At the Open Day, both Emirates and Qatar recruiters will either use the HR application software to scan and shortlist CVs or do it manually when there are less people in attendance.

Emirates have made it known at their Open Day that they receive near 10,000 CVs a month from hopeful applicants and they only recruit less than 5% of that total. Shocking isn’t it? Whether your CV gets scanned by an application software or by the recruiters themselves, you need to first know what makes a CV a good match for the Emirates or Qatar cabin crew job.

Never use the same CV that you apply for other jobs, it just would not work. A cabin crew CV is unique as both Emirates and Qatar are looking for specific skills, experience and requirements. You really need to invest your time and draft a CV that matches your transferable skills to their requirements.

Your personal details

Ensure you include all your contact details. It may sound obvious but I have come across CVs with no email addresses. Emails are widely used today as the preferred form of communication. Without an email address could mean your CV goes straight into the bin.

Emirates have stated height, normal BMI and fluency in English as key requirements, so you give yourself extra points if this is on your CV. It is easier for them to scan and filter those with the relevant information than to place your CV in the “May be” or “Bin” stacks.

Your date of birth and nationality are important key fields too especially when they have their own internal recruitment guidelines on these two fields.

Your Education details

Never forget to provide the full names of your schools from age 16 upwards, the dates of when the examinations were taken, and the name of the examining body. Emirates have stated a minimum educational level of Grade 12, so please state the local examinations you sat and passed were Grade 12 equivalent. Yes, please provide your grades. They don’t know if you passed those subjects and examinations if you have not stated your grades.

If you have a university degree, state the degree awarded and the details. However, if you have completed or part completed the university studies without having taken the final examinations, then leave it out altogether. It is likely to be a negative score for you if you have not completed it.

Your Employment History

Show your list of employers in chronological order, and ensure the last 5 years of your employment is shown, accounting for any gaps in employment. For each employer, show the job title, the name of the company you worked for, along with the start and end dates. Provide details of your key responsibilities and achievements. Do not list down the job procedures. You will not stand out by listing procedures.

Keep their job requirements next to you when planning and drafting your cabin crew CV. Highlight the skills and requirements that they are looking for,

CV Format

Don’t use colourful borders or designs as they cannot be read by the HR recruitment software. Both Emirates and Qatar have asked for business CVs so it means presenting your CV in a conservative traditional style. Remember you are not joining a creative or media industry so best to keep all black text on white paper. Do not insert your photo on the CV. It is distracting, and Emirates / Qatar have already mentioned they want the photos separate from the CV. In terms of presentation, do ensure bullet points for the responsibilities and achievements all line-up in a nice straight line.

CV Length

Ensure your CV does not exceed 2 pages. A 1 page CV also known as a resume is too short if you have good experience that you can sell as transferable skills.

Skills

Do I need a section on skills? You can but it is worthless if you list down all the skills without sufficient backing evidence.

So don’t just say I am a teamworker and work well in a team - instead say, our team meets each morning, allocate the tasks for the day, and we get briefed on possible things that could arise.

Each quarter, we write CVs for hundreds of candidates preparing for their Open Day and Assessment Day, and help them through this hurdle.

If you are finding difficulty writing a stunning CV for yourself and need our help, send us your CV today and state in the body that you are interested in a professionally written CV.