We analysed some of the job descriptions from the five star airlines to establish what they look for when shortlisting recruits at the Open Day.

Emirates:
- Positive attitude;
- Adaptable to new people, new places and new situations.
- Heathy BMI;
- Confidence;
- Flexibility;
- Maturity;
- Friendly disposition;
- Genuine passion to help others;
- Uphold the values of Emirates: must be professional, empathetic, progressive, visionary and cosmopolitan.

Qatar:

- Outstanding customer service;
- Team working;
- Deliver to customers' expectations;
- Maintain high standard of personal presentation:
- Positive;
- Approchable;
- Professional;
- Work in a team to ensure quality results are achieved;
- High level standards;
- Outgoing personality;
- Good interpersonal skills;
- Can work in a multi-disciplinary team.

To prepare a cabin crew CV, you should ensure you take the following into account:

1.  Customer Service
Ensure you give examples of your greatest customer services skills on your CV.  Remember they are looking for exceptional customer service to every customer on board so don't just say on your CV: "showing them to their tables at the restaurants, taking orders and then serving food and refreshments to the customers".  - That just isn't going to impress them. They are not running a pizza fast food restaurant on board.  If you focus on job duties and responsibilities without sufficient information on achievements will do more harm to your CV.  Too much information on early jobs longer than 3 years ago will also not go down well.

2.  Team collaboration
You need to show how you build trust amongst your colleagues in your present firm.  Explain how you approach team collaboration in your present firm and what makes you a good team player where your manager has complimented you on good performance.  Give an example where your team performance exceeds expectations. 

3.  Communication skills
Don't just say you have strong communication skills.  You need to show examples here where your dealings with both customers and team members are exceptional.  Remember that listening skills and establishing the needs of your customers and delivering to their requests is what you need to focus on and give good exceptional examples here.

4.  Creating a great customer experience
Recall when you're at a pizza restaurant and you received an ok experience?  Well, what else could you do to make an additional impression to that customer? Recall a time when you turned a negative feedback into a good experience?

5. Friendly and positive
On the aircraft, you will be working unsocial hours, on night flights, what do you think you need to do to remain positive and friendly?  Give an example in your work experience where you had such an experience.

6. Constantly exceed expectations
Think about a time where you exceed expectations and include this on your CV.  

On average many CVs fail to give examples and this is why many people are sent home after the first round at the Open Day. 

Professional CV Writing

The belief that the individual is the best person to write their own CV is not always true.  Now why is that?  With many who are applying to the likes of Emirates and Qatar, English may not be their native language and even a minor slip-up in grammatical and spelling errors are quite unforgiving.  Instances such as incorrect use of English, poor structure of the CV and not knowing how best to highlight their relevant strengths mean they do not get seen even if they are truly capable people for the role. Writing skills are just as important.  Often we see standard templates being used and everyone having the same information on their CVs.  This just isn't going to impress the recruiters.

Secondly, many applicants are not aware of how they should be mapping their current skills to that required by the airlines.  Remember that every airline is different, and they aren't aware that they have to tailor each CV to the role they are applying for.

We offer an in-depth one-to-one consultation and spend time with each applicant to identify their key strengths and achievements for the role and edit out the unnecessary and irrelevant details from their previous experience.  By only highlighting what the recruiters want to see we make the applicant stand out.  We also choose the words with direct maximum impact for the cabin crew aviation industry.  And with our HR experience and insight into the aviation industry, we understand what they are looking for from the hundreds and thousands of CVs they see each week.

We also get the individual involved in parts of the CV writing so they find it easier to take ownership when we both agree on the final cabin crew version.

We also follow-up and provide tips for open day and assessment day, and one-on-one interview coaching for the final interview.  The ongoing support from your time of CV drop right through to the final interview would boost your confidence every step of the way.

Investing in a professional CV service can make an important difference in giving you the edge.