Flight attendants always catch men’s attention with their good looks. To women, this job seems to be very romantic since you get to travel the world. However, little do people know how hard it is to become a professional flight attendant and how difficult it is to get into the industry.
Since the job includes plenty of roles and duties, from being a waitress to a nurse, there is an abundance of skills that a flight attendant must obtain. Not to mention the huge competition of nearly 100 000 applicants sending their resumes every year.
Before you can serve the passengers and cater to their needs, you have to assure the hirer of your competence. A polished resume will ease this task. The companies that provide with the resume professional writers reviews and monitor the job market trends, say those job hunters who apply for specific or unusual positions, want to have a perfect resume. This is the way to prove the skills, certain experience and get the attention of the prospective hirer.
What are the specifics of being the flight attendant that make this job so attractive and yet so challenging?
Flight Attendant’s Duties
This is only an outtake from various flight attendant’s duties:
Keep the passengers and the staff safe, while maintaining the emergency equipment.
Illustrate the safety techniques and equipment, while making sure the passengers follow them precisely.
Make sure the passengers are welcomed and satisfied.
Greet and point passengers to their seats, while assisting them with their carry-ons placement.
Assist passengers with special needs to do aircraft operations.
React to medical situations onboard.
Education and Experience Requirements
A high-school diploma is a minimum that a job candidate needs to apply for a flight attendant job. Yet, those who have a college degree have the upper hand. Also, you are also obliged to conduct a three to six weeks formal practice training.
When it comes to the flight attendants, age means experience. Air-hosts must have at least two years of experience dealing with the public. Although the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hires people of minimum 18 years, some companies have stricter requirements about the age.
The FAA will check the future employees for all necessary job specifications. As a result, they will provide you with a certificate stating your physical condition (height and vision) and professional competence (the fact of formal training completion).
Do not forget that every prospective flight attendant must pass a special training program - it implies learning a lot of things, practical lessons and an exam.
Necessary Skills
The hard skills should match the job requirements and assure the duties performed. But there’s a number of soft skills flight attendants must learn to develop, such as:
Service orientation: being attentive to the passengers’ needs;
Interpersonal skills: reacting to and cooperating with passengers and co-workers. Empathizing the passenger’s mood and being able to assist;
Active listening: hear and respond to people’s needs;
Verbal communication: clearly instruct the passengers of the right safety actions;
Critical thinking: think calmly and logically in stressful situations; finding solutions under pressure.
How Flight Attendants Build Their Career Path
Having been certified to work on flights, your file is much more likely to be stored at least for one year before you can actually apply your skills. Because there’s no such staff turnover in the field as it was before, some flight attendants wait from five to ten years before there’s a vacancy or an extra flight.
Possible Drawbacks for Future Flight Hostesses
Inability to choose good flights and routes when you start off;
Working long hours, including weekends and holidays;
Having to deal with impolite or inadequate passengers;
Having to pass the initial background check and random drug test;
No chance for self-expression (tattoos or piercings) since the job requires a conservative look.
If you think that the job restrictions or demands are too high, think how you would do without a flight attendant on the plane. Only then can you see how much responsibility air hosts assume. If you’re sure of your flying dream job, look closely at the job enforcements and keep perfecting your skills till you meet the high standards of the flight attendant job.