Employers are always keen to see how you would respond in real-life scenarios. Role-plays are a great way to do this, as they provide an excellent opportunity to simulate situations you could find yourself in if you land the job.
Before each exercise you will be given clear instructions on what is expected of you so don’t worry, you won’t be thrown in at the deep end! You will also be given a set of instructions to read through carefully so you can prepare and think about how you will handle the situation. You will however still need to demonstrate your ability to think on your feet, so do expect to feel a bit nervous, it’s natural when you are under pressure, and your assessors will take any anxiety into account. Do remember though, that you are being assessed and how you appear to handle your nerves is likely to be something you will be evaluated on too, so try not to let your nervousness get the better of you.
The other person/people involved the role-play exercise(s) will either be actors or airline personnel (often assessors). However once you throw yourself into the given scenario it is likely you will almost start believing that they are the ‘character’ they are playing! So don’t worry! The role-players have a script and guidelines to follow which won’t be obvious to you during the exercise. Their script is designed to encourage you to respond to certain things they say or do. How you react and respond will determine how well you are rated.
So, if for example the role-play exercise involves you handling a ‘challenging passenger’, how you respond to that passenger, will affect your exercise overall score. So for example if you get aggressive or confrontational you will be marked down. If you handle them firmly but diplomatically you will be scored positively. Remember that you will be assessed on several skill areas so don’t worry if you feel like you haven’t done well in one particular area, there is always scope to make it up in other areas. It is unusual for candidates to score really well in every aspect of every assessment; it is your palette of skills that the selection team are really interested in.
Role-plays exercises assess you on skills and personality traits that are important for doing the job really well. For example how you:-
The role-play will assess you on the core skills you need to have to be an effective cabin crew member. It’s important for you and your employers to know if you have what it takes and that’s what a role-play is all about- a ‘real life’ opportunity to shine!
It is most likely that the scenario will be set in a ‘cabin crew’ environment. Sometimes assessment tests are set in a different context. This is to make it fair to everyone, irrespective of whether they have cabin crew experience already. If this is the case, don’t be thrown off track; the scenario might look a little different but the skills you are being tested on will be the same. Remember you will be told what the scenario will be before you start!
Remember!For some airlines you will need to pass the first session of the assessment day in the morning in order to progress to the second part of the assessment process in the afternoon. |
With lots of examples and tips the expert advice will help you to perform at your best and give you the inside view in to what the recruitment team are looking for in these types of assessments.