My First CFI Interview Tomorrow
Posted by jacobmufska628@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 11 comments
Got a video interview tomorrow for a CFI position (my first time). They specifically mentioned behavioral questions and customer experience.
For anyone whose been through this before, what sort of questions should I expect? What are good questions I should ask him at the end? And any tips for standing out during a virtual interview?
I've been searching for more than 6 months so i'm very nervous. Any advice would help a ton.
akornato@reddit
The six-month search is a grind, which means this interview is your moment to prove you are more than just a pilot with a CFI certificate. They are testing your ability to be a teacher, a problem-solver, and the face of their business, which is why they emphasized customer experience. They want to know if you'll be a headache or an asset when a student is struggling, a parent is complaining about the bills, or the schedule gets messy. Be prepared to answer questions about handling conflict, managing stress, and dealing with difficult people by having specific stories ready where you were the one who solved the problem. It is less about reciting regulations, which is a given, and more about showing you have the maturity and people skills to be a trusted instructor.
For the virtual part, your professionalism is on full display, so make sure your background is clean, your lighting is good, and you look directly into the camera to create a connection, not just at their face on the screen. When it is your turn to ask questions, avoid asking about pay or vacation and instead focus on things that show you are serious about the role. Inquire about their culture for instructors, what opportunities exist for mentorship and professional growth, or what the biggest challenge is for a new CFI at their school. Showing you care about their operation and your own development will make you stand out. My team actually built interviews.chat to help candidates feel more prepared and confident by having the right things to say in these exact situations.
MyPilotInterview@reddit
The question every CFI interviewer should ask is: The CFIs who bring in students are become busy quickly - what did they do differently?
BozoThePilot@reddit
That's more of a question to ask yourself rather than have an interviewer ask you that. I do not know why you got downvoted for it though, the question is actually important for anyone in customer service to ask themselves.
My answer is if you're a good instructor and more importantly a good person, you will find that students want to fly with you more than with other instructors.
MyPilotInterview@reddit
It’s a question to ask the interviewer - they run a business and worry about sales, it shows you align with that.
TxAggieMike@reddit
Something way better and more attractive to client prospects than the other instructors.
BozoThePilot@reddit
Customer experience: I would make sure you say that flight instruction isn't just about teaching, it's about providing quality customer service. My own experience with that is that I've never advertised myself anywhere up until just a few days ago. I have a very wide variety of aircraft I've flown and taught in beyond what you would ever fly in a flight school. None of that came from advertising, it came from my students/clients recommending me to others.
Behavioral: They're going to ask how do you deal with difficult students. I would say with difficult students I would either, depending on the situation, let them realize on their own that they're having a bad habit/dangerous attitude or gently show them that it's a bad attitude.
A story about a student I had... This was not a bad attitude at all, just a little clueless. We were flying a X/C to an airport and the weather started to get bad (what looked like a marine layer beginning to set in late afternoon) and the ceilings started to get lower. I said "Hmm, what do you think about this?" and he said "Oh we can continue to the airport". I told him "ok". By the time we landed there and turned around the mountains were obscured and there was no way we're getting back. I asked him "What are we going to do now?" and he just said "Your controls". I think he learned quality ADM right there. I ended up getting us a pop-up IFR back to our airport and I had him fly us in IMC while I did the radios and nav set up.
So this wasn't bad attitude, just clueless. And for me as an instructor I let my students make their own mistakes and experience that they made a mistake. They learn better then if I keep stepping in to save them.
Questions you should ask:
1) What kind of students do they have? High net worth clients, foreigners, or just people from the local community?
2) Is there a syllabus you have to follow? Do you have to abide by it or is there flexibility?
3) How will scheduling flights work? Will the student make the schedule or does the school "dispatch" them for you?
4) Will you keep the same student throughout their training or will you only handle certain parts of training (like stage checks - I don't know if this is a 141 school)
5) W2 or 1099? (Please do not press them about being a W2 if they 1099 you - almost no school is going to give actual benefits to a W2 employee unless if they're a high-end Cirrus school... maybe)
6) How many days off can you expect in a month?
7) How much ground instruction will you do? (Please do not phrase this in a way that makes it seem you only want to teach flying) Also, will you do ground 1 on 1 or with multiple people in a classroom setting?
8) Typically how early and how late will the flights go at the school?
Good luck dude!
jacobmufska628@reddit (OP)
Fantastic information, I was able to take many notes from this THANK YOU!
BozoThePilot@reddit
Let me know if you get the job, I like to hear success stories!
TxAggieMike@reddit
Customer experience…
Try to have a story about how you took a typical customer encounter and went above and beyond, exceeding the expectations of the client.
Another good one is how you took a complaint and unhappy client and succeeded in fixing the problem and making the client happy.
Human Behavior…
This could be a review of Task A from FOI’s with a possible slide in from Task E, professionalism.
Student is exhibiting so and so behavior. Why? And what would you do to turn this into a positive experience for the client.
No_Diver_2133@reddit
Just be yourself.
Remember students are your (the school’s) customer, so that’s going to be about customer service.
Probably questions about customer service, difficult students, coworkers etc.
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
Got a video interview tomorrow for a CFI position (my first time). They specifically mentioned behavioral questions and customer experience.
For anyone whose been through this before, what sort of questions should I expect? What are good questions I should ask him at the end? And any tips for standing out during a virtual interview?
I've been searching for more than 6 months so i'm very nervous. Any advice would help a ton.
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