Sara shares her Emirates open day, assessment day and final interview experience

Our client Sara writes:

First of all.. I want to thank Dave who helped me through this process!!

This is my story.. a bit long but hopefully it will help all of you who are going to your Open Days and Assessment Days.

I wanted to apply in May but I was not feeling ready.. something was telling me not to apply, then I saw that Emirates was holding another Open Day in June and that there was no Open Day in August. This was my chance. Now or never!

The CV was my biggest problem. I don't have much of work experience but I do have 6-7 years of practice experience in the kitchen.. and only two months as a hostess/waitress. 

My CV was not perfect but I did my best. Dave reviewed and I went for the professional CV writing service that he offered. I did it!

Next step: clothes... I had a huge problem finding the outfit because I was
1. On a budget 
2. It was hard to find what I was looking for
3. There wasn't my size..
But the very last minute I did it!

Then there were pictures.. I did it the first time.. and I wasn't happy.. So I came to Dave for advice and I am happy I did and went for his photo editing service. He offers an urgent 24 hour service which was great! Now all we had to do is wait for tomorrow.

The big day came... and so did my period. Because of some problems I had, I couldn't take the pills.. I had to suck it up and keep smiling.

Open Day: So.. our recruiter was Milena. I only heard bad things about her from people who didn't pass the CV drop off (first stage) but I didn't want to believe the bad rumours. 

She gave us the code we had to scan before entering the room. There we watched two presentations 
1. About Emirates
2. About the life in Dubai

After that we were placed in a line to sign the paper before standing in another line to drop off our CV's.
When it was my turn, I smiled brightly.. it wasn't a fake one.. it was an honest smile.. I was happy to be at my first Open Day.

Milena asked me a question but because it was too loud behind me, I nicely asked her if she could repeat it, which she did.. I thanked her and answer to the simple question "what do you do?". She thanked me, I thanked her and walked away smiling. What I didn't notice was that she turned to look at me walking away. 

We waited for about an 1.5-2h. She came out and said that the names that are highlighted arw the ones who moved to the AD. Out of 150, only 50 passed. I was one of them. I was number 23 and my new one was 12! I really thought I didn't pass because I couldn't hear the question.

We had a small break, before getting invited to the first part of the AD. We were divided in two groups and had to have 2-3 partners for the test. We were given a picture (everyone had a different) with a scenario and 3 questions we had to answer, after introducing ourselves. 

The point here is not to look at the recruiter, to keep smiling, to keep calm, never say "I", it's always "we, our team"!
My problem was, I forgot to introduce myself.. I was sure I failed.

After that game, we walked outside and waited for 20min for the results. Out of 50 people, only 30 passed and I was one of them! Then we did the reach test, talked about the scars, tattoos, birthmarks etc.

The next day was the AD aswell. We were divided in 3 groups (10 people).
Now it was the roleplay part. We were given the same card to read and discuss the following scenario:

Two pilots had a chocolate cake, which they didn'y want so they gave it to us to give to only 1 passenger out of 6:

1. Honeymoon couple
2. Blogger/Vlogger
3. Our often business passenger
4. First times Emirates passenger, happy to be flying with us
5. Pregnant woman
6. Unsatisfied passenger that's nagging through entire flight. 

We couldn't vote and we had 10 minutes. Starting now!

There arw no right or wrong answers.. remember to wait your turn, talk but not much, don't interrupt anyone and never ever say "let's vote!"

Now, after agreeing and disagreeing we chose the pregnant woman, even tho we didn't even consider her as our top 3.
Then, Milena began roleplaying every passenger that didn't get the cake.

To be honest, it's important not to argue, stay calm, don't have the jitters and smile a little while trying to offer something else.
And yet, the idiot I am... I said "You are very important to us. We are thankful to have you onboard.. but sadly we had to give to a pregnant woman.. if we can get you anything else.. another dessert.. or a drink from our bar free of charge.. please let us know.." something I was sure would send me home. We had to wait 15 minutes outside.. then.. the moment of truth... Milena walked out and thanked everyone, did a small speach and placed the paper with the numbers who passed.
Out of 10 (from my group) only 4 of us passed!

We waited for other two groups.. and out of 30 only 15 passed. Then we had to sign some papers, do personality and English test at home and wait for our Final interview.

Now, a week passed.. and no feedback on the tests... we were worried.. so everyone sent them an email day before the Final interview and they replied within few hours.

My first final interview was on 9th at 9am. I was ready, prepared and excited! I was smiling from ear to ear.. the recruiter Anastasia even saw that.. and first thing she said is that I had a nice smile and that she could see how excited I was!
BUT we had some problems... 
My first FI experience:

The very first time I was supposed to have it was on 9th of July at 9am. My recruiter was Anastasia. She could hear and see me but sadly I couldn't see her. So we had to try again. The tech support sent me another email, I logged in and the interview started again but now she couldn't hear and see me. Again, she talked to the tech support and told me that my FI is moved to 16th of July with a new recruiter, Julie.
An email came around 6am on 15th that my interview was at 7am (my time). Alright, no problem.

The day of the FI came. I was so excited. I never had any trouble with jitters, thank god.
Julie was a sweet lady, very polite and just welcoming.

The very first question she asked me was: when did I do my tests because it said that I did it three times.. 8th of July, 9th of July and 15th of July... I got so confused and I told her on the 8th... which was a mistake.. I did it on 30th of June.. but again.. I was confused.

Moving on: 1. She asked me to tell her about the situation when I had to be a team leader, then some other questions (what was my advice for my younger colleagues, why was I in charge, why were they put on the VIP ssection if they didn't have any previous experience)

2. She asked me the time I did something nice for the guest (she was looking at my cv work experience) eventho I didn't have to do it.

3. She asked me about the situation where I had to be organized.. she asked me that twice.

4. Then she asked me about the time where I suggested an idea at work.

5. The time I had to exchange a very important information. 

6. And finally why I want to be a cabin crew.

Now, with the information question I said that one guest ordered a special meal, I told the cooks that but they messed it up.. i noticed it and quickly had to make everything right.. she asked me why did they mess up? Was it my fault? Did i explain everything to them.. and things like that.. I'm scared I messed up with that... but oh well..

She was asking so much questions.. and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not..
For some questions it took me a minute to think of the situation because I was not sure if I had one like that or not..

Her face expression was a bit serious and/or disappointed.. I'm not even sure..

She told me that my results will be in 4-6 weeks..

Please do not make the same mistakes as me.. please have a good night sleep, prepare the answers days before and always smile (to show your teeth, not just a regular smile)..

They called me one morning for the scar pictures.. I sent that.. then the next day for my diploma.. since it was friday.. and i was not in Belgrade (where my college is.. they have my high scho diploma), I had to wait for today (monday) to go to BEG and scan the diploma. I woke up pretty early to see an email from the at 5am (my time), just a reminder that I had to send it.

I quickly got onto the bus, to college, scanned and sent it. Then came home and relaxed.

Soooo... I was just listening to music and decided to check on my status online. Last time I checked it was "interview complete" but now... it was "joining formalities in progress"!!!! OMG 😍 soooo excited!
Hoping for the best!

For those of you who want to follow Sara, our client’s footstep, we can assist with CV writing and photo editing, click on the order button today.

Our client, Sara, tells her story of the Emirates Open Day, Assessment Day and Final interview