An Email From A Reader!!! (How Exciting!!!)

Today I received an email from one of my readers (I still get excited that I have readers!!!):



Hello,
I came across your blog while researching how to become a flight attendant.I am a 20 year old college student who is very interested in making this my career choice asap.I have decided school isn't for me and that I would love to be part of a flight crew.
I am wondering, how did you go about getting an interview?I have no idea where to start the process and I thought I would contact you to find out.
I meet the basic requirements of: high school diploma, correct height (5'4) and years of excellent customer service experience (retail). Is this enough to impress an airline?
Your blog is a great read! Thanks for you time.


-Jackie



Jackie,



First off, thank you for your email! I love getting email :) I am happy to see that you are doing your research. It made me think of the many hours I spent googling every ounce of information I could find about the job and what I should expect during training. You are about to start a very exciting journey! I like you am/was a 20 year old college student. This is a wonderful time to begin. You meet the basic requirements so that is an excellent start! You also mentioned that you have years of customer service experience which is a must have to get your foot in the door. In fact with my airline they require a minimum of two years. My first recommendation is to go to AirTran.com (they are hiring). Fill out the application and with job history make sure that you include every job (no matter how long it lasted) and explain any gaps for the past 10 years. Since we are the same age I am pretty sure you haven't been working for the full 10 years... this is okay, just explain that you were a student. There is also an assessment at the end of your application... it is important that you do well on this.

Next is the difficult part.... waiting. I was lucky and received a response within the week, but others that I talked to waited up to a month... My recommendation is to wait a week and if you haven't heard anything go ahead and give them a call. The recruiters are really busy and sometimes people fall between the cracks. Just make sure that if you do call you are professional, kind, and upbeat. First impressions are key, especially when you are potentially competing with hundreds of people for a spot in training.

After you receive an invite you will attend an open house... aka cattle call. Be sure to wear a dark suit, makeup and to wear your hair up. Also make sure to be on time, and smile... they are always watching.They will tell you the ins and outs about the job. At the end they have you read an announcement, with this relax and take your time and be sure to read loudly and clearly. They then tell you that they will be doing call backs for face to face interviews in a week. I was a nut and constantly checked my email, four days later it came! My invitation for a face to face! I was so excited.

For my face to face I showed up two hours early because I had to drive to Orlando and didn't want to be late. I was so nervous but I was also very excited. My recruiter reviewed my job history with me and then asked me a series of questions about my past experiences. I was warned by a friend that if you don't have an experience to make one up... be quick on your feet. Also never say anything negative about yourself or previous employers, if they try to get something negative turn it into a positive. :) After what seemed like a million questions she said the words that I'll never forget..."I'm sending you to ATL" Of course I misunderstood because it was for a group interview, not training like I thought.

The group interview was a little nerve racking... They only asked two questions. My theory is that it was to catch people who slipped through the cracks. They let you know in a couple of days if they want you to come back for your HPE and Uniform Fittings. If you make it this far you are pretty much in. The HPE is simple exercises to make sure you can meet the requirements of the job and to make sure you know proper lifting and bending techniques. After this they give you a information packet to study and tell you that you'll know by the end of the week when training will begin.

Classes always start on Monday, so you fly in Sunday afternoon/night. The classes themselves are easy. As a instructor says "If you study and pay attention and meet me half way, I will make you a flight attendant." Make sure to study, do what they say, no matter how silly it may seem. There are tests once a week usually on Mondays... You have to get at least a 90%. But don't worry it is all material you've seen before... Be sure to study that packet for your first test. Also in class they give you review questions... make note of these, you usually see them again at some point.

After it is all over you get your wings. Honestly I was excited but I didn't understand why some of the other girls in my class were tearing up... that is until I walked in the room and saw my parents... then the waterworks started. It truly is a day that I will remember for the rest of my life. It is the first time that I have really followed a dream and succeeded. They say that once your a flight attendant, there is no going back, and it is true... It gets in your blood. It has only been two weeks and I honestly can not see myself doing any other job.

I hope that once you get your wings you'll feel the same.

Please feel free to send me any other questions. I am still tickled that people actually read my blog :)

Katie