
Why do YOU want to become Cabin Crew?
When you’re in your final interview it makes sense that you’ll be asked a question or questions about WHY the career of cabin crew applies to you.
You could just give a general answer here, about, the chance to travel and see new places, or the appeal of working in an environment that’s certain never to be boring!
These are all valid reasons. But they aren’t going to wow anyone and are likely to be pretty similar to the answers given by everyone else. So why not go further and really impress the interviewers with a bit of research into the role?
What might I be asked?
You’ll almost certainly be asked some form of this question…
‘Why do you want to become cabin crew?’
However there may be follow up questions to this!
A follow up question might ask what you feel you would either excel at or struggle with in the role.
Obvious parts of being cabin crew which you feel you might be good at might be providing excellent customer service, assisting passengers, and being constantly alert to health and safety risks.
However there are other things that you might not have thought about such as:
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- Handling onboard equipment such as the food and drink and duty-free trolleys – you never know when a spot of turbulence might hit so this can be trickier than you think!
- Selling duty-free products to customers is very important to some airlines (and you can usually receive commission on sales you personally make!).
- Filling out paperwork, including flight reports, and following strict and detailed pre and post flight checklists.
- Dealing with long and anti-social hours, changes to the roster at short notice to cover sickness or emergencies, and working over holiday periods and special occasions.
So if you think you might be excellent at sales, or are good at writing reports, bring this up as well as your abilities in areas such as customer service!
Don’t be afraid to answer honestly about something you feel you might struggle a little bit with – this won’t reflect badly on you!
The best thing to do is to follow it up with something positive – for example you might say you’re worried about making announcements over the PA to passengers, but that you feel that with training and practice you’ll look forward to overcoming this challenge.
In-Flight Challenges
Another popular question is about the challenges cabin crew face on a flight.
There’s a lot you could mention here, like upset or angry passengers, intoxicated passengers, nervous fliers and other things such as turbulence or problems with equipment or supplies on the flight.
However you could also mention things like having to help with upset children or babies, dealing with problems coming from cultural misunderstandings, or coping with medical issues or emergencies.
Keeping everything to the correct in-flight schedule is also very important, and can be tricky when unpredictable members of the public are involved!
With the long hours and potential for working on night shift there is also the issue of tiredness, both for you and your fellow crew – when someone is excessively tired this can cause issues with their duties and affect the whole team.
Career Expectations
You might well be asked about your salary and career expectations are.
Details of the salary for the role and any bonuses you can expect can be found easily online and on the airline’s website. Maybe the salary for your chosen airline is lower than others but the benefits appeal to you more – if this is the case don’t be afraid to tell the interview panel this!
It’s also easy to find out about the career progression options and post employment training opportunities online.
So if you see yourself having a long career with the airline and want to take advantage of this then let them know, and impress them with your interest and research!
The salary and training details will also be covered in any assessment days the airline holds – you’ll also get a chance to ask questions at these events too.
You can check out the articles in our Cabin Crew blog for insider knowledge on all aspects of the job.
Or for a more hands-on approach why not consider going on one of our Cabin Crew Courses These cover all aspects of the role and you’ll even get the chance to have a go at working with some of the equipment that cabin crew use daily!