Panicking

I rang the hotel last night to confirm that they'd forwarded the message to my Recruitment Officer and UNSURPRISINGLY they hadn't. "one minute please", they said. so i waited. and what did they do? they put me through to one of the RO's bloody hotel rooms!!! what on earth! so I had to apologise profusely to her and tell her there should be a message for her down on reception. she seemed alright, just a bit confused. i'm very annoyed at the Hilton though.

Final Interview Done and Dusted!

What a day!

So it was at 2pm and I hit traffic at 1.30pm! Nightmarrre! I was furious. I got in to the hotel at 1.55pm where I saw a girl standing outside the interview room who had already had her interview. She said it was hard!

I'm a bit stressed at the moment because I didn't put my referee's e-mail addresses on to the form as I didn't have them handy. I got home and had to call the hotel with the information so they could pass the message on to the RO's but I don't think the guy on the phone wrote them down correctly as he seemed sick of his life, so now I'm e-mailing Emirates HR with the information before the RO's have even flown back to Dubai! Good idea? I hope this doesn't jeopardize my chances of being successful. Fingers crossed eh.


So anyway back to the FI. I got to outside the room and one of the two RO's (who were both lovely!) told me to wait in the little foyer further along the hall just so they could get prepared. I waited and fixed my make-up whilst I was there and recited the motivational speech about the lions which I posted earlier in my head because I had butterflies. I made them roar!
About 15 minutes later one of the ladies came and took me in to the room where I handed over my completed paperwork and photographs. They accepted them all! Wooo! So nothing wrong with any of 'em. Lovely.

One of the RO's was writing my answers down and the other was asking the questions. They were on one side of the table and I was on the other, but they had a glass of water on the table for me, all prepared. Wooo!

Anyhow the first question came! "Tell us what you do currently". So I talked about my work - what I do and why I enjoy it.

They asked if I'd had any challenging customers, and what did I do to resolve their challenges. I explained and then she said "so why did you go the extra mile for that customer when they were just one person? surely they wont make a difference to your work" and I explained that every customer is important and if we give a bad service then bad news travels faster than good news. Then she asked if I'd had a customer who was challenging and I couldn't really resolve their issue and what I did to stay calm in that situation.

They asked if I'd broken a rule at work to benefit a customer (Don't say you don't break rules! Everyone breaks rules once in their life. I said that at my current work place I don't because I wouldnt do anything to jeopardise my colleagues of passenger's safety however this one time in a previous place of work I helped a customer by...) and then they'd asked me how I came up with the solution to the customer's problems and this led me to admitting to them that I was a perfectionist hahaha which ended up being a running joke throughout the interview.

Remember to make eye contact with both of them - even if one of them's not looking at you. The other one will be and will know if you're looking at just her or at both.

I got asked when was a time I made a mistake at work and how did I feel, when was there a time a colleague wasn't doing their best at work and what did I do to sort it out. I got asked how I dealt with a difficult customer and why was customer service so important in the role I work in.

To be honest I'd prepared for every question so I didn't have a problem answering them. My mouth went dry a few times and sometimes I forgot what I wanted to say so I took a quick sip of water to gather my thoughts. This is my revision - I made sure to think of a scenario for each kind of question they could have possibly asked me:

They didn't ask why I wanted to work for EK or why should they choose me - they were just customer service based questions - so don't go revising how many aircraft EK have or how many A380's are on order.

She then said she had no more questions but then asked if I had any for them. I asked them how they got in to Recruitment and if they've made life-long friends from working for Emirates. I asked what the training was like (I said I was looking forward to SEP training and I don't know if they were surprised to hear that because they looked at each other after I said that lol) and whether they'd move back home from Dubai (I got a firm NO! lol!). It was really interesting to get to know the two ladies even for just five minutes.

They had allocated an hour for the interview and we ran over the time so we had to end the interview quickly ('cause another lady was waiting to be interviewed outside) but I think it went well. I shook their hands and asked where I should put my empty glass and apologised for getting red lipstick on it! lol. Then I said goodbye and left! There's a lot of gossip on the internet which says "oh it should only last 20 mins" "40 mins is an ideal time" "most people answer all the questions in 30 mins"

I'd sayyy if you have your FI coming up - revise, smile and make a lot of eye contact. My heart was pounding before I went in to the room (try focusing on something and counting to 10 - it worked on me and my blood pressure went down lol) however it soon felt like a normal chat about my past work experience so I was relaxed. Don't be nervous - this is your chance to shine.



I'm tired. I need a nap. I hope I've helped some of you guys - now I'm in for an agonising four-six week wait. Fingers/toes/eyes crossed I get AIP/YWBC/GC xx

Do you feel them?

