Job was advertised mid July, to which I applied. I was contacted by e-mail 1-2 days later to schedule a phone interview, though they could not accommodate a phone interview for another 2 days. Phone interview was informal, mostly questions about myself or my resume, and advised what my job would entail, including pay which was non negotiable (and very low.. faaaaar less than my previous job). The interviewer on the phone was very friendly and advised I had passed and will be scheduled for a face to face interview. The face to face interview was booked for 4 days later. The face to face interview was ok, 4 people interviewed and lots of general interview questions about my past jobs and about me, luckily I'd done my homework and expected what I would be asked. A week and a half later I received a call advising I had passed to the next step - background checks. They work with another company to do background checks, the company was easy to work with, but if you don't reply straight away they will bombard you with e-mails and calls until you do. There were also drug tests to do and later on fingerprinting once the background checks were complete. I was flown to Phoenix for fingerprinting, this was fun since you are getting sent to fly for free! Back within the same day, then generally it was a week later I was sent to the airport to get my airport badge and sign a few forms. It wasn't until 4 weeks later you are once again sent to Phoenix to finish your airport badge forms and a meet and greet other new hires from yours and other stations. My start date was a week after that, 2 months of playing the waiting game... wow, too long for some people, especially ones in desperate need of money asap. I heard and read a lot of people cannot wait this long for job processing and accept other jobs because they are far quicker in getting you started. I do wonder now if it was worth going through all this to work there, the employee culture they so proudly advertise may well be a lie, though it may just be that Southwest has just changed. At the moment I do not feel the work environment is as I've read. Since I've started I feel quite unwelcome and uncomfortable. Already I sense a lot of gossip within the station. Apparently its ok to get yelled at by a customer, yet they are renowned for putting employees before customers. If you make a mistake or don't do everything by the book, you can be terminated. Apparently they don't mind losing smart people, and there doesn't seem to be any leeway in making a mistake. Termination and warning letters is something they seem to like quoting. Wow I wonder how long I will stay here for...

The interview was a very casual meet and greet. Several HR employees were sitting at different tables casually asking questions to potential candidates. If the HR Rep was interested, he had you speak to another one of his colleagues. From that point, if they both gave you the thumbs up, you were drug tested and finger-printed on the spot. A job offer came within ten days of that first and only interview.