Updates, Delays and Coronavirus

Readers, prepare for take-off! Hello again and welcome back! Alright, a lot has happened since my last post, ya know, 10 months ago. So, I'm going to explain what has been happening the past 10 months.

In May of 2019 I graduated college with a B.A. in Music-Vocals and a few weeks later had my first face to face interview with a major U.S. airline. I was offered a CJO (conditional job offer meaning I would need to complete training before officially being offered a job) a few hours after the interview through email. Since my interview was in the Summer I knew I would not be able to start training for awhile seeing as most airlines retrain they current flight attendants in the Summer. They told me I would most likely start sometime between October at the earliest and Spring 2020 at the latest. They hardly communicated with me throughout this time of waiting and finally in November 2019 I received an email asking me to start training in December in Houston, TX. I was not feeling settled about this decision at the time and decided to turn down their offer. Let me explain why...

During this time I moved to Huntsville, AL to live with my Great Aunt and Uncle and got a job working as a Museum Guide at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center which has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I entered this job thinking it was just going to be a cool summer job to get some cash and learn some interesting stuff about the space program. This job has been so much more than I could have imagined. I have learned so much about our space history and current space programs and have developed a new passion for all things space which came as a big shock to me seeing as I was a music major and despite being born in Huntsville, had absolutely no knowledge of space history. Here I get to give tours, lead field trips, do live shows and presentations, teach different lab activities, run simulators, rides, virtual reality and rock wall activities and assist guests around the museum. I also became a volunteer usher with the Von Braun Center and have been able to work with Broadway
Theater League, Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, Huntsville Ballet, Fantasy Playhouse, Theater Huntsville and Lyrique Music Productions. I have been able to attend and lead worship at my home church which is an enormous blessing. I was also able to participate in a local theater company "Fantasy Playhouse" in their production of "Cinderella". All of this to say that I have developed roots, strengthened relationships with family and am a part of a community, so ditching all of that for something I was still feeling uncertain about did not appeal to me at the time. However, I knew I wanted a change sometime in the next few months.

Just a few weeks later in December I had my second face to face interview with a different major U.S. airline and was offered a CJO on the spot. Firstly, let me say that I had no expectations of actually receiving an offer from this company and was pleasantly surprised when I was offered a position. There were about 45 of us at the interview and around 15 of us were offered CJOs by the end of the interview. They mentioned that our training would most likely be between February and May of 2020 because their January classes were already full. In January I was asked to sign up for a training date with the earliest slot being March 2nd and the latest being March 30th. I signed up for the March 30th slot for the 6 week training meaning I would graduate May 8th in Atlanta, GA. They officially confirmed my spot at training the first week of March. By now I am sure you can see where this story is going...

On March 11th COVID-19 or Coronavirus has been declared a global pandemic and with that declaration many places have been shut down with the recommendation that less than 10 people gather in one place at a time. So, it is to be assumed that my training will be postponed. Some speculate training will be postponed 6 months. Others are saying training will be postponed until 2021. The company officially emailed me today, March 20th, saying training will be postponed for the "foreseeable future".

I received another email this morning from the CEO of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center stating that after a 2 week period our last day of pay will be March 30th until the Museum reopens. I am fortunate to work at a company that was able to pay their employees 2 weeks even after being closed. With all of these changes with my FA training I am lucky enough to be able to rescind my notice at the Space and Rocket Center and can hopefully start my job back soon when the Museum reopens after quarantine.

I know this is a very trying and confusing time for so many people. If anyone needs to talk during this time please feel free to reach out. People need other people. Now more than ever.

           “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known
             suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. 
             These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that 
             fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people 
             do not just happen.”
                     -Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

On behalf of Kirsten's Aviation Station, I’d like to thank you for joining me on this journey and I look forward to seeing you on board again in the near future. Have a nice day!

Flight Attendant Video/Phone Interview Process

Readers, prepare for take-off! Hello again and welcome back! Today I wanted to share with y'all my experience with flight attendant video interviews! Later on, I will be sharing a second post on tips for the video/phone interview!  I have completed a few video interviews and a phone interview with various aviation companies including the one I have a CJO at now.  Today I will be sharing my experience with 3 of the unnamed aviation companies video/phone interview process.

Video Interview #1:
I applied online on December 29th and was asked to do a video interview on January 7th. I completed the interview on the 10th and was asked to complete a Talent Assessment on the 23rd where they told me my top three talents for the job. The questionnaire was multiple choice, not timed, and lasted about 15-20 minutes. They had questions about your work experience, reliability, responsibility, positivity, attention to details, leadership, etc. My top 3 talents from January were Resourceful, Positivity and Achiever.

For this phone interview you are allowed to re-record 5 times in order to put your best foot forward. Depending on the question you get about 30 seconds to read the question and 2-3 minutes to answer the question. The Spanish questions allotted less time to answer.  The entire video interview lasted about 20-30 minutes. The questions are listed below for my Flight Attendant- Spanish Speaking application.

