Monday 21 July 2014

Invitation Only Recruitment Day

On the 29th of May, I received a surprise email from Emirates HR informing me that I had been shortlisted to attend an Invitation Only Recruitment Day to apply for Emirates Cabin Crew.
With great excitement, I confirmed my attendance for Sydney's date on the 8th of June.

With 10 days to spare, I did my homework on the company and the role of the cabin crew for Emirates.
I would suggest to all applicants to do this, it gave me a better understanding of the company as I wasn't really too familiar with information on Dubai and the airline.
Every night I stayed up reading blogs and posts from other peoples experiences from the recruitment day.
One aspect I found that was common was that presentation and first impressions were key!

I bought a new black suit, a white blouse, black court shoes, skin coloured stockings and a red lippy. In my mind I thought 'Wow, is this too over the top?'
The answer is NO - listen up. 
Wear exactly what the invitation asks of you, here is what was requested-

Dress Code - Business Attire.
Ladies: Black Knee length dress/skirt with skin coloured stockings.

I turned up at 8:50am to the Recruitment Day, dressed impeccably from head to toe in my suit, white blouse and skin coloured stockings. I wore patent black court shoes with a tiny heel.
My hair was parted to the side and sprayed back into a bun.
My makeup was clean and I added a red lipstick with the vision of Emirates in my mind.
I dressed as though I was already a stewardess for Emirates, I believe if you present yourself exactly as the cabin crew do you have a great chance as the HR staff can envision you in the uniform.

I looked around in the holding room of the hotel, surrounding me were 100 other females. Initially I was shocked- every single girl there was absolutely stunning.
I had thought to myself 'I don't belong here.' 
I remember sending a text message to a friend saying how beautiful all of the girls were. I felt almost intimidated by the crowd.

Two staff from HR came and greeted us and led us inside to a small room filled with chairs.
I instinctively turned on my competitiveness and sat right up the front.
Girl after girl filed into the room and all were seated.
The HR staff informed us that the Recruitment Day will take up the most part of the Sunday.

I ensured that each time HR scanned the room I made eye contact to connect with them and did slight nods of my head in acknowledgement of their words.
I am a big believer in connecting with your eyes - don't take this as 'staring' at them, this becomes uncomfortable.
Allow them to meet eyes with you and give a brief smile and nod whilst they are talking.
This body language shows you are interested in what they are saying.

We were shown a short film about Dubai then were told about salary, accommodation, weather and culture in Dubai.
Shortly after, we were given numbers and split into two groups.
Being up the front, I was in group 1.
My individual number was #11.
We were told to hand in our Resumes and a photo of ourselves attached. 
I handed mine in and was asked a series of questions from HR in relation to my current employment and education.
The questions were simply factual and weren't like an interview.
I was informed to return back with my group after a quick break.

I met my group back in the waiting room after the break.
We were shuffled back into the room and again were split up into two groups. Each group were seated in a circle of chairs. 

In our groups, we were paired up and asked to present an object that was on a piece of paper given to us.
We had to show a different use of the object with our group.
Myself and another girl in the circle were given the item of a coat hanger.
We presented this and ensured we spoke loud, clear and made eye contact with the HR staff.
I believe this task was displaying our communicative skills. Cabin Crew must be able to be confident, approchable and direct when speaking. I advise you make sure you put on your best voice while doing this exercise!
After all girls had presented their object, we were asked one by one to do a 'Reach test' to reach at least 212cms and also to declare any tattoos.
Many girls were asked to leave for having visible tattoos on their wrists, arms, ankles and necks.
Remember - Emirates has an extremely strict policy with presentation. No visible tattoos are acceptable!
Everyone had seen the HR staff and we were sent in the waiting room for 10 minutes to wait for HR to make a decision on which girls make it through to the next process.
We were asked to come back in and we were all handed a piece of paper one by one and asked to open it when we went outside.
If we got through, we returned after the break then if not, it was goodbye.
#11 was called and I eagerly opened my letter waking out - I got through!!!!

Returning from the second break, more waiting was done and then there was another round of culling.
Before I knew it, I was in the top 18 girls of 100 that attended that day.
Again, we were split into two groups.
This stage was crucial, we were told that this was the Assessment stage of The Recruitment Day.
We were handed a laminated sheet of paper and informed that we were now to read this and act in a role play.
The HR staff asked who would like to read the first paragraph, I eagerly said I would to be noticed (Again, put yourself out there and make sure they know you are here to be seen!).
We read through the task and HR acted as customers in the role play.
I was third in line to be grilled by HR.
In this stage, my belief is that as we were acting as managers in the role play, we needed to be direct in communication, problem solving, decision making and had to display excellent customer service.
After all girls completed the role play, we were sent outside to wait.
This wait seemed like a life time! We were sent back into the room and handed our little pieces of paper containing a glimmer of hope or disappointment.
Again I was called and opened it up- I did it, I got through!

I had a short break and returned at the requested time.
Waiting aswell were just 4 other girls.
I had made the TOP 5 out of 100!
We couldn't believe it!
We weren't sure of the next stage so we continued to be anxious about what was to come.

To our relief, we were told that we had made the Final interview stage!
HR requested us to return the next day to complete an hour interview.
We were also given paperwork questioning our personal details, education, current employment resignation notice and passport details.
We then signed a form declaring that we had no visible tattoos and that we agreed to the uniform policy.
I was given my interview time of 11am and paperwork to bring back.

We were informed that we needed to complete a quiz online by 10pm that night and to be back the next day.

I left the room in disbelief and drove 2 hours home trying to process my nerves and excitement for the interview.

I got home and completed the online quiz which entailed questions on our personality, it was easy enough.
I gathered my documents to bring for the interview tomorrow, looked at train time tables and went to bed dreaming of the unknown.

I hope this post helps you with an idea of what the Recruitment Day may be like in your city.
Feel free to post any questions or comments.

Xo

Here is a picture of my outfit I wore on the Recruitment Day. I also took this photo along with my Resume to hand in.
 


Sunday 20 July 2014

About Brittany

My name is Brittany. I am 21 years old and I am from Newcastle, Australia. Just 2 hrs from Sydney.
I am in the process of completing my final documentation online to become apart of the cabin crew team with Emirates.

I wanted to start this blog and share my experience with the interview process as I am aware it is gruelling, stressful and drawn out. May I say it is well worth it when you get your Golden Call! 

I will post next about my recruitment day, final interview, application status updates all up until the golden call.
I will include all the finer details and tips/hints on what to expect on your recruitment day down to what to wear and how to present yourself.

From here, I would like to keep blogging until I reach my destination- Dubai and continue sharing my new life over there.

I can't wait to start my new life!
46 days until my DOJ

Xo