A career as a flight attendant is often viewed as quite glamorous. After all not every career offers the opportunity to travel to exotic places, experience vibrant cultures and are paid for it. However, you have to go through extensive screening and comprehensive training before you can start your career in this field. The following tips will take you through the most pressing requirements for the career. You will also find what to expect from it in return.
What to expect of the job
The position of a flight attendant carries many responsibilities. You are the first line caregivers, customer service and safety professionals. This job requires a high level of interpersonal skills. You will have to:
- Greet boarding passengers as well as seeing to their farewell on exit.
- help them find their seats on every flight boarding and help with luggage storage in the overhead bins (where required)
- Present the standard safety procedures, exit routes on the plane and the airline’s specific safety measures.
- Distribute food and beverages in flight. You will also do a trash collection round over a specific period throughout the plane.
- Calm fraught passengers, helping parents with babies in flight, answering questions to help passengers where necessary.
- In emergency cases, you will provide safety instructions, help guide passengers to the nearest exits and provide first line medical care if paramedics do not reach on time.
The median salary for flight attendants is around $37000. However, average salary starts at about $ 15000-16000. Flight attendants with a higher experience, customer satisfaction feedbacks, and references often find higher pay within a shorter career curve.
Specific prerequisites to the job
Most airlines require a basic education range of high school education to graduation for the job. However, you will need to be extremely fluent in English. Having any, training in foreign languages will be an added advantage and might give you a major boost in your career. Other than this, most airlines have standard requirements such as an arm reach of 212 cm. this is so you do not have to overexert in reaching overhead bins. With heels, a 5’3” person can easily reach the overhead shelves. You should be minimum 18- 21 years of age when you start.
Positive attributes that will give you a leg up in the career
This career has one of the steepest competitions in the market. You will need to have an edge over the rest. These qualities are sure to give you a major boost in the getting in the field and moving further along in a shorter time.
- Training in hospitality, psychology, or social work can be an added advantage.
- having a friendly nature with the ability to think fast on your feet
- Added advantage with training of one or more than one foreign languages. In this case, conversational diploma is enough, so you can interact better in international flights.
- You have to be extra careful with your self-presentation. Soft skills’ training is a good way to start. However, any flight attendant training course will also provide this basic training.
- If you have any tattoos, piercings, or scars in visible places, it might be feasible to get professional help in fixing the issue. Any odd presentation should be avoided at all costs.
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