Looking to gain a career as a Flight Attendant? 14 highly regarded qualities that Airlines look for

The Target Selection interview system for Flight Attendants, while not flawless is the favored selection process used by most airlines today in the recruitment of their flight attendants.
While each airline will have their own selected and tailored questions used during their Target Selection process, their purpose is to identify the preferred qualities of the airline in each flight attendant applicant.
Knowing what the highly regarded qualities of a flight attendant are and then being able to reflect on or demonstrate them during the course of the interview will obviously pay dividends in your chance of success.


So let's identify the 14 highly regarded qualities of flight attendants favored by airlines in potential flight attendants.

1. Energy
2. Initiative
3. Job fitness
4. Team work
5. Ability to learn
6. Motivational fit
7. Work standards
8. Communication
9. Time management
10. Tolerance for stress
11. Customer orientation
12. Following procedures
13. Job related knowledge
14. Situation analysis / judgment


Let's now explain what the first two, energy and initiative, and why these areas are important and what sorts of behavior or actions the interviewer will be assessing when trying to identify these areas.

ENERGY:

Consistently maintains a high productivity level over periods of long duration, irregular hours or unnatural biorhythmic times.
A Flight Attendant must effectively work at altitudes that place increased demands on their physical capacity to perform required duties. This is accentuated by irregular sleep patterns, differing time zones, periods of heavy work load through meal times and very often under time constraints and the need to meet passenger requirements.
Examples of activities/behaviors includes:

Maintains effectiveness through irregular duty hours, changes in climate, sleep patterns, and time zones

Maintains a high work productivity over long periods

Maintains consistency despite physical attributes of aircraft, varying work load and passenger demands

Effectively performs physical requirements of walking lifting, bending, pulling trolleys etc

INITIATIVE:

Self starter. Knows when things need doing and doesn't have to be told. Is acutely aware and proactive to achieve the required outcome.
A Flight Attendant works in an ever changing environment that dictates improvements are made to meet with various operational, service and safety demands and are given opportunities take appropriate action to suggest new ideas/strategies.
A Flight Attendant has to be flexible and adaptable and must possess a repertoire of customer service skills to adopt the most appropriate approach to a customer request/concern. A Flight Attendant must be able to adapt to these situations with ease, and provide an excellence in customer service. They should also be aware of the work load of team members and be proactive in their attempts to help others in the team when required.
Examples of activities/behaviors include:

Is pro active in removing potential problems

Is forthcoming with suggestions to improve performance/service

Is aware of difficulties and seeks solutions without being asked

Does more than they are asked and offers to help others

Can make a discretionary judgment within acceptable limits with little or no guidance
The other twelve listed highly regarded qualities that Airlines look for above are explained in full in the manual 'How To Become A Flight Attendant' which is available from FlightAttendantSecrets.com

About the Author

Tom Reincke has enjoyed an airline career for more than 16 years both domestically and internationally. Having been a Flight Attendant Cabin Manager for 7 years and a regular participant in Flight Attendant interviews, Tom has written a complete insiders guide to how to become a Flight Attendant which is available at: http://www.flightattendantsecrets.com