Those butterflies... those nerves... churning away, deep in the pit of your stomach?

Don't fear them - use them.

Those butterflies will grow bigger and get stronger and stronger and stronger.

Those butterflies will turn in to lions, and this year... those lions are going to ROAR!

Final Interview today.

Wish me luck!

xx

Final Interview Tomorrow!

It's my FI tomorrow so I've had to get some photos taken to hand to the Recruitment Officers tomorrow.

shit hahahahahaha! Not bad for a girl who hates her photo being taken though. Kudos to mama bear for taking them! I must prepaaare for tomorrow but first I need to go to the library to photocopy all of my certificates and passport etc. and knowing what the local library is like I've no doubt I'll get angry at the photocopier not working etc. Honestly they should demolish all of the local libraries and build one super modern library. That'd be cool! Speak later dreamers xx

Assessment Day 28/07/2013

Today I had my assessment day and whilst I was getting ready to go to the hotel where it was being hosted, I didn't really feel nervous. I did on the drive there and when I was waiting outside the conference room but once we got inside it was fine. I met my new friend from the Open Day (yay!) and we were all called in at 9am. We were given a name and a number (the number was said to you during the telephone call after the OD) Sorry it's upside down!

The room was split in to two circles of chairs. Half of us sat in one circle and the other sat in the second circle. We were divided in to groups of three and we were given a card which had the name of a City on it, as well as three photos from that City. We had to, in our threes, discuss the city and think of three points to tell the rest of the group - we had to say one point each. We got... Istanbul. I've never been to Turkey in my life! I ended up talking about mosques. Whilst we were discussing what we were going to say, both Recruiters were asking us individually to come up and do our reach test. I was panicking about that but I'm 5'5" and reached it no problem. The RO asked me what I'm doing at the moment (she hadn't seen me yesterday at the CV drop off - I spoke to the other one) and then she said "oh that must be challenging at times" and I went on to explain a situation where it really was challenging and how I overcame this. She was asking people different questions though. Others got "why do you want to work for Emirates" nb - saying "i love to travel" will NOT GET YOU ANYWHERE. Culture, culture, culture! Say you enjoy meeting people from other countries, how you want to work for "the world's best airline 2013", how the training you'll receive at the aviation college is high quality, how EK are constantly expanding their destinations and are at the forefront of aviation technology with new aircraft being added every month etc and how you'd love to be a part of that. "i love to travel" is the most obvious answer to give.

The girl on my right introduced us with a funny opening line and the girl on my left went on to talk about Turkish mud baths. I then said that "As Turkey is a mainly Muslim country, once you've enjoyed your mud bath you can enjoy visiting one of the many mosques in Istanbul and take in the rich religious and cultural history while you're there." MAKE SURE YOU LOOK AT EVERYONE. NOT JUST THE RECRUITER. AND NOT THE FLOOR. The girl to my right went on to talk about how you can buy counterfeit watches and handbags from the markets... not a good move. Needless to say she didn't get through to FI.

We were all told to leave the room for 15 minutes and when we came back, we were given that slip of paper.

We said goodbye to about 7 people. One girl had to leave because she had a tattoo on her wrist. So horrible when you're excited and relieved and you see how sad other people are. It made you feel bad!

Half of the group went back in to the room to do a group exercise whilst the rest of us waited downstairs and had a coffee. Half an hour later, we were called up to do the same exercise. We were sat in two smaller circles - about four/five people per circle, and we were given a scenario. Ours was that we were the manager of a hotel and there were only two rooms available. We had a list people who had booked a room:

a travel writer

a newly wed couple on their honeymoon

a party girl who is in a fashion show in the hotel

a politician addressing a conference in the hotel

the general manager of the hotel chain

a couple with a child they take on regular trips to the local hospital

a visitor who stays in the hotel once a month

a visitor whose bathroom is flooded and is demanding a new room

in our groups, we had to decide who could stay and who couldn't. DO NOT LEAD THE GROUP. Emirates are looking for people who can listen and work as a team. The RO's are watching you at all times and are walking around you. You are very aware that they're there when you first start but once you get in to it you just forget they're watching. Make sure to say "I agree with your idea" "that's a very good idea" "well we could do this but do you not think..." etc. SMILE. Laugh. Take turns in talking. If you accidentally talk over someone, apologize and stop!

After we had decided who could stay and who couldn't, the Recruitment Officer turned in to a character from the  list who wasn't able to stay in the hotel. We took it in turns to explain the situation and offer something else instead e.g. a free stay in another hotel slightly further out the city, free transport to and from the city centre. They don't care about your solution - they care about you coping under pressure and how you approach the situation. Apologize profusely, tell them you understand why they're annoyed etc.

