The Waiting Game & OH Email!!!

Right after I went out of the room, I was trying to evaluate every single questions and what I could have said to make it sound better. The mixed feeling of being pretty sure that I totally nailed it 100% to feeling devastated that I didn’t do my best is a very normal thing after your FI. Waiting another 2-4 weeks for the result is the hardest part. Some people who attended the interview without bringing all the documents required had 7 days after the FI to email all the pending documents with certain email body, email subject, and details in order to keep your documents in track. All this details were given at the end of your AD Emirates also contacted certain candidates to retake their photos. Remember, your recruiter will present your application and interview to the HR in Dubai who can only see you on those photos, so make sure you gave your best shots. Honestly, after the 3rd day of my FI, I checked on my submission status on the Emirates website which of course showed no difference since the last time I updated them after my AD. It still says “Completed”

I randomly checked on my the Emirates website one afternoon even though I just had it checked in the morning, apparently it became my obsessive to check on my status every day and night, it really is unnecessary. And there it goes, for the first time (that I knew of) my submission status changed into “Interview Completed” only 9 days after the FI, Some girls got their status changed, some not.

Submission status is NOT something you can rely on. I found out along the way that IC status could be a good sign that 80% chance you would eventually get an OH, but there are also some people who got IC status and still got UM. As well as no changes to the status would not guarantee that you would accept UMs, I know some people who didn’t have their status changing into IC and still got their OH, sometimes it changed straight into JFIP, and getting GC on the next day, it is a very rare case but it sometimes happens. Emirates is always full of suprises!! So help yourself by staying positive throughout the process, and whatever the outcome is, accept with good attitude :)

While waiting for my result, I started to do my research on Emirates cabin crew blogs and social media accounts, Trying to compare the timeline and what to do after FI. Timeline is also very different one person to another, but you cannot rely on it as it really depends on many factors.

Exactly 2 weeks later after the FI (March 9th, 2015), some girls in my WhatsApp group said they have got emails from Emirates, unfortunately it’s the Unsuccessful Emails, I was really sad as those girls were really beautiful and lovely, at the same time I was checking my email hoping no emails coming in from them that day.

On March 12th, 2015, when I least expected it and was overwhelmed with my workload, a girl in the WhatsApp group said she got her On Hold mail. I was really excited for her and went straight into my inbox, where there is an email from Emirates Group Career with a subject Emirates Group Application. I instantly knew this is the email I was waiting for. But I was too nervous to open it. After staring into my computer’s screen too long, I decided to open it and it says …

Congratulations! Getting your OH means that you (almost) got the job. All you need to do is sit back and wait for your Golden Call, that normally happens within 1-2 months, again it depends on the training slots, your nationality, gender and else, you could get your GC within few weeks or up to 3 months. For guys it takes longer time, because they only have very few slots for guys on each training batches.

While waiting patiently for your GC, you can do several things:

• Checking the Medical Forms, doing research on what you can do to prepare beforehand.

I know many people said that you will still have plenty of time to take care of that once you get your GC. I’m thinking the other way round. As the workload is getting crazy, I’m thinking to do whatever I could just for the peace of mind. I went to my dentist one week after my OH mail, only to find out that I needed to remove a wisdom teeth and filled in some cavities. Which is good, so next visit to my dentist, I only need a cleaning treatment and asked him to fill in the dental form. I also went to get my blood taken and check on some things I’m worried of. You don’t need to do this if you don’t want to. Honestly, I wouldn’t suggest you to pay anything before your GC, unless you are really concerned about it and you know it might take time to fix it.

For example, if you got your blood test results that is unacceptable, you still have time to fix it by eating healthy food and doing strict diet on your intake.

Another thing you can do is make a checklist on what kind of vaccinations you had taken or you should get before flying out to Dubai. Yellow fever vaccine is mandatory prior to joining, and in some countries it can also be very low in stock, so better to do your research on where you can get all the vaccinations needed and the time frame needed, and of course how much you will spend on it. As all of the medical check up that you do at home and vaccinations are all under your expenses.

• Reading the Emirates workbook

This 44 page workbook consists of everything you need to know about Emirates and your job, Just like the title, it prepares you to take off on your exciting journey to Dubai. Information from an insider, try to learn and memorize the alphabets, aviation terminology, and airport codes. They are the most useful information you could learn for the training and exams. Let me warn you, there are sooo many of codes and terminology you have to familiarize yourself with. Learn, learn, and learn! This is what you signed up for ;)

Final Interview

So the day finally came, after waiting almost 2 months for the Final Interview, I felt my AD had passed long ago already. Even half of my batch already got their OH mail on mid of January. I was really happy for them but also nervous about my upcoming FI.

