Emirates Airlines: Ipams Pre-Screening

It was a long time of punching in my personal information at Emirates’ Website before finally completing the online application form, which started out my journey to becoming Emirates Cabin Crew.

After a few days, I received an SMS message inviting me to attend a pre-screening for Emirates.

PRE-SCREENING
This is the first stage of the elimination process. Pre-screenings are primarily done by the airline’s agency. In my case, the agency handling Emirates Airlines in my country is IPAMS.

>Wearing my best corporate attire, my hair tied back, and my court-heeled shoes trotting along the entry gateway, I grasped my envelope containing all the things they needed - and some additional documents they might ask for. Inside Ipams office were a number of green seats reminiscent of an airport waiting area. I headed for the first desk person I saw and handed out my documents.

“Please take a seat, we will call you out in a moment.”

Around me were some people staring at their shoes or at the ceiling – the same aspiring hopefuls such as I was. I smiled weakly towards them and they nervously nodded in acknowledgment of my attempt for some sort of ally. But silence filled the room as one by one got called.

Then, it was my turn. I was made to enter a tiny room with two chairs facing each other and some type of measuring contraption by the wall beside the door. The recruiter had a nice face and a small frame, but her voice and stare were so cold it made my lips quiver into an awkward grin. I was sitting directly in front of her as she started to scrutinize every flaw I had. I never felt so mortal in my life! This was the part where they eliminate you base on the impact you can make- the total package. This was the GROOMING ASSESSMENT.

“You have a pimple.”

“It will be gone in 3 days”, I blurted out. I always had this tiny bump somewhere whenever it was my “time” of the month, but it usually disappears in a day or two.

“Your teeth are a bit discolored”

Okay, so I don’t have chiclet-white teeth but they’re white for goodness sake! I don’t even know why this woman was complaining. My nostrils flared a little as I restrained myself from saying it was calcium! What I managed to say was,

“That’s easy to whiten, if you insist that I must”

“Please stand up, take out your blazer, and hold out you hands….ok…now raise your skirt high up please……ok……”

HAH! You’ll never find a scar on me you witch! Fortunately, because my mom always watched over me when I was little, I have never had a scar of any kind on me. I always had nice elbows and knees; and my hands and feet are slender and smooth like my dad's.

“Now, please try to reach this line up here...just above the door… “

Emirates require that you reach a minimum of 212cm… which was no problem for me. It was necessary that you could reach emergency equipments stored on board the aircraft.

“Ok, please wait outside. We’ll call out for you again for your pre-screening interview.”

An hour or so, I got called in again by this guy with my resume in his hand. He had the usual questions though, nothing out of the blue or anything weird.

I gave short but precise answers. I didn’t want the interview to take too long. I felt that the more I kept things to myself, the fewer mistakes I could make.

“Indeed. Alright then, expect my e-mail before the assessment. It would contain the venue and the list of what you need to bring.”

HAH! There!

ASSESSMENT DAY
A few weeks passed, I was parking my car in front of this old building with its painted white wall chipping in all places. But there were crowds buzzing about, making their way into this cramped entrance room. Everywhere, you’d see dads, stage moms, boyfriends, girlfriends, cheering for their loved ones who were about to enter the enormous room- where only the invited candidates were allowed inside. As I made my way through, alone, I felt my morale deflate. Every now and then, I would feel some eyes of proud moms on me – apparently sneering, thinking that their daughters were more qualified than I was. It bothered me actually. But nevertheless, I knew, this was not a competition amongst the candidates. This was an assessment. You’ll fail not because the other candidates are more qualified than you are, but because the airline representatives did not see that you possess the skills they were looking for in potential flight attendants.

I smiled to myself. This- whatever it might lead to- I will try to enjoy.

We were given numbers. Since it was alphabetical by surname, I was candidate number 14. LOL. Much like a beauty pageant huh?

We were divided into groups. And we were then asked to form into circles.

This is the 1st Group Dynamics and my 2nd elimination process. The recruiters would be going around outside my group circle-like vultures- observing, taking notes, and keeping silent as they watch each and every one perform. We were given set of questions that we must answer one by one in turns.

It took a while before we could finish everyone in the group. Then we had another activity where we had to discuss a certain topic and do some short presentation.

After all the activities, we were made to wait for their decision. One by one, we were called out by our numbers and were given this folded piece of paper. My number and the emirates logo were the only prints visible. The result was hidden in the fold.

You know how it feels like when you don’t want to dive in the pool, expecting the water to be cold beyond your threshold? That’s how it felt like for me... but I wanted to get it done with. So I held my breath…

“Thank you for your interest..blah blah…”
I remember thinking to myself, ok get over it, what to do now?
"…..Congratulations, you’ve made it to the next process…."
Huh?! Can someone read this for me? I don’t think I’ve read it right.

There were some commotions… a lot of crying and giddy giggles... some had violent comments...

This was Emirates. It could do this to you.

Those who made it were asked to come again inside. This time we were only around 20% of the original candidates who were taking the written exam. It was easy – I had to focus on the essay because I knew it would have a huge bearing on the result. We had to go through the same process of elimination again.

Our last group dynamics required us to do some decision making. We had to be divided into 2 groups of hopefuls again, well, what’s left of us anyway.

It was difficult going through all the activities. It was intense and all the time I felt the weight of the stares as I made my point in some of the discussions. But I tried my best not to let my anxiety affect my judgments.

As the Emirates staff entered their private discussion room to decide the final candidates who would move on to the final interview, most of us became restless. We were so near yet so far. When they came out it was so quiet the “thud thud” of their shoes as they positioned themselves in front were echoing all over the cavernous room. What started early and bright ended in a sullen sunset. We were all weary and almost close to giving up from all the mental hurdles we had to go through. Even my “natural” smile turned into a nasty grin as I forced myself to bear a few more minutes of butt-sizzling torture.

They made a short speech, acknowledging everyone who attended the assessment, and asking those who won’t make it to try again next time. We did the small paper thingy elimination again. And what was left of us was given a pack. This pack contained some forms and lists. The first page was yellow and it had a gold Emirates logo embossed on it.

“Wow,” I said “I don’t know what this is for, but it looks mighty important.” LOL

Everyone finally managed to let out hearty laughs as they scanned some of its pages. The staff finally told us that they were invitation for a final interview which would be held in a different venue 2 days from then. It also contained a bunch of forms that we needed to fill out and bring with us.

The Emirates staff, finally free of their “intimidation tactics”, were quite warm and friendly after all. They were laughing with us, making jokes and smiling from ear to ear.

FINAL INTERVIEW

It was quicker than I anticipated. I was in a small room with only one emirates staff asking me some questions about my work history and future plans. It only lasted half an hour and I was already done with my one-on-one final interview.

It was 2 weeks after the final interview that I received their call that I passed it. And that I can move on with my medicals.

PRE-JOINING FORMALITIES

It was really scary, to go through medical. The e-mail that was sent to me by Emirates had a lot of medical forms that I needed to accomplish. It took me 2 weeks to finish everything. I even had to have one of my wisdom tooth extracted because it might cause some problems in the future. But now I’m glad that I’m done with it. Hopefully I will get to leave for Dubai with a fellow candidate I was with.