Hello all flying friends. Just recently, I went to the Qatar Airways Experienced Cabin Crew Recruitment at Kuala Lumpur so I am happy to share the process and stages that I have gone through all the way until the final interview stage.
I am still waiting for the ‘Golden Call’ .This campaign is quite different from the Qatar Airways normal open day because you have to have at least 1 year flying experience with an international airline. The recruiter told us that this campaign is new and just started 8 months ago.
Requirements :-
· Min 1 year experience with international airlines
· Min 21 years old
· Arm reach test 212 cm
· Fluent in English
1st day CV drop (7th, 8th or 9th June 2020)
For CV drop you may choose one of the date above. I choose 8 of June as I have a flight the day before. I was expecting a long queue but there are not many people as I would have imagined. I was the first one to arrive at Shangri La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
It was suppose to start at 8am and finish by 12 noon, but as they are waiting for the room to be filled, the recruiter told us to wait till 8.30 am. Well, I was feeling so tired and hungry and they eventually start the briefing even though they did not manage to get the room filled up.
After they did the briefing with us, they gave priority to those who have a flight duty later to drop their CV first. During the CV drop you have to give a copy of your passport and a passport size photo (light blue background) as well as your CV. The recruiter will ask questions mainly about your experience in the airline that you are currently with for about 2 minutes or so.
I got an invitation letter on the spot inviting me for the next assessment day and they gave us the venue and a candidate number. But my friend did not manage to get the letter and the recruiter informed her that she will have to wait for a phone call until around 4pm (unfortunately she did not received any call).
*tips: smile, shake hands, greet by name and introduce yourself.
2nd day (10th June 2020) Group Discussion, English Test and Arm reach test (212cm)
The venue changed from Shangri La Hotel Kuala Lumpur to Park Royal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur and it was from 8am till 5pm. There were three recruiters handling this recruitment campaign. Roughly about 120 cabin crew were chosen till this stage. I met a lot of familiar faces mostly from Malaysia Airlines, Air Asia X and Malindo Air.
Few of them are not Malaysian, they are from Philippines Air Asia X foreign crew. As usual, they start the day by showing us a video about Qatar Airways history as well as information about Qatar itself. Next, the arm reach test followed by a short interview. The interview last for an average of 5 minutes per candidate.
They asked us the following questions : -
· Do you have a bond with your current company ?
· How long is your experience ?
· Tell me about yourself ?
· Why did you choose Qatar Airways?
· Do you smoke (please just tell them that you don’t smoke because Qatar’s accommodation is non smoking )
For those who fail the arm reach test, they will not allow you to proceed with the interview. I am 163cm and I still think that it was not that easy to reach 212cm.
Besides that, they will check if you have any scars, tattoo or birthmarks (visible or not visible when donning uniform). Then, the English test and every candidates is given 20 minutes to finish it. 20 objective questions and 1 essay. I would say it was a pretty easy test but it can be quite tricky as well.
Then, from 120 candidates, only 54 were chosen for the group discussion. I start to feel sad because most of them are my colleagues. We were divided into 6 groups which consists of 9 people in each group and were given 15 minutes to discuss about a particular topic.
Topic given:
1. Create a menu for Business Class from Doha to London according to the flight time.
2. Plan an event for new opening route in Amsterdam.
It was chaos because we have to keep track of the time and write our ideas on the white board. Then we have to present it to the recruiters as well as the other groups. I personally think that this session is not necessary because all of us are already a cabin crew with some of them having more than 8 years of flying experience.
*Tips: Just keep calm, smile and be confident. Well, sad to say 3 more candidates are eliminated from this session. Remember, they will announce all successful candidates using the number given to you stated on the invitation letter and you have to wear a sticker with your number and name stated on it.
After the group discussion, they will brief you on Qatar Airways salary, accommodation, benefits and etc. ( I do not have to elaborate on this because it is already posted in Fly Gosh ). Then, we have to fill up the Declaration Form, Body declaration form (tattoo, scars and birthmarks) and Application form.
At this stage, they will ask whether you have applied online and for those who haven't, they will open a new account for you.
3rd day (Final Interview) 9am to 12 noon
The difference between the final day and the previous day is that everyone will have to be in their top form. I would say that everyone give their best shot this day as it is only a few more steps before one gets the job. Documents that you need for the final interview is a passport size photo and a full length photo (both with light blue background).
For Ladies, please wear skirt below the knee and three quarter sleeves top with no collar. (very specific I know but they really want this photo to be perfect or you have to redo the photo until they are satisfied). You may search for the Qatar Airways Cabin crew uniform and you will understand why. For the gentleman, nice fitted suits with tie and with a nice smile.
They will give priority to those who have a flight duty later in the day and they are allowed to start first. I realize that the first 10 candidates took almost 20 minutes and as time goes by, the interview time became shorter and as short as 5 minutes. I knock on the door, entered the room, shake hands with all of the recruiters (3 : 1) and greet them by their name.
I pass them the application form and my photos. I was quite disappointed because when I sat down, I was expecting a lot of questions but the recruiter told me that they have no questions to ask me. They just want to confirm whether I have any tattoos or scars and have a glance at my application form . I really got the feeling that they did not want to hire me but then again I heard that they have a plane to catch later in the evening and this may be the reason why the interview was so short.
After the so called final interview, you may go home and I was told that the time to get the "Golden Call " varies and may take up to 3 weeks.
Medical check
For those candidates that are successful , you will have to go through 3 medical examination which is :-
· Pre Employment medical examination ( at your own expense )
· Government medical examination ( paid by company for visa purpose)
· Aviation medical examination (paid by company)
All of these includes blood group certificate, chest x-ray, Hep A, Hep B, Hep C, HIV, VDRL, eye test, color blind and etc.