Luckily I have such a long time to prepare myself by reading more blogs, asking some people who already got their OH mails on tips for the interview, and I also had time to make casual photos, I ended up bringing 10 photos to the FI and my lovely recruiter helped me choosing the best ones she liked the most. I also managed to review my previous experiences in all sort of things, from organization experiences in college to current working experiences, trying to pick up some good samples for different questions.

Documents to bring for Final Interview:

• Complete online Psychometrics Test (the link will be given prior to the FI)
• Fill in the Pre-Joining Administration Form (will be given prior to the FI)
• 2x colored passport photocopy
• Updated resume (no cover letter needed)
• 1x formal full-length photo 10×15 cms or 4×6 inches
• 8x passport size photo 4.5×3.5cms or 1.5×2 inches
• 1x casual full-length photo 10×15 cms or 4×6 inches
• 1x casual close up photo 10×15 cms or 4×6 inches
• Photocopy of (highest) educational certificate

My Final Interview was scheduled on Feb, 23rd, 2015 at 12:15 PM. I wanted to show up early as usual. I woke up early, had breakfast, also tied my hair in a low bun, exact shoes as I wore to the OD/AD, red lipstick, and red nail polish but this time I decided to wear a dark grey shift dress and a blazer. As I thought that I would be more confident wearing this dress ;)

I arrived at 11:00 PM, asked to the concierge where the interview was held and went to bathroom to freshen up before going to the meeting room. I met a friend who had the interview schedule before me. And since the first candidate showed up late, the schedule was pushed back a bit. When the recruiter finished with the first person and invited in the second girl, she surprised to see me already waited outside the room and quickly asked is it okay if I had to wait a bit longer because we’re running late and if I had time. I answered no problem at all, with my biggest smile :D I can tell that she looked pretty happy that I showed up early, and had a really good manner by asking me if I had time or not. Well OF COURSE I had all the time in the world for an opportunity to interview with Emirates ;)

I checked on my make up once again, read through some Q&A I have prepared and learned during the waiting process. When she invited me in, she opened the door and let me through which I thanked her to show my appreciation. She greeted me nicely: “Hello! How are you?” I felt a great relieved after that. We sat between 2 desks in the middle and she started with small talks like asking if this hotel is actually located in Jakarta or outside of the city, because it is actually one hour away from Jakarta, so she was pretty confused about it. I sat up straight and put my hands on the desk while waiting her sipping her coffee.

After a little chit-chat, she went through a check list of my documents, I was glad that I had all of them in hand, so I wouldn’t need to email her later. She only picked out 2 casual photos out of 10 that I brought. Then she explained that she would ask me few questions regarding my past experiences, something that I had actually done, NOT something that I would have done. If you haven’t had such experience, don’t worry and be honest to her.

I learned that this is called behavioral interview that should be answered using STAR technique to make us easier structuring our answers.

Here are the questions she asked me:

1. Can you recall a time when you bend the rules/went extra miles for a customer?
2. Can you recall a time when you gave an idea to your boss? How did your boss react?
3. Can you recall a time when you had a conflict with your co-workers?
4. Have you ever worked with people from different cultures?
5. How you adjust dealing with people from different cultures?
6. Have you ever had to adapt to new environment at work?
7. Can you recall a time when you were feeling disappointed?

As you can see the questions are pretty personal, so you could never find the answers anywhere else, unless you review on what you had done in your past experiences.

For example, I answered yes, I had an experience regarding to question #1 and she asked further details on how I did it and why, how was the customer reaction and how my boss reacted on it, she wanted to know everything. I’m working in a restaurants business, when there was one customer called me and asked for my help. Then I had to go beyond my scope of practice to help the customer and I did it because she is our loyal customer, so I didn’t want to disappoint her. And she felt very happy as I granted her wish.

I tried to answer the questions using the Situation-Task-Action-Result Technique to keep it short and clear.

Another example, answering #7, I tried to think of a non-working related experience, as disappointment might be misunderstood as dislike towards my current employer, and I wouldn’t want to bad mouth my employer, BIG NO NO in an interview, DON’T ever do that, no matter how bad the situation is. I came up with an answer explaining about my religion activity experience where I didn’t get a role on a performance so I felt really disappointed, but that’s just a fair thing because I missed some practices due to my workload. I managed to still come and join the practices weekly and I finally got the role because they saw how determined I was. She asked (again) in details on what made me feel disappointed, why did I think I wasn’t chosen, and how did I overcome the situation.

And that’s all, to wrap it up, she asked if I had questions for her. I asked her name because she didn’t introduce herself at the beginning (different recruiter on the AD and FI), then I asked if all my answers were clear enough or not, only to show my politeness. But she smiled and said “Sorry I can’t provide you any feedback. You will get the result in 2-4 weeks” I understood that she had misinterpret my question and didn’t want to take it any further so I said sorry and I thanked her for her time, shook her hand, and made my way out. 40 minutes of interview felt longer inside that room.