Delta Has Added a New AI Screening Step Called Monroe… What Is It And How Should You Prepare?

Delta’s famously tough flight attendant recruitment process has just got even tougher. The airline has added another layer to the journey, and it comes shortly after you submit your resume: an invitation to a new online AI assessment which is known as Monroe.

Delta describes Monroe as an opportunity to learn more about the airline and the role, but make no mistake, this assessment is a lot more than that.

Here’s what the assessment actually involves, how it fits into Delta’s wider hiring process, and how to prepare for it.

Where Monroe Actually Sits

With the addition of the Monroe AI assessment, Delta’s recruitment journey for new-hire flight attendants has just gotten even longer, with a total of eight steps. Here’s how the updated process now runs:

• Online application,
• Monroe AI assessment
• Online FitMe values-based assessment
• HireVue on-demand video interview (ODVI)
• In-person Assessment Day at Delta’s World Headquarters
• Conditional Job Offer (CJO)
• Drug tests and background checks
• Initial new hire training.

Monroe is the first conversation a candidate has in the process, but rather than talking to a human recruiter, you’ll be having a conversation with an AI assistant.

Delta describes Monroe as “an immersive, AI-powered Candidate Assessment,” which has been developed by the AI recruitment company MakiPeople. The assessment is sold as a way to help candidates learn more about the role, but that only tells part of the story.

It is, in fact, an early-stage filter in the recruitment process, and you will be required to answer situational and competency-based questions.

The key difference between the Monroe AI assessment and the traditional HireVue ODVI is that Monroe can ask follow-up questions, designed to extract as much of your experience as possible. HireVue gives you one shot at a fixed question and moves on regardless of what you said. Monroe listens to your answer and can push further before deciding it has enough.

What Candidates Have Reported Being Asked

Unsurprisingly, Delta doesn’t publish a list of questions that Monroe might ask you, but candidates report a conversation with two distinct halves. The first half is all about giving you a realistic preview of what its like being a Delta flight attendant and what sacrifices you might be required to make – such as whether you’re willing to relocate, and whether you understand what the hours and lifestyle of the role actually involve.

The second half shifts into understanding whether you have the experience, skills, and qualifications to be a Delta flight attendant through the use of situational questions that ask you to describe a time you dealt with a difficult situation and how you handled it.

Questions can vary from one candidate to the next, so don’t expect to be met with the same set. That being said, if you’ve developed a good foundation of competency-based evidence, you’ll be able to confidently answer whatever comes up.

The Logistics: What to Expect When You’re Invited

It’s tempting to jump straight into the assessment as soon as you receive the invitation email, especially as it sounds like a formality to learn about the job before moving on in the recruitment journey. While you do only have seven days to complete the assessment, proper preparation is required so you can perform at your best. Remember, the AI is scoring your performance.

A few practical details worth knowing before you sit down to it:

• Time needed: 10 to 15 minutes, in a quiet spot with good internet
• Complete it in one sitting: you can’t pause and come back to it partway through
• The deadline is real: you get 7 days from the moment you receive the invitation, and Delta is explicit that the assessment will not reset if you miss the window
• It’s video-based: treat it like a phone screen or virtual interview, on a smartphone or a larger device
• Appearance requirements apply: you’ll be on camera, so the same candidate appearance standards that cover the rest of the process apply here too
• Mute yourself when not speaking for cleaner audio, and choose a distraction-free environment
• Current Delta employees: if you’re completing this on a Delta-owned device, it won’t work in Microsoft Edge. Use Chrome or Firefox instead

How Monroe Actually Scores You

Monroe doesn’t just record you and leave a recruiter to form an impression later. It pulls specific evidence out of what you say and scores it against a fixed rating scale, the same scale used for every candidate. That means there’s no talking your way around a thin answer with charm or confidence alone. The evidence in your answer is what actually counts.

According to MakiPeople’s own description of the technology, scoring is based on the content of what you say, not your accent or how polished your delivery is. Every question also goes through extensive internal testing before it’s put in front of a real candidate, so a follow-up prompt isn’t improvised on the fly, it’s been validated in advance. On top of the competency scoring, the same conversation can check role-specific eligibility and motivation questions Delta sets.

What This Means for the HireVue ODVI

Nothing changes here. If you clear Monroe and FitMe, the HireVue on-demand interview arrives exactly as it always has: a fixed list of competency questions, a short prep window, and a one-way recording with no follow-ups. The STAR or SOAR structure that’s worked for this stage for years still applies without modification.

What’s changed is that candidates now have two AI-mediated conversations to prepare for instead of one, and they don’t test the exact same thing. Monroe opens with fit and lifestyle understanding before moving into its own competency questions. HireVue repeats that competency testing later, minus the follow-ups. Treating one as a substitute for the other, or skipping preparation for either, is the easiest mistake to make here.

What This Means for How You Prepare

• Don’t sit on the invitation. You have 7 days from the moment it lands, and it won’t reset if you miss the window, so don’t let it get buried in your inbox.
• Answer Monroe’s relocation and lifestyle questions honestly. These questions exist because adjusting to irregular hours, reserve, and being based away from home is one of the toughest parts of the first year for new hires. Delta isn’t trying to catch you out here, it’s making sure you’ve thought it through before you commit.
• Don’t skip STAR/SOAR prep just because Monroe comes first. Since Monroe’s second half includes situational questions, you need your competency stories ready earlier in the process than you might expect, not just for HireVue later on.
• Expect Monroe to follow up. Don’t treat your first answer as the end of the exchange. A follow-up isn’t necessarily a bad sign, it may just mean your answer opened a thread worth pulling.
• Keep preparing for HireVue as before. Nothing about that stage has changed. If you’ve prepared properly for Delta’s on-demand interview under the existing format, that preparation still holds.