Emirates Interview

I slept at 3am after all the preparations of doing my nails, facial mask and clothes fitting. Then I struggled to crawl out from my bed at 5.30am to take a shower and put on my makeup.

Such was how I prepared for my Emirates interview.

I didn't pin much hopes in it because I knew it was the toughest airline to get into and the pay is also the highest.

Despite leaving my house at approximately 7.15am, I was still nearly late for the 8am appointment because of the infamous traffic jam along Jalan Genting Klang. But thank God at least the line was moving and I made it to Renaissance right on time. There, I met again with Kathryn and Rachel, whom I met during the agent's screening test.

Andrew, the agent from Sass Atlantic, gave each of us our nametags with a number that was written on a piece of sticker we were to attach to our tops. I got a number 4, which I thought was great because it has always been my lucky number and it has been infinitely related to me throughout my life.

The interview began with the 2 interviewers - Angela and Randa, showing us the Emirates corporate videos. The final video was extremely entertaining as it was a music video featuring a number of their cabin crews playing instruments and singing. Gotta say they are really talented. There was rap, R'n'B, sitar, indian song, etc.


First Round - Group Discussion

I think there were about 50 girls at the interview that day. We were divided into 4 groups of 10-12 (estimation because I'm not quite sure). I was in group 1. Two groups go into the interview hall at once and the group discussion was conducted simultaneously but separately. We sat according to numerical order in a circle.

First, we needed to find out 2 things not included in the CV about the girl sitting on our right side. I was to introduce Allen, who likes to eat chocolates and her favourite movie is Lord of the Rings. My introduction was short but there were some girls who elaborated the points into 3-4 things.

Then we proceeded to the discussion. Our topic was "Should mobile phones be given to children and if yes, at what age?". It was the exact same topic as the agent screening test. As we were discussing, Randa went around the circle to observe each of us and scribbled down the remarks on the forms.

After the discussion ended, we had to do the reach test and finally we proceeded to wait outside the hall for the result. We waited for quite a long time - around 15 minutes before Randa came out to put the results on the table. Each of us got a note regardless of the result with our numbers written on the top left hand corner. So when I got mine and it read, "Thank you for your time...", I thought, "Okay, I'm gonna waste my leave again and go home early". But then the next paragraph, it read, "...successful of proceeding...". I couldn't believe my eyes but really thanked God for letting me pass this!

The advice that Andrew gave us really worked. Just help each other out and don't be too aggressive. The most important thing isn't the answer but the way you express yourself. So it doesn't matter whether you give the right answer. Don't be too stubborn with your opinions. My advice on the "find out 2 things about the girl on your right" part is - when they say 2 things then make sure you only say 2, NOT 3 or 4 or 5. Because as Andrew repeated to us during the briefing time and again, they look for people who follow instructions. Most of the girls who got too carried away were eliminated. It's easy to disregard this when you are trying to stand out from the rest. So gotta be careful. There will also be traps like these throughout the interview so just be careful.


Second Round - English Test

The English test was a written test which was fairly easy in comprehension but it's the answers that were the killer! It was very tricky and there often seemed to be more than one answer is suitable for the question. So, really think carefully before you answer!

The final section was the essay but it carries no marks so it's a safe bet to do it at the very end. I think maybe they are only trying to see how you express yourself. The passing mark for this test is 32/40.


Third Round - Group Discussion

This time, we discussed in a smaller group of 6-7 people. The topic this time is more difficult.

Question
Assuming you are the management for a company which has its sales and revenues dropping significantly over the past few months because of excessive workload and its staff morales had also degraded considerably. Organize a 2-day getaway to motivate the staff. Discuss about the destination, budget and the activities to be done there. Take into consideration that 2 of the staff can get quite intoxicated during parties, most staff are married and with children.

Again, bear in mind that the answer is not important. Don't claw at anyone who doesn't agree with you. Instead, acknowledge a good idea from others if you heard one. If you really have to express a different opinion, do it with a moderate tone of voice and don't be too stubborn about your own opinions.

Elimination was after every round.

Finally, came the Psychometric test, of which there will be no elimination thereafter. It consisted of 185 questions to be completed in 40 minutes. Listen to the instructions given by the interviewers carefully as they might be different from the ones in the booklets. There will be no rights or wrongs in this test as it's merely a personality test. But there were a few IQ and Maths questions at the end.

At the end of the day, 35 girls were shorlisted to go to the final interview. It was a huge achievement and even Andrew commented that we must be the best batch from Malaysia ever. Because previously, they never managed to get this many girls shorlisted to the final in Malaysia. The batch who had the interview a day before us had 16 girls go to the final.

Applying for Emirates is really a huge investment of time and money. We had to reshoot all of our pictures in formal attire - 1 full length and 4 passport photos. The requirement is to put on some light makeup, wear skirt suit and court shoes (plain with no decorations whatsoever). They expect nothing to be too fashionable. And we have to place our hands on either side of the body and can't stike up any pose. You might wanna put one of your legs slightly behind the other to avoid looking like a gargoyle. But make sure both legs are fully visible or you're gonna have to reshoot your pictures and send it to them by registered mail and waste your hard-earned money. What I did was took 2 pictures in different pose and let the interviewers choose the better one.

In addition, we also have to submit 2 full length casual photos. These can be pictures you took while you were on vacation so you don't have to retake it again. The interviewer was so nice to even suggest that we could just show them a few of our personal photos for them to choose the best ones.

Aside from that, we have to provide them with 2 business emails (i.e. abc@streamyx.com; abc@hsbc.com) of our employers. Strictly NO public domain emails (i.e. yahoo, hotmail). But I'm gonna give them my colleagues' emails instead. Obviously, I'm not in the position to let my bosses know I'm applying for other jobs and the people who know my work performance better are my colleagues since they've worked with me closely, right?

The final interview will be where they dissect your personality and quiz you on your strengths and weaknesses. Andrew says as long as you can balance out your weaknesses with your strength and it should be alright. Really hope so.

Hope everything will go well for my final interview. I'm trying not to pin too much hopes on this one because in case I don't succeed, at least I won't be so disappointed. Hope for the best, though. Notice how many "hope" I mentioned back there? Geez!!!

Wish me LUCK, people!

Also calling all my GUARDIAN ANGELS!