Thanks for coming!

It wasn’t a you, you, you and you situation, but close enough. The crew sounded apologetic as they thanked the rejected ones for coming today and informed them that they’d no longer be required. It was harsh to say the least but they had to be brutal I suppose. If you don’t make the cut you don’t make the cut. Of twenty only twelve remained after lunch. And I was lucky enough to be one of them.

By then it was well after 2pm and they had organised a schedule for the panel interviews. Six crew meant they could do three interviews at a time. I must admit I was relieved that I would only be sitting in front of two people and not three or four. All the jobs I’d previously held up until that point had barely even had interviews – I’d either been hired over the phone, on the spot or been recommended by a friend. This was a totally new experience for me.

My interview was going to be second last so I was in for a long wait. It was a stinking hot January day outside and even though the lure of an ice cold Coke at McDonalds down the road was tempting, I resisted, knowing something bad would happen and I’d get a flat tire coming back, or spill the drink all over my nice dress. So I stayed put and tried to make conversation with the others girls as we waited (that’s right – K had not been correct about M. He’d been sent packing and walked from the building with his shoulders slumped. As had K, much to her surprise – and mine. Just goes to show you experience isn’t always what employers are after!)

D was excited enough for all of us. “If they ask you to take a medical, you’re gonna fly girls, you mark my words!” I was feeling pretty stoked that I’d just got through to the panel interview. A medical was the last thing on my mind and seemed many, many steps away. All I was hoping for at that moment was that J and R – the super friendly crew member who’d taken down my passport details on arrival that morning – would be the ones who did my interview.

As we waited, we all could not help but discuss those who’d not made it. Everyone was shocked K had not made the cut and as the afternoon wore on, A, a member of ground staff at the middle eastern airline I mentioned earlier, had a few choice words to say about why she thought K hadn’t made it. I won’t repeat it, but as I sat there I thought it a shame they had actually chosen A to have an interview. Out of everyone there that day she was the only one I found unpleasant and unfriendly and up herself. And after she bagged out K to me as she fixed her perfectly styled hair I hoped today would be the last day I saw her.