We were sent out the room again and called back in fifteen minutes later for another slip of that paper.

When we were called back in (there were about 15 of us at this point), we were told we had made it to the final interview stage and were asked to fill in different forms etc. My final interview is on Tuesday. Nervous? Yes. Excited for the future? YES!

Open Day 27/07/2013

Today I had my Open Day! It started at 9am sharp - I made sure I was up, ready, and out of the house for 7.50am - arriving at Gateshead (after taking a slight detour...) at 8.20am. There were about ten people in the queue ahead of me, waiting to get in to the conference room. I was joined by a lady who works where I work - we didn't know each other but it was nice to have a chat and make a friend for the morning!

There were about forty or fifty people behind us by the time we were let in to the room. Before this though, I caught a few people looking at others up and down... don't do this! Everyone's got an equal chance of being selected and giving out the dirty looks isn't gonna do you any favours!

One tip, if anything... WEAR YOUR SUIT. Follow what it says in the invitation e-mail! Including myself there were around five people out of the 70 or so who had stuck to the dress code.

LADIES!
Black suit jacket, white shirt, black knee length skirt, skin coloured stockings and black shoes. Preferably a court shoe but as long as they're black it shouldn't matter for the OD.

GENTS!
A suit in normal, decent colours. Shiny shoes, clean shaven - tidy hair!

Ladies make sure your make-up is pristine - foundation, eyeliner, red lips - you're trying to show Emirates what you'd look like as Cabin Crew. Don't forget the pearl earrings girls!
Some people wandered in dressed to go to a nightclub - mini skirts, super high heels, suit jackets not matching skirts, trousers etc. Don't do this! Make sure your hair is up and in a bun, out of your face. SMILE. I can't emphasise smiling enough!


So we got in to the conference room and sat down. I was in the second row and I had a good view of the screen where the presentations would be given. There were people coming in late - don't be late! If you're late for an Open Day - will you be late for your flights?!
Because there were more than the allowed limit to turn an OD in to an AD (booo!) they decided to hold the AD tomorrow instead. I'm pleased in a way 'cause it means I can get a good night's sleep and come back refreshed!

We were given an information sheet about being Cabin Crew with things like pay, accomodation, healthcare, UAE rules etc just general stuff we should know before applying. We were also given a small sheet of paper which asked for our name, level of education, date of birth, application number, languages spoken, phone number, and if we'd been to an OD/FI before. We had to fill these in and hand them in with our photos and CV.

We listened to our Recruitment Officers talk a little about themselves, and then we were shown a clip about Dubai and about Cabin Crew life. We were asked if we had any questions - many people asked questions which had already been answered in the past five minutes. I think others were just asking questions to get noticed. I didn't ask any - I listened intently and nodded in agreement when the Recruitment Officer and made sure to make eye contact! It shows you're listening! EK likes good listeners! One of the RO's said that if we hadn't heard from them before 5pm tonight (it was about 11am at this point) then we should consider ourselves to be unsuccessful and should re-apply in six months' time.

After the presentations and question time we had a five minute break. We then came back and the room split in to two, where we handed our CV's to one of the Recruitment Officers and had a brief chat with them about what we currently do for a living. This is your time to shine! The RO said "Hi! How are you?" to which I replied "I'm very well thank you - how are you?" - be polite! Don't just say "I'm fine" - engage with them!
She then looked at my CV and asked where I was working - I told her and gave a brief explanation about why I like my job. I said it was challenging and that there were new situations each day, but the best part of my job was being able to meet people from hundreds of cultures and countries from around the world. She then asked if I'd had an experience of an unhappy customer and I then explained about a new procedure we have to do at work which not many customers are happy about. She then asked how long I'd been working there and she said "okay, I've got no more questions to ask you - thank you very much"

Some people were shaking their hands as they left the table but I didn't shake the lady's hand purely because I don't know if she's the type of person who likes touching strangers or not. If she offered a hand first then I'd be okay with it.

Anyhow I left and felt sick with nerves. I got home about half an hour later and sat and waited with my head in my hands (for the most part) constantly going over in my head what if I'd said something wrong, had I rambled on too much? Did I answer her question thoroughly? Did I look smart enough? I was reading the information sheet over and over and it just seems like a dream being CC! It's like the perfect job! Hard work, don't get me wrong - but absolutely perfect!

At 1.40pm I got a call from one of the RO's asking me to attend the AD - wooo! High fives all round. She gave me a time and a number to remember which would be my number for the AD. I think about 30 people are going - I can't be too sure but from what number I was given and the one another girl I knew was given then it seems likely.

Time to do some revision and I will update you lovely dreamers tomorrow xx

Pooing my pants

Hi everyone! Tomorrow is the Open Day! Aaaah!

