Mastering first impressions is sometimes viewed as one of the most mysterious parts of the recruitment process.
You prepare for weeks or months; you spend hours carefully choosing your outfit and rehearsing hairstyles or makeup. You read books and articles, join Facebook groups, and run sample English tests. You get to the venue with your documents when the day finally comes. You go in, say hello, hand over your CV, smile, and answer one or two questions. Then, based on this interaction, your faith is decided: you either stay and continue the interview or go home.
The encounter with the recruiters is very brief, usually under 5 minutes.
Some of the most popular questions asked are “Why do you want to become a cabin crew?”, “Why do you want to work for our airline?” or “What are you currently doing?”
After you hand over your CV, photos, and other documents the airline requires at this stage, the recruiter will confirm your best contact number and tell you the expected waiting time until they communicate with the successful candidates. It might be a few hours or a few days.
Not only will this feel like the fastest decision-making, but it will bring you face to face with another hard-to-comprehend reality of the cabin crew recruitment process: you are now one of the many candidates in the same line – they are all beautifully dressed, perfectly groomed, polite, smiling and friendly.
Those minutes in front of the recruiter will decide if you move into another line – one of the chosen candidates who will have the opportunity to show more of their personality.
So how can you stand out on this first interaction and make a stellar first impression?
1. Confidence
While two people can dress the same and have similar education and experience, their perception of themselves sets them apart.
The way you carry yourself, your attitude, and your drive to succeed are some of the components of a confident person.
Confidence is dictated by many factors, such as childhood experiences, role models, success and failure perception, and inner dialogue. There is no magical potion to take and become confident overnight. But confidence is a muscle; the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.
2. Body language awareness
While the initial encounter with the recruiter lasts only 5 minutes, humans take under 30 seconds to form an opinion about a new person. We gather information from what we see and hear: posture, gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice. We make up our minds even before somebody starts speaking. So here is how to achieve positive first impressions:
- a genuine, warm smile
- stand tall and proud with your back straight and your shoulders rolled back
- move your body in a harmonious way
- be aware of how your voice sounds and adjust the volume and pitch
3. CV
Especially in a busy location where hundreds of candidates come to present their documents, the recruiters cannot read every word of a lengthy CV.
The more pages of irrelevant information you present, the less likely you are to be invited for an interview.
So your job is to present a relevant, concise, simple, and clean CV. It shouldn’t be longer than 1 page. Include only Personal Information, Career History, Education, and Skills. Nothing else. Learn here how to make the Perfect Cabin Crew CV.
4. English Fluency
While this is one of the minimum requirements, many degrees of fluency exist.
If English is not your first language, here is what you should consider being fluent:
- You can understand most of what is communicated to you at a reasonable speed by both native and non-native English speakers.
- You can express your opinions, thoughts, and feelings in simple sentences.
- You can answer questions correctly.
- Most of the people listening to you can understand what you say.
- You can read and understand most of this article.
- You can summarize this article in 10 sentences.
- You can write and read correctly (remember, perfect shouldn’t stand in your way of achieving good enough)
Here are the things you shouldn’t worry about:
- complicated grammar
- your native accent
- the speed of talking
5. Cabin Crew Personality
While you can learn many skills required to perform the cabin crew job, there are many personality traits you should ideally possess before the interview.
These skills are:
- positive attitude
- helpfulness
- kindness
- empathy
- patience
- resourcefulness
- courtesy
Think about how you can practice these in your life.
6. Dress for success
It’s no secret that a polished image is an essential aspect of this industry. The flight attendants don’t go to work in jeans and sandals. Your appearance must be spotless, especially when trying to impress the recruiters and hopefully influence their decision to invite you for an interview. But more important than having the standard business attire of a suit, collared shirt, and polished shoes, you must wear something that makes you feel good about yourself.
7. Know the airline
The other day I asked my daughter, who has been raving about her friend from school, Nicole, why she likes her. She replied, “I like her because she likes me.”
The simplicity of this argument struck me as probably the most profound reason for an alliance.
We tend to like people who like us. The same is true for organizations.
Show them you are a true fan by knowing the airline’s trivia, plans, expansions, or even the latest social media feed. Go online and research. If the question “Why do you want to work for our airline?” arises, give them a unique answer.
This might be the first step in your journey to becoming a cabin crew, and it is crucial: the door opener. Much more complex stages will follow. Prepare thoroughly, and this dream will become a reality very soon.