Prepare for the Cabin Crew Aptitude Tests, Interview Questions & Assessment Day

Becoming a flight attendant is a rigorous process as the life of a cabin crew member is demanding. Therefore airlines use a challenging recruitment process for cabin crew candidates that can include both aptitude tests and interviews. To help you be successful at each stage of the process, this article goes through the major steps providing useful advice and preparation materials.

The online application is the first opportunity the airline has to get to know you so they ask you to provide your basic details, academic and work history. There are also questions concerning the criteria you need to meet in order to become a cabin crew member such as your height and language abilities. Remember to include all languages you speak as they can give you an advantage. Some applications ask a number of short competency questions while others ask you to give long answers to one question, such as “Why do you want to be a member of the cabin crew?”

Many airlines require candidates to complete one or more aptitude tests, usually verbal and numerical reasoning. These tests look at your skills and abilities in dealing with different types of information. As the tests can determine whether or not you proceed in the recruitment process, practice is essential.

Verbal reasoning tests look at your ability to understand and analyse information delivered in a written form. Note that these tests are different from the English language tests you may have to take later in the process. During the test, you are given a short text to read and then questions to answer. The questions can either be multiple choice question related to your comprehension of the text or statements related to the test where your task is to determine whether they are true, false, or cannot say.

Numerical reasoning assessments are a chance to test your numeracy skills.You are presented with various pieces of numerical information, often displayed in a graph or table, followed by a number of questions relating to the data. Your task is to use the data and basic numerical functions to answer the questions.

All airlines hold an assessment day for cabin crew applicants. Most assessment days have three major activities: a group exercise, a reach test and an interview. Some assessment centres may include further tests, such as an assessment of your English language skills (for non-native English speakers only) or further aptitude tests. The day will also be your opportunity to learn about the airline and the job so make sure to arrive ready and well rested so you can focus on the tasks and presentations.

Tip: Many applicants are advised to dress the part of a cabin crew member at the assessment day so find out what the dress code is and do you best to meet the standards for the assessment day.

As the majority of the work you will be doing as a flight attendant will be with a team, the group exercise is a crucial part of the assessment day. Airlines use a variety of team building exercises to help them determine both your skills in a group setting and your leadership skills. During the exercise, make your voice heard but be careful not to take over the group in anyway. 

As mentioned earlier, cabin crew members have to meet certain height requirements. At the assessment day you are asked to perform a reach test to check that you can reach the required height of 212 cm.

Many airlines such as Emirates ask candidates who come from a non-English speaking background to sit an English language test to see if their fluency is at the level they expect it to be. Note that you need to pass this test in order to move on in the process. If you are feeling nervous about your fluency in English, do not fret. Get our PrepPack™ and give yourself the lift you need

The final part of each assessment day is the interview, which consists of a mix of general knowledge, competency and motivational questions. Remember that this is your last opportunity to make a good impression so take advantage! Before your interview, think about why you have chosen this career path and this airline. Make sure to give specific reasons for choosing this airline over others as this is something recruiters are very interested in. Read up on the airline to get a good sense of its history.

• Why have you chosen this career?
• Why have you chosen this airline?
• Give an example of a time when you worked with a team to achieve a goal successfully.
• What would you do if you saw another cabin crew member mistreating a customer?

Each airline chooses a test provider to supply the aptitude tests you will be asked to take. Two major companies are Kenexa and cut-e but you may be given test supplied by other providers.