I've revised a little bit - I know my 'ten important facts about EK' off by heart and I have my answer prepared if I get asked "why emirates/why CC?". I am quite nervous just purely because I don't know what to expect despite reading numerous blogs and forums about the OD. I'm confident as a person and know I can do the role from speaking to EK Cabin Crew at work, but it's just convincing the Recruitment Officers that I can. Keep your fingers crossed for me my fellow EK dreamers <3

I'm busy preparing myself at the moment - just sorted my clothes out and I've got my 'achievement planner' sorted (see below). Oh and I bought a smaller suit jacket yesterday too - the one I wore in my pictures is a 10 and the one I'm wearing at the OD is an 8 so I'll not look like I'm drowning in it. I need to do my nails tonight and I'll give my skin a good scrubbing with some lovely lotions and potions tonight as well. Oh how I want this job!


Wish me luck xx

New photos!

I got my mother to take the full length one today and I took the head and shoulders shot in my bathroom lol. I've NEVER smiled with teeth in photos before today - EVER. So I'm pretty happy that they've turned out quite well. I hope EK like them. Off to ASDA tomorrow after work to get these printed. And then more prep for the big day!

More prep

So I DYED MY HAIR!!!

Open Day is next Saturday - 7.5 days to go! I decided that my blonde hair (bleached barbie blonde) obviously doesn't look natural so I made the snap decision overnight to go to the hairdressers and go dark. Wasn't expecting it to go this dark but I'll get used to it! I feel 100x better though. No more roots and orangey bits!

I also went to ASDA and bought a set of pearl earrings (something like five pairs for £1?! bargain!) so I've taken my 8mm tunnels out and I'm waiting on those closing up. I put the earrings in right away and they just fell out LOL.


apologies for the messy bun/worn make-up but it's just to show you! I'm redoing my application photos tomorrow so it'll be better then :) also a pic of the revision I've been doing!

xx

Preparation for the Open Day

Is it sad that I can't stop thinking about EK?


I don't think it is. I need this job; it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. The Pearl Drops have had a bit of an effect on the colour of my teeth *yay!* (not that they were bad in the first place...), and I'm ordering some pearl earrings and a red handbag from eBay to make me look like a member of Emirates for when I visit the Recruitment Officers.

I've bought a notepad and I've been revising Emirates today, writing key facts and figures down so I'm in-the-know incase I'm asked any questions about EK or Dubai on the Open Day. Of course the hardest question will be "Why do you want to work for Emirates?" - why wouldn't I want to work for Emirates? ;)


I'm visiting loads of different websites where people talk about the Open Day and I think it's making me feel worse rather than better. All I know is I'm gonna go dressed in my best suit, get some new photos taken and printed, wear my earrings, red scrunchie, red handbag and get my hair and nails done before OD. I'm gonna go to the hotel armed with a copious amount of knowledge about the airline and a big smile on my face.

Time to get prepared for work. I have a twelve hour shift coming up (yuck) and the best part of my day is getting to look at the Emirates Crew with a puppy dog look in my eyes which screams "take me with youuu!"
xx

Open Day Invitation

Two days after sending my application off to EK, they've invited me to an Open Day. I know it's not important to most people because an Open Day is for absolutely anyone to attend, but it feels gooooood that it's there in writing. From Emirates. Telling me to come to an Open Day.

I spoke to some of the Cabin Crew today as they were passing through the airport; I was seething with jealousy! I'm sure they could tell LOL. They wished me good luck for the future, bless them.

I went to the local supermarket today and bought some Pearl Drops toothpaste. Trying to get those gnashers sparkling!
Now time for some maaajor revision! xx

And so it begins...

Hi everyone - my name's Denise! I'm applying for Emirates as Cabin Crew (got my Open Day on the 27th July in Newcastle) so I thought I'd document how I get on, on here. Maybe I won't get very far, maybe I will. But I hope to give everyone an insight in to the recruitment process, no matter how far along I get.


I currently work as a Security Officer for my local airport. It's fun but hard work, and it's always a good feeling knowing that I've helped passengers to get on their way whilst ensuring that their aircraft is safe, too.

So anyway, yeah, Emirates. What an airline. What a bloody amazing airline. I always see the Crew coming through the airport and they are all beautiful. It's obvious they're proud to work for their company and it's easy to see why.

So I've decided to apply! Got my photos taken today. I took the head and shoulder shot by myself (good old iPhones) and then I asked my dad to take my full length one, but he was rubbish and couldn't keep the camera still. Off to the mother's I went! She did a good job. Here are the results:

I hope Emirates approves!

So there we go. 07/07/2013 - Application Submitted.

Now to wait for e-mail confirmation in the next seven days...

to be continued

xx