Interview Project
Mackinney Supola
I have chosen to interview Matthew Cahn. Matthew is a certified flight instructor at the
University of North Dakota. He started flight instructing in October of 2019. He instructed for
about 2 years and then in August of 2021 was asked to join the standards department at the
airport. The standards department gives a higher level of instruction and evaluation. He has also
been offered a job to fly as an airline pilot for the regional SkyWest and will depart UND and
being airline training in January of 2022.
Matthew Cahn
[Link]@[Link]
701/777-7800
I selected Matthew because I am both a communications major as well as a commercial
aviation major. I wanted to find a professional that I could interview that would have perspective
from both areas of study. In his job Matthew has to deliver a high degree of flight instruction but
is also regularly communicating with his students, flight instructors below him, his lead, and
parents. I think he will be able to answer a wide variety of questions that I have. I plan on asking
both aviation and communication related questions in order to learn how I can one day make use
of both of my majors in one career.
Questions I will ask:
• Why did you deiced to go into the field of aviation?
• Describe what you do in your position.
• What is your favorite part about your job?
• How important is it that you are able to communicate your thoughts to your coworkers
and students? Why?
• What advice would you give someone following in your career path?
• What are the next steps for you?
• Do you plan on flying for the rest of your life or do you think you could possibly have a
ground job one day? How easy is it for pilots to transition to jobs like public relations for
an airline or something similar?
Business Card: Matthew does not have a business card.
Contact process
I first reached out to Matthew through email on November 4th.
Matthew responded to me later that afternoon with the email below requesting I come to his
office. At this point I gave him a phone call to set up a time that worked for both of us and this is
when we decided zoom would be easier to work into his schedule.
Summary of the Interview
I started out the interview by talking to Matthew a little more about what I was looking to get
out of this interview and explained why I had selected him. We did some small talk for a couple
minutes then I got right into asking him my questions. His answers below are not word-for-word
what he said because I wanted to maintain eye contact with him to show I was engaged in the
conversation; however, I wrote down his main points in his answers and typed them up after the
interview. Once I finished asking questions I thanked him for his time.
• Why did you deiced to go into the field of aviation?
o I had always had an interest in aviation so when I was 14-years-old my parents
got me a discovery flight. This is when you go up in a small airplane with a flight
instructor and get a feel for flying. From then on, I knew I wanted to be a pilot so
I kept taking flying lessons and eventually ended up at UND for their aviation
program.
• Describe what you do in your position.
o I am both a flight instructor and a stage check pilot in the standards department at
the airport. I instruct higher level flight courses and conduct evaluations of
students in the aviation program at UND.
• What is your favorite part about your job?
o My favorite part about this job is that I meet new students and new instructors
every day and have the ability to help them learn something new.
• How important is it that you are able to communicate your thoughts to your coworkers
and students? Why?
o It is very important. A part of my job is determining if students deserve to pass
their flight course and move on to the next one or not. I need to be able to ask
students questions in a way that isn’t confusing. I also need to be able to explain
to instructors why their students might not have passed an evaluation I conducted.
Above all else my job is to teach students, and without a high level of skill
communicating complex topics, my students won’t be able to understand what I
am teaching them.
• What advice would you give someone following in your career path?
o I would advise someone following in my career path to stay well-rounded. While
my end goal is obviously to be a pilot, there are many other skills required than
just being a good pilot. Being a skilled pilot won’t get you anywhere if you bomb
every interview you do.
• What are the next steps for you?
o When I leave UND I will go to airline training for SkyWest. I will be in training
for about 3 months and after that I will start flying the CRJ 200 for SkyWest. I
plan on staying there for at least a couple years.
• Do you plan on flying for the rest of your life or do you think you could possibly have a
ground job one day? How easy is it for pilots to transition to jobs like public relations for
an airline or something similar?
o I am open to many different career options. While flying is what I am most
passionate about, if I needed to be at home every night or weren’t able to fly for
some reason, then I would definitely look into doing something like management
or a chief pilot job. I think it could be challenging for someone to go from only
flying every day to something like a job in public relations if they didn’t have any
background in a similar filed. Doing something like you are and having a double
major while in college will give you a lot more options in the future.
Our Picture
My Thoughts and Impressions
After speaking with Matthew, it has become very obvious that he is a hard worker who
excelled at UND and who will be even more successful later on in his career. I plan to take all of
the advice that Matthew has given me and to also strive to work as hard as he does. He will be a
great contact for me to have in the future to go to for advice. I have also learned from him that
the work I do in my communications classes is even more valuable than I previously thought.
Matthew was kind enough to take time out of his day on a weekend to Zoom with me and answer
my questions, I will certainly be sending him a thank you card for his time.