Part I
-*company* has strong core values of honesty, integrity, respect, perseverance, and service to others. Our Rules of the Road define who we are and provide a solid foundation for *company*'s culture. Please introduce yourself, and share with us the core values that guide you, and why you think you would be a great fit for the Flight Attendant role at *company*.
-We're excited about your interest in joining the *company* team. In the email inviting you to complete this recorded interview, you were asked to watch a video about the role of a *company* Flight Attendant. What did you find surprising, exciting, or concerning about the Flight Attendant job based on the video?
-Describe a time when you provided excellent service to a customer. What was the situation? What specific actions did you take in the situation? What were the results of your actions?
-Describe a time when you had to change work priorities with little or no notice. What was the situation? What actions did you take and what were the results?

Part II- Spanish Portion (You get 1 chance to listen to the question and 5 attempts to answer).
-Read Spanish prompt.  I didn't get a chance to write this one down, but it was something about staying seated until lane is at the gate and the fasten seat belt light is turned off and please wait to open overhead compartments.
-How will the aviation industry change in the next 10 years
-Tell us about an excellent customer service experience you had towards  a client.
-If a little boy was behind you was crying what would you do?
-Translate this from English to Spanish, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are scheduled to land at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport at 8:40 PM. The current temperature in Atlanta is 65 degrees".

After this interview I was asked to do a Live Video Interview where they asked me not to divulge any of the information from the interview. Upon successfully completing this I was asked to attend a face to face interview in Atlanta, GA where once again I was asked not to share any information from the interview. The same day as my interview I was offered a CJO, completed paperwork and was sent back home. A few weeks later I was asked to send in some more paperwork and to complete a Live Spanish Interview.

Video Interview #2: 
I applied online on March 11th and was asked to do a video interview the next day. They gave us 5 days to complete the video interview, so I completed mine on the 15th.

The link from the email sent me to a separate page with an informational video and some other resources like interview tips, tour and best practices as well as an online notepad. After that, you are asked to complete an introduction video. The introduction video could be recorded multiple times without consequence. However, after the introduction video you are given 30 seconds to read an interview question and 3 minutes to respond with no re-recordings allowed. The video interview allowed you to take you time before clicking "next" and starting the next timer. My interview had 5 questions on it which I have listed below.

-Tell us about your experience in customer service and how it has prepared you to become a *company* flight attendant.

-Tell us about an experience at work that you are most proud of.

-Tell us about a situation you wish you had handled differently at work.

-How do you describe the *company* brand and how would you represent it?

-Is there anything else you would like us to know about your qualifications?

After you answer these questions you have to watch another short informational video about the next steps and then you are done. The entire process took about 20-40 minutes. They contacted me on April 29th to invite me to the face to face interview in Houston, TX. I will possibly be writing a separate post about this whole experience and another post for tips and tricks later on. I was offered a CJO from the face to face interview 4 hours later through an email.

Phone Interview #3: 
I applied for a bilingual position online on July 31st. I received a request on October 15th to complete a Spanish phone assessment. Before I ever heard the results from this assessment, I received an invitation to do a phone interview on November 5th and to complete the interview on the 7th. Within 2 days I received a rejection letter. Sadly, I do not remember the interview questions because it was so long ago. However, I do remember it being a live interview with a live person on the other end of the line and not an automated response. I also remember that my interviewer was not at all interested in anything I was saying and that our conversation seemed very stagnant despite my efforts to keep things lively, energetic and enthusiastic. I remember there being many awkward, long pauses as she wrote down notes. The interview lasted about 15-30 minutes.

I hope this helped you get a better picture of the flight attendant video and phone interview process. I will be writing another post soon for tips and tricks in these types of interviews that I learned along the way. On behalf of Kirsten's Aviation Station, I’d like to thank you for joining me on this journey and I look forward to seeing you on board again in the near future. Have a nice day!

Kirsten's Aviation Station Intro

Readers, prepare for take-off! Hello and welcome to my blog! This blog is dedicated to flight attendant secrets, helping you score the job, tips and tricks, day to day life and more.

My name is Kirsten Tatum and I am 23 years old. I am currently in Huntsville, AL working as a Museum Guide at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center where I will be working and living for the next few months before I start training. I have recently been offered a CJO (conditional job offer) for a Major U.S. Airline and will be starting training sometime Spring 2020.

A little bit more about me... I spent all my childhood in Madison, Alabama, all my teenage years in Costa Rica as a missionary and all my college life in Cleveland, TN. I recently graduated from Lee University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music. I love working with kids, jazz music, making schedules and to-do lists, cooking, teaching, a good book and writing.

I have wanted to be a flight attendant for a long time and as my senior year approached last summer I told myself to stop dreaming and start doing. I actively started pursing an aviation career as a flight attendant about a year ago, but the timing was not right, so I started again a few months ago and here we are!

I love customer service oriented jobs and helping people. My most recent jobs have been a ballet and tap teacher for 3-6 year olds, a music librarian, a jazz singer under the name "Kit Tatum", a student worker, a Spanish tutor and a camp counselor and worship leader.

I am so excited to share my journey with you and hopefully help you start yours. Whether you are interested in becoming a flight attendant and want some advice, are a current flight attendant and want to swap stories or are a reader just along for the ride, I am so glad you are here!

On behalf of Kirsten's Aviation Station, I’d like to thank you for joining me on this journey and I look forward to seeing you on board again in the near future. Have a nice day!