When it comes to choosing an airline, there are several questions you need to ask yourself. What is your career goal? How long are you planning on staying in this industry? Are you willing to relocate? What are the reasons why you want to become a flight attendant?
However, the very first question to yourself should be, “which airlines are available to choose from?”. You need to do some homework in order to answer this question. Nowadays, the internet is the best source of this kind of information. There are several websites with periodic flight attendant job updates. For example, http://www.cabincrew.com has a great job section that updates regularly. They put flight attendant job postings around the globe on this website. Have a good look at it and see which airlines appeal to you. Go to the specific airline website to have a better understanding of its routes, its corporate objectives, its employee benefits etc.
You will then have a list of airlines that interest you. To narrow down the list, read the following points.
1. Basic requirements
If an airline is hiring at the moment, it will likely have a job posting on their official website with a list of basic requirements on it. Look through the requirements and see if you meet most, if not all of them. Some of the basic requirements include height, education level, customer service skills, age (even though less common nowadays), citizenship, overall health, language skills and appearance. If you don’t meet some of the modifiable requirements (i.e. customer service skills) but you really want to work for this specific airline, you could always improve on it. However, if it is a non-modifiable requirement (i.e. citizenship), you might want to think about another airline. If you know someone who is working as a flight attendant, ask them about the specific qualities their airline looks for in their candidates. Insiders often have a closer insight about the company’s preference.
2. Relocation:
Airlines with multiple bases within a country often require their applicants to move to one of their bases. Ask yourself if you are willing to relocate, meaning if you are willing to physically move to live in one of their base cities. Some flight attendants commute to their bases from home, either by flying (yes, people fly to work) or taking buses/train. Can you afford to relocate and are you willing to live away from your family? If not, is it possible to commute? (think about distance, time, how many flights a day from home to your base, how much you are going to pay per round-trip with the employee discount etc) Some airlines ask you to relocate to a different country and in that case, you only get to go home during vacation.
3. Ask yourself, “Why do I want to become a flight attendant?”
If your number one objective is providing topnotch in-flight experience to passengers, then you should choose an airline that does so. Right, all airlines claim to provide excellent customer service, but you could easily tell whether an airline truly focuses on it. Read some passenger forums online, talk to friends and family who have been flying recently, think about your previous flying experience, look and see which airlines have recently won customer service awards. Right, all flight attendant wannabes should have the “excellent customer service” mentally, however in reality everyone has a slightly different priority coming to this industry. If you are an adventure person and traveling around the world is your number one reason, then choose an airline that flies you to different places, rather than an airline that flies domestic or a few places only. If you enjoy traveling with your friends and family, then choose an airline that offers extensive family and friends travel benefits. Also ask yourself if you like to work in a large corporation (major airline)? Or you rather work in a smaller company where everyone is closer (regional airline)?
4. How long are you planning on staying in this industry?
Some airlines offer a fixed term contract, while other airlines offer permanent positions. If you want to stay in this profession for a long time, would you be willing to reapply for another airline when your contract ends?
Now, you should have narrowed down to a few airlines that truly interest you. However, narrowing down the list doesn’t mean narrowing down your opportunity to apply. I suggest people to apply to a few more airlines to gain interview experience needed to succeed in your top choices.
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