?) was from HRO and the Assistant Chief Pilot (flew Bravos) sitting in on the interview, his name escaped me and I didn't want to embarrass myself by asking for it again.  Kurt introduced me to the others and had me sit down in front of his desk.  Jennifer and the Assistant Chief Pilot didn’t ask me any questions but merely observed and listened the whole interview.  Kurt did the whole interview.  He started by thanking me for my military service and stated Americans and Citation Shares were all very grateful for the opportunity they have been given by the blood shed and sacrifice made by Veterans and their families of the US military.  CLASS! CLASS! CLASS! He meant what he said.  I thanked him for the recognition.  It REALLY made me feel good.  He looked me in the eyes and did not waiver while saying it.  It was a very sincere and classy thing to do.

He then told me they wanted to get to know me.  Afterwards, he was going to ask me some technical questions and the interview would be concluded.  He asked me to explain about my military service.  He asked me why I wanted to work for Citation Shares.  He asked me if working long hours bothered me.  He asked me if being on a 7/7 schedule and having to work overtime bothered me.  He appeared to be trying to paint the most extreme picture of what could potentially happen on a tour in an effort to see if I would be willing to work through it.  I have worked very long days, under some very challenging conditions and wanted to ensure them they were not going to present me with a situation I had not already experienced at some point in my career.

He then told me we were going to go into the technical questions but first wanted to know if I had any questions.  I had an 8.5 x 11 page of them.  My wife and I had sat down before the interview process and wrote out everything we could think of to ask them.  I still have some I am going to be asking Mr. Burns the next time I speak with him.  Most of them were answered by Bernard during the tour and by Stacey during the first interview, but the ones that were not, were the ones I asked.  It seemed like I asked 30 to 45 minutes of questions.   Between the 3 of them, they were able to get me my answers.

After I finished I told him those were all the questions my wife and I had at the moment but I would have more in the future.  He told me I could contact Bernard or himself anytime to ask other questions that might arise.  He then stated he was going to bypass the technical questions because he was able to get the information he wanted to know about me from the questions I had asked.  I had asked some technical questions of my own.  I wanted to know if they used Take Off and Landing Data type cards (TOLD) like we do in the military?  If not, how did they compute Accelerate Stop, Accelerate Go distances, climb gradients, etc.?  Do they have standardized call outs for the pilot flying and pilot not flying like we do in the military?  My concern was jumping into an aircraft with someone I have never flown with and who has never flown with me, not knowing what was expected in the worst possible scenario that could arise, and having us fumble our way through it with our passengers on board.  Citation Shares has this standardized and all pilots are trained to proficiency in these areas.  That made me feel very good.

I was then thanked by everyone in the room and escorted back to the waiting room by Kurt.  I gathered up all the applicants’ names and e-mail addresses so we could keep in touch and find out the results of the interview.  I have confirmed two of us have been hired at this point.  This is only a day after I have arrived home and the e-mail that I sent has only been out for less than a day so it is very possible that the others are busy or have still not had a chance to reply to the e-mail to let us know how they did.

There were 5 applicants.  One was a retired Air Force 141 pilot that got out of flying for a couple years to pursue another career and then got back into it and was flying a Cirrus (I believe that is what he said) for a company in South Carolina.  One was a pilot with Cessna 402 time and no turbine time flying out of Boston.  Another was a former Navy guy (not sure if he said he was a pilot in the Navy or a crewmen) who was flying Lear 60’s for a 135 operator out of Florida and the other was a guy that was flying Lear 35 or 40’s for a company in Arizona.  All of them were extremely nice and professional.  I would be surprised if they all were not hired.  They were all very classy people trying to get on with a very classy company.

Overall the interview experience was fantastic.  Regardless of if I were hired or not, I would have had nothing but good to say about Citation Shares and the employees that work for them.  They will be around for a long, long time, with an operation like they currently have.