The cabin crew recruitment process is notoriously difficult – you’ve got to jump through multiple hoops, take tests, pass assessments, take part in role plays and of course, ace the Final Interview. On top of all of the that, the process is long and the competition is fierce. You would have thought that anyone would come out the other end thinking “never again.”
But you’d be wrong. In fact, not only do candidates finish the process wanting to do it all over again but they even enjoy the experience. At least that’s what the results, conducted by specialist job site Glassdoor suggest. The findings were released in the 2017 Glassdoor Candidates Choice Awards for the Best Places to Interview.
As you can guess, the awards are based on reviews by real candidates who have gone through real job selection processes. Although each review is anonymous, candidates get to rate and review their experience including the length of the process, interview difficulty and the overall interview experience.
Unfortunately, the results are limited to just the United States and the United Kingdom at the moment but it still gives some fascinating insights. In the U.S. ten airline’s made the Top 100 list with jetBlue just making the Top Ten – coming in ninth place overall. 81% of jetBlue candidates found the experience positive while that number dropped to 77% at Delta Air Lines (who placed 22nd).
Southwest Airlines came in 26th place and United Airlines followed close behind at number 28 on the list. Meanwhile, in the UK, two airlines made the Top 20 list with easyJet placing fourth and British Airways landing in 20th position. That’s ahead of big name brands including Apple (37th) and McDonald’s (46th).
What’s even more impressive is that airlines are getting these scores even though the whole process takes so long. At jetBlue and Delta, the average wait is a huge 46 days. American Airlines is even worse – 51 days on average. Things are slightly better in the UK but not by much. EasyJet’s interview process normally takes 37 days.
“The interview process is the gateway experience that employers have with a candidate, and you only get one chance to make a great first impression,” said Carmel Galvin, Glassdoor’s Chief Human Resources Officer
So what are airline’s doing that makes candidates so engaged? One aspect could be the length and diversity of the process itself. Instead of being a bad thing, the different parts of the recruitment process can be seen as giving candidates a fair chance to prove their potential.
Airlines are also really good at providing lots of information to candidates and bringing in real staff to offer a realistic account of what it’s like to work at the company.
Admittedly, this is just a snapshot of candidate experiences covering just a few airline’s – and clearly, some airline’s have a long way to go in improving the experience for potential recruits. The other bad news is that the recruitment process is set to get even longer.
In further research by Glassdoor, the company found that the average interview process in the United Arab Emirates was one of the longest in the world – Averaging 36 days (and expect that to be much longer for airline’s). Researchers found that the average recruitment process had increased by a day worldwide with regulatory hurdles the cause of the biggest delays.
