Interview Prep

A follower sent this as an update to the interview portion of my site. I appreciate any and all contributions! This was posted on Facebook so the Q&A should be located there.

The interview format is going to be dependent on how each recruiting squadron commander wants to do it. This will be a combination of policy, constraints such as travel distance or time available for interviews, and personal style of the interviewer. A behavioral/situational type interview is consistent with what I have heard in the past because from my experience the interviewer wants to know more about your character and less about the actual facts about your life or career. Facts can be obtained from the applicant profile or resume.

Follower Submission

So I thought I would share some of my thoughts on the interview I had last week (civilian, non-rated) since I have some time today. I will try to answer questions today or tomorrow if people have any. Please note that I took the latest version of the interview, where a resume is NOT needed, and is a more behavioral/situation type of interview.

1. Started off with the introduction and ‘talk about yourself’ type of questions. One question with one follow up.
2. Tell me about a situation where you encountered this scenario. I think there were 3-4 questions.
   1. Situation
   2. Reaction you took
   3. Impact that your decision had, and what was the outcome
   4. Follow-up question on the situation and your actions
3. Hypothetical Questions. 1-2 questions.
   1. What would you do in X situation?
   2. Do you have any other choices in this situation?
   3. Which of the choices you listed before would you pick?
4. What is your reason for wanting a commission from the Air Force? 1 question.
   1. Follow-up questions. Elaborate on your points, or were there any other reasons?
5. Do you have any questions for me? My recruiter advised me on having at least two questions.

My interview was over FaceTime with a Lieutenant Colonel.

The most key point my recruiter emphasized was the ability to elaborate on any situation you talked about, so be very familiar/touch up on any situations before going in to your interview.

Closing Thoughts

This is an interesting submission, I’m glad this follower submitted it. The two things which stood out to me were the emphasis on the situations and having questions at the end. The situational questions are important. As officers, we are constantly put in situations where we have to make decisions. For example, let’s say you are a Captain (O-3) and your two subordinates are First Lieutenants (O-2) , and one of the Lieutenants rates on two Staff Sergeants (E-5). If you get an inbound Technical Sergeant (E-6), which Lieutenant should he be assigned to? Maybe the one who makes the most sense doesn’t make sense because they have a previous working relationship.

As another example, consider the COVID-19 pandemic situation we are currently working through. What if you are a Squadron Commander and on the one hand there is a very important mission that must be accomplished, but on the other hand the current guidance is to limit the meeting of groups larger than 10 people as much as possible. If an ops crew consists of eight operators and four contractors who are all needed for the mission, does that violate the guidance? Is it better to delay the mission, scale back the operator side, or scale back the contractor side?

The most important thing is not the decision you made, it is why you made that decision. What information did you have at the time, what other factors did you weight, and in the end was it the right decision. Good officers are the ones who can not only do this well, but can articulate it well if questioned by leadership later. The best officers are the ones who can be relied upon to consistently make the right decisions, or own up if the wrong decision was made.

The second thing that stood out was the importance of having questions at the end. Telling the Lt Col that you have no questions is a missed opportunity. Having a few good questions shows that you have put some thought into the bigger picture of the goal you are trying to achieve. It shows that you have foresight into what you need to know, and have done the appropriate level of research for where you are at in the process. Instead of focusing on questions about the here and now, try to inspire a personalized answer from the Lt Col that allows them to share how their experience in the Air Force can help you to mold your own path to success.