Practice for the Personality Test for a Pilot’s Position at FedEx

JobTestPrep wants to help pilots to fulfil their ambition to work for Federal Express. Having conducted solid research on FedEx’s pre-employment examination, we compiled practice materials that will make pilots ready for the personality test and will help them prove their suitability for the position. Federal Express does its best to hire pilots who are not only experts in flying B-777 but are also pleasant people who will make each other’s work enjoyable. To ascertain that prospective pilots will develop the strong comradery, FedEx invites them to answer around 240 questions of various difficulty. Our PrepPack™ has all necessary materials that will enable you to highlight your best qualities and avoid incriminating yourself accidentally when answering trickier questions on FedEx’s personality assessment.

JobTestPrep’s resources include the Hogan Personality Inventory analyzing human traits that help people build meaningful and productive connections with each other. The HPI focuses on the bright side of the human personality and evaluates only positive qualities of prospective pilots. These positive qualities range from sociability and prudence to adjustment and ambition and usually guarantee that their possessor has good social skills and gets along well with others. To facilitate your preparation to the examination, we supplied our HPI test with detailed study guides and score reports so that you can locate and eliminate your weak points before you take the actual test. We have also compiled a list of interview questions, which will help you sound confident, when you speak to FedEx’s recruiters. Practice with our sophisticated PrepPack™ and come a step closer to the realization of your ambition to fly cargo for Federal Express.

FedEx's Hiring Process

FedEx Hiring Process

Pilots go through a complex hiring process at FedEx.

DC-10 Simulator Evaluation: After they submit their FedEx online profile, pilots arrive to Memphis where they take DC-10 sim or simulator evaluation, which usually takes place on the first assessment day. In the morning, a group of the prospective pilots meets with MD-11 Captain in class who explains to them what plane they will be flying and gives them ballpark power settings, pitch attitudes, and general familiarization with the location of objects in the cockpit. The power settings which you will receive will be as follows:  o Level, 200 knots = 60% N1 o Level, 250 knots = 55% N1 o 1,000 feet per minute descent at 200 knots. After the Captain has given instruction and put job applicants at ease, he will offer them to draw a lottery and choose a number that will determine the order of their simulator evaluation.

DC-10 sim preparation includes numerous tasks, several of which are as follows:

• Start off level;
• Climb and descend;
• Turn;
• Accelerate and decelerate;
• Vertical S’s;
• Steep turns;
• Clearing to VOR;
• Holding (on a cardinal radial of 90, 180, and 360 degrees).

All pilots usually get different entries and radials. It is essential to slow to 200, when you descend below 6000 feet. Also, hold at 5000 feet. You also need to figure out power setting for a 200 knot climb and descend, using “power idle.” Make sure to look at pitch to maintain 1000 fpm, then climb and again descend. The pattern is as follows: cardinal heading at 5000ft; slow from 250 to 200, descend to 2000 ft. at 1000 fpm during the descend, turn to cardinal heading at 30 degrees bank, at 2000 feet, accel to 350, and turn.  

A Cognitive Test: An answer whether you passed your DC-10 sim will be given to you within 3 hours. If you succeeded, you will be invited for several tests, a no less challenging part of FedEx’s hiring process. One of the tests is cognitive. It measures pilots’ abstract thinking, inductive reasoning, language aptitude, knowledge organization, and problem-solving, among other cognitive abilities.

A Knowledge Test: Another part is a knowledge test comprising about 6000 questions. Questions posed in this test include an even mix of aero, engine and flaps, WX, TAS, MACH, and IAS. This test is, in many ways, similar to the Air Force Officer’s Qualifying Test. There may also be a logic test with ATC talk at the background.

A Personality Assessment: The last part on the test is Hogan Personality Inventory. This test is comprised of about 240 questions, which you need to answer within 50 minutes. Go through a few dry runs with JobTestPrep’s Personality Test. We will help you create a striking personality profile that will strengthen a good impression you have created on your examination. Our exclusive PrepPack™ contains all necessary resources to help you place your personal qualities in the most flattering light. 

FedEx's Interview and Interview Questions

Provided you passed all tests with good results, you will be invited for the interview a day after your examination.

A Panel Interview: There will be several people interviewing you: two majors, two commuters, and a pilot selection board in the Air Force. The recruiters will want to know more about your flying experience and motivation to fly planes for FedEx. They will also want to learn something about you that they cannot decipher from your résumé. Expect also technical questions. You may be asked to evaluate an airplane’s maximum take-off weight, landing weight, and ramp weight. Or you may be required to measure its fuel capacity. Brush up your knowledge of physics, science, and mechanics, because some questions will evaluate your expertise in these fields.

