I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Southwest Airlines (Dallas, TX) in Feb 2019
Interview
Run don't walk from this company. If you bring more experience than required and have more Technical and Business Product knowledge than the hiring Director/team they look at you as a threat to their jobs. They just want to hire people with sub-par skills that they can boss around. I had a Project Manager interview in February of 2019. I have top notch experience with Fortune 10 and Forbes 100 companies as well as the education, certification and experience. The interview process was made in a way that they are not looking for the best and the brightest but rather more of the same old Legacy "good old boys" mentality. Just act dump and they will hire you saying you are a cultural fit. No wonder why they have the worst history of aircraft maintenance and service.
Glad I am going to work there since I got a better position and more money for a company that is twice their size known as American Airlines.
Southwest Recruiters seemed too busy to get back to me and took week and half to let me know anything.
I applied online. The process took 7 weeks. I interviewed at Southwest Airlines in Jan 2022
Interview
I hope giving these details about my interview helps others looking to apply, I tried to record all the questions I was asked at each stage! Everyone was very friendly on each call and the recruiter was responsive and helpful throughout the process.
- 11/30/2021 - Applied, the same day job was posted
- 12/13/2021 - Phone Interview
- 12/16/2021 - First virtual interview with the hiring manager, his colleague, and the recruiter
- 1/7/2022 - Final virtual interview with senior manager and senior director for project management, no recruiter (delayed due to holidays otherwise believe this interview would've happened sooner)
- 1/10/2022 - Offer contingent job offer pending background approval, not given start date until background clears
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Recruiter Questions -
Q: Tell me about yourself and your experience?
Q: Why this role and why Southwest?
First Interview Questions -
Asked for a project timeline or roadmap example to be submitted prior to the interview
Q: Tell me more details about this project?
Q: Why did you choose project management?
Q: How do you prepare and handle debrief meetings with leaders for a project?
Q: How do you feel about managing mundane projects?
Q: How do you manage risk in a project?
Q: How would you get to know your team members?
Q: After a project has been implemented, how do you evaluate its success?
Final Interview with Senior Leaders Questions-
Q: Tell us about yourself and your experience. And why Southwest and why this team?
Q: What made you choose project management?
Q: Tell us about a project you completed that you felt truly proud of and why?
Q: What do you like to do for fun?
Q: What do you think is the most important aspect of being a project manager?
Q: Tell us about a time you fell short as a project manager or things didn't go as planned?
Q: What is something you like and don't like about your current team?
Had one phone screening with a recruiter and one phone screening with the hiring manager. This was followed by an in-person interview with the hiring manager and a few people from the team.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe a difficult situation that you were challenged by and describe how you resolved the situation.
Never got a call back. Really disappointing to me and makes me sad. I thought Southwest would do a better job with candidates; I just got a form email like 2 weeks later.