It's been a very long weekend. Nonetheless, it's been an exciting time all of celebrations for one of my best friends hen dos. I'm knackered, tired, and slightly hung over! It's Sunday. I am at Leeds Bus Station waiting for the Mega Bus to arrive. Departing at 12.30pm. All these little details are necessary.
My god that was a long journey. I planned on taking a nap but I could not swtich off from all the nerves and anxiety. The coach stank of fishy fish as soon as I boarded. I knew I was in for along ride. It's now 4:50pm and I've arrived at London Victoria Bus Station. Now I am waiting around for another coach to take me to London Heathrow Airport. Time to replenish and refresh my system! The coach leaves at 5.30pm so I need to hurry up.
Oh wait, what? I need to take another bus to my hotel?! I forgot about this. I walked the length and weadth of Heathrow Terminal 2 - 1 to find the Hotel Hoppa Bus. So close....so far!
FINALLY. At around 7.35pm I arrived!!! Yay! Ordered some room service, caught up on Xfactor whilst reading up on the assessment day! Sleep!
Sorry for the dribble...now hear is the interesting bit...
The Assessment Day...
Staying at the hotel the night before was absolutely the right thing to do. I checked into the Crowne Plaza Hotel, London Heathrow where the assessment day took place. Due to the check out times, I left my room at 7.30am with all my luggage, and asked the concierge to store my bags. On the way down to check out, I met another girl, called Helen, who was dressed like me, and asked her if she was "hear for Etihad". We both immediately said that he were extremely nervous, and decided to stick together as much as possible.
Just as I got rid of all my bags, large groups of very smartly dresssed people were heading over to a long corridoor. Helen and I just about joined the cue. We were greeted by two beautiful ladies dressed in the Etihad Cabin Crew attire who signed everyone in. They do check if you're on their lists, so just turning up to an Assessment Day is not advisable!
Everyone was situated in a massive conference room. There were two other ladies present, one in the Etihad uniform, the other in normal business attire. So 4 members of staff all together. In total, around 110 - 120 people had turned up. The majority of the room where there for Cabin Crew, but I also noted that the Food and Beverage Manager candidiates attended the assessment day as well.
The Cabin Crew introduced themselves to the room, and their roles at Eithad. "Hayyakum" is a casual arabian greeting they used to welcome everyone to the day. We responded by saying "Shukra". See I'm learning a new language already! They breifly tell you what they're looking out for during the day:
- A positive attitude
- Smile
- Interpersonal skills
- Communication skills
- The ability to build relationships: "costumers are not passengers, they are guests"
Afterwards, the Etihad staff wanted to see everyone one to one, to have a chat about our CV's, and to do the height test. The process took along time. Helen and I were sat towards the back of the room, so we got to know each other, and discovered that:
- We had been living a very simlair life this year!
- We were having a quarter life crisis by applying for cabin crew positions so we can get away from our current lives and enjoy the world for what it is!
My number was 108. I met with the recruiter and handed over my CV, passport photo and the first part of the registration form that they asked me to complete prior to coming. She looked through my CV, discussed one of the positions I've done, then asked me why I wanted to be Cabin Crew. At all times, ensure that you body language is good, and that you are smiling throughout.
Then, they moved through their presentation about the day and showed us afew videos on working for Eithad, and what it would be like to live in Abu Dhabi. Talk about getting all you wildest hopes and dreams up! I could tell that it really motivated people, and showed just exactly how much some people wanted it in the room.
Next, we did the "getting to know you" task. Basically, we had to pair up with the person say next to you, find out their name, where they are from, and ask them for an interesting fact about themselves. We had about 15 minutes to do this. One of the recruiters specifically said, just 2/3 sentences about your partner. Then, you introduced yourself, your partner, and their interesting fact. A good 45 minutes had passed before Helen and I had our turn.
"Hello Everyone. My name is Rachel, and my number is 108. Today, I would like to introduce, Helen. She was been travelling and ziplined through an Australian Rainforrest." That's all you need to say! Then let you partner introduce you.
Avoid saying things like: "Hello, this is my beautiful friend XXXX. She would really really like to be Flight Attendant, its her dream job. She very attractive..." It does not go down well the the recruiters, you're embarassing your partner, the whole room is cringing inside, and it's not doing as what you were asked to do.
Ok, still with me? Good. Next was the English Test. Everyone in the room had to complete one, even if you're a UK Citizen with your highschool English qualification. This was 15 minutes long, and very easy to complete. There's a mixture of multipule choice questions to read, and fill in the missing word style questions.
After a busy morning, you're ready for a break. We were given about 20/30 minutes to go and get a drink or something to eat while they decide who will proceed through onto the next part of the assessment day.
We entered the room again and sat down. They called out a selection of numbers, and asked those people to put their hand up, and leave the room with a different recruiter. My number was called. That, OMG my hearts racing, and I do not know what this means but I'm going to stand up and do as I'm told! The recruiter took about 32 people into a smaller room and told us that we'd had made the short list for the next part of the assessment. Some relief came, but we didn't have much time to celebrate.
They split the 32 into 2 groups of 16 people. The group tasks and scenrios were next. In the room, there was a number of large round tables, and we were asked to get into smaller groups of 4. There was a recruiter on each table that was going to observe us, and our interaction in teams. She made notes everytime we asked. The groups were asked to plan a holiday for Mr Smith & his family. Each family member had something they enjoyed about holiday. Mum wanted shopping, the son loved adventure. We made our choices, and came up with a plan. Then we discussed how to present it to recruiter. I felt nervous when doing my paert, but felt good.
After everyone had completed their tasks, we left and the room and waited around until the seond half of the larger group did their bits. We all meet in the conference room, and again if our number was called out, we were asked to put our hand up, then leave with the recruiter. My number wasnt called out, but those people didn't get through to the next part.
The last part of the group assessment was a costumer complaint. This was a one on one thing. I felt so nervous. And, this is the part where my journey with Eithad comes to a hault. I didn't make it into the the final interview stage following this. However, I had learnt so much from the day. My nervous did get the better of me. They arent applied to give feedback, but they advise candidates to go away of 'reflect' on the proformance. And that's exactly what I did.
Now onto the next advanture. Emirates!
After a very long and tiring day I knew I wouldn't be in the mood to cook when I got home. So, I had been really naughty and ordered myself a Domino's pizza (gluten free of course) whilst I was on the train. About 5 minutes after I got home, it arrived! One slice later and I decided my bed was calling me. Going to be up for work in 6 hours :/
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