A Conflict-Resolution: Another part of the interview is conflict resolution. In it, you will be presented with three written scenarios, none of which is legal and ethical. You will need to analyse these scenarios, decide what actions to take, brief your crew about your decision, and execute the decided plan of actions. What will follow is your self-evaluation. You will need to analyse your own performance, writing down your comments on a marker board.  You will be asked to point to your mistakes and tell what you would improve in your decision-making next time. These scenarios may include situations with a drunken pilot. For example, you may find a solution to the problem involving a pilot who, while you were driving with him to the airport, smelled of alcohol.

Other questions posed during the interview at FedEx may be as following:

• How do you deal with flying at night? 
• What, in your opinion, makes a professional pilot?
• Why should we hire you here at FedEx airlines?
• When was the last time you had an FAA inspector on board and how did it go?
• Can you describe the pressurization system?
• What is the difference between stating minimum fuel and declaring and emergency?
• What is blue line?
• What is the IFR fuel requirement?

Go over these and similar questions and prepare smart, precise answers to them. If you have good answers to them, you will appear confident and professional and will leave a lasting impression on the recruiters. Knowledge and self-assurance will help you get a job offer at FedEx.

The Personality Test at FedEx

In addition to numerous tests, FedEx asks its prospective pilots to take a personality test – the HPI. The Hogan Personality Inventory evaluates the bright side of the human personality. It analyses human traits that help people build meaningful, productive, and lasting connections with each other. Qualities focused upon in the HPI are positive, ranging from sociability and prudence to adjustment and ambition, and usually guarantee that their possessors have good social skills and interact with other people easily and amicably. High scores in the Hogan Personality Inventory will assure employers at FedEx that job applicants for a pilot position are likely to achieve success in their roles and can become a valuable addition to a pilots’ crew in the company.

The Hogan Personality Inventory is comprised of seven primary scales:

• Adjustment evaluates whether you are open to feedback, candid and honest, and steady under pressure;
• Ambition weighs whether you are a good team player, energetic, and competitive; or whether you are simply forceful;
• Sociability measures if you are outgoing or rather good at working alone;
• Prudence estimates if you are organized, dependable, and open-minded;
• Inquisitiveness assesses if practical or imaginative, quick-witted, and not easily bored;
• Learning Approach evaluates how much you are interested in learning and whether you are insightful.

The Hogan Inventory also has six occupational scales: Service Orientation, Stress Tolerance, Reliability, and Clerical, Sales, and Managerial Potentials. There are as many as 42 subscales in the HPI.

The personality test presupposes that you answer questions impromptu and honestly. This does not mean, however, that you do not need to prepare for it. You may learn how to highlight your merits more effectively, if you study with our exclusive PrepPack™. Our carefully compiled resources will show you how to create a memorable personality profile and how to convince recruiters that you have all desired qualities to build high-flying friendships with other pilots. With us, you will be able to demonstrate to FedEx’s managers that you can be authorized with the difficult task of delivering FedEx’s cargo to any part of the world.

What Duties Does the Pilot's Position Involve at FedEx?

Pilots at FedEx fly around the world to deliver to customers such diverse cargo as race cars, military equipment, horses, cows, sharks, furniture, books, toys, and registered mail. Although the most popular FedEx’s airplane is Boeing 777, its pilots also fly MD-11, A-300, B-757, and B-767. To maintain a good level of professionalism, each pilot at FedEx, regardless of his or her rank, is required to have regular training, during which his or her level of knowledge and skills become checked. Pilots are also expected to know every possible malfunction of airplanes. They conduct emergency checklist and know what to do in a pressure situation. FedEx employs about 4,500 pilots, giving them annual salaries from $86,856 to $178,157, depending on their rank and working experience.  

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers:

Q: What parts the Simulator Evaluation consists of?

A: There are two basic parts of the Simulator Evaluation. The first consists of demonstrating your flying proficiency, which includes starting off, climbing, descending, accelerating, decelerating, making steep turns, and so on. The second part is ATC communication. Pilots are required to use a microphone to read back holding instructions, once you are given them. This part of the test checks if you can fly and comprehend and verbally give instructions at the same time. No AP is allowed. Before the test, recruiters will explain to you how to use a timer and a course selector knob.

Q: How to prepare for the Personality Test?

A: Practice with JobTestPrep’s exclusive resources. Our Personality PrepPack™ contains the Hogan Personality Inventory, step-by-step study guides, and answer key that will help you not only to prepare well for your examination at FedEx but also track your progress, while you are studying at home. With our practice materials, you will be able to build an impressive personality profile.

Q: How long is the SBI at FedEx’s pre-employment assessment?

A: The SBI is strictly timed. You will be given 7-8 minutes to evaluate a given situation, decide what to do, brief your crew, and act on your decision.