Delta made international headlines, having to tell candidates for flight attendant roles that they need to wear underwear when showing up for an interview. It turns out that the airline is doing a lot more judging by appearance at hiring events, according to airline crew website Paddle Your Own Kanoo.
When candidates are selection to attend an in-person interview, they’re sent a two-page document that includes “appearance requirements” – that candidates have to acknowledges they’ve read and understand. Prospective flight attendants who run afoul of the guidelines are immediately sent away upon arrival at company headquarters in Atlanta.
In one case, a rejected candidate shared that she had worn small, discreet hoop earrings during her face-to-face interview. Delta’s appearance guidelines state that hoop earrings are prohibited, but the interviewee assumed that the guidelines only referred to large hoop earrings.
Before she had a chance to participate in any exercises, she was led away by one of the recruiters and told she wouldn’t proceed. Although Delta refused to provide a specific reason, the recruiter said it was down to her appearance.
In another example, a rejected candidate shared a photo of her wearing a smart black skirt suit with a white blouse. She looked professional and put together, but the skirt sat a couple of millimeters above her knee. Delta’s appearance requirements state that skirts must sit on or below the knee.
Job candidates often feel like the rules are unfair, and that they look professional, but it misses the point. Are they going to follow the rules as-written? It’s a test! They’re going to be given strict procedures to follow on the job. Do they use their own judgment or do as they’re told?
The airline “has probably the toughest flight attendant recruitment process of any US-based airline” attributable to “hiring some less suitable crew members” as they staffed back up after the pandemic. The roles are highly competitive, some candidates try to stand out with their appearance, and this winds up undercutting their chances.
Several years ago, American Airlines executives used to talk about the large number of applicants for flight attendant positions and describe the process as ‘more selective than getting into Harvard’. I always wondered, if that was true, why weren’t they getting candidates who seemed to be happy with their job and with life? Maybe the airline sapped it out of them, but this was true even for new hires! I concluded that the airline might get a lot of applications, but they must not be very good at selection.
A real contrast is Southwest Airlines, whose employees seem to like their jobs and often have an infectious enthusiasm. Southwest hires for personality, and the airline actually sends welcome kits, swag, to new hires before they start training. When a class completes training, the whole company comes out into the corridors of headquarters to welcome them and cheer them with music blasting as they walk a red carpet.
JSX uses happy hour as a hiring screen. The event – with alcohol offered – comes at the end of all hiring events. They have an “unofficial no jerk policy” and this is especially the case for cockpit and cabin crew. So, they observe people at the end of a long day with a drink in their hand to “get an idea of who’s a jerk.” Everyone thinks it’s a social time after interviews. It’s really still part of the interview.
When I was in third grade, my teacher handed out an exercise to the class. There were over 20 steps listed on the page. Kids in the class started saying words allowed and making gestures. I read the sheet. Item number one was to read all of the directions on the page before doing anything else. And the last item on the sheet said to sit quietly, ignore all the items above, and not to do any of them because it was really a test to see whether you’d done item one correctly. I felt a bit unsure of myself as the only one in class not gesticulating wildly. Yes I was that kid.
Reading the terms and conditions in 3rd grade!
Word. The boss or potential boss is always evaluating you. You are NEVER off the clock.
I’m okay with this- if candidates can’t adhere to instructions on what to wear, what’s going to happen once they’re on the job and unable to comply with uniform guidelines? I will say, the average DL crew does look more put together these days vs some other US airlines.
Gary I have seen math tests like the one you had. It starts with “read the directions” then gives all sorts of complicated steps ending with “multiply the result by zero”. But at the risk of sounding like a geezer, it seems that a fair number of younger people today don’t get it about appearances and how to focus on the task at hand. (My wife says it has always been like this, but still people used to seem more professional.) My son went for an interview at a call center. The 20-somethings around him were playing games on their phones and texting. He sat down and seriously did the company’s entry exam. Now two decades later the others are long gone, he was put in charge of opening a new call center abroad Attitude, it is not the only thing you need, but without it you’ll go nowhere.
Spot on. Hear hear! In general, being able to follow instructions/a checklist and paying attention to detail is vital to the maximized success of the operation, whatever the industry.
We too had a fun math test in elementary school where you had to read all the steps first and the last step was: don’t answer any of the questions and turn your test in. A lot of students were confused as to how people could finish the test so quickly. I was the kid that (surprisingly) successfully followed the instructions, then asked if I could do the math anyway afterwards since I liked math.
I will say as a current flight attendant, these rules are in place for a reason. If you can’t follow simple uniform guidelines, they don’t expect you to not deviate from safety standards as well. They have a reputation to uphold and they truly believe in being the very best and hiring the very best and whether you believe that is you or not, you have to prove it to them and make them believe it too. Working for this company is one of the best things that will happen for you and your career if you make it. The company truly takes care of you and gives you so many opportunities for growth. They have a ton of celebrations in private and celebrations with family like their block parties and Christmas parties. They’re always trying to do things for their employees when they can and in return hope their employees share that same love with their customers. To get on with this airline means you’ve made it, especially if you are a flight attendant coming from another airline.
Half of us probably would not pass JSX’s ‘unofficial no jerk policy,’ also, how wildly subjective that must be—more likely, they simply hire their friends, and use such ‘tests’ as pretext to get rid of others, even if they are qualified. Funny how the ‘sons of the owner’ always seem to have ‘merit,’ while a lot of over-qualified folks get passed. Hmm. Call me skeptical. As for Delta, we’ll see if this makes any meaningful difference for passengers—so far, DL’s crews are excellent already.
Something tells me new leaders like Rakesh Gangwal will put an end to infectious enthusiasm. Doesn’t put dollars in his pocket.
“She looked professional and put together, but the skirt sat a couple of millimeters above her knee. Delta’s appearance requirements state that skirts must sit on or below the knee.”
I doubt that the skirt was a couple of millimeters above her knee, more likely a couple of centimeters. Obviously she should have chosen a skirt that was a bit longer so she wasn’t subjectively dismissed for that reason. For testing it is best to not commit any unforced errors. Go for the middle. If you want to let your individuality shine, do it after being at the job a while.
As for tests with a lot of questions, I have a strategy for multiple choice tests such as I had to take often for advancement list placement. Read the questions and answer the ones you can answer quickly for the first pass. Go back and grind on the ones left while skipping the ones that you have no clue about. Near the end of test time answer any question not answered yet by quickly guessing. Then spend a few minutes going over the quickly answered questions of the first pass to make sure that there were no mental errors. An additional strategy is to count up the percentage of correct answers as you go. This will take off pressure when you have reached a passing percentage.
@1990: “Jerks” in this situation is people who spend the night imposing themselves on members of the opposite gender. You’re trying to eliminate people who view their coworkers primarily not as teammates but people to “couple” with.
@Christoher Raehl — Fair enough. Begone, jerks!
If you can’t read the instructions and follow them, no matter how silly you may think it is, then it should be obvious why they’re walked out.
Imagine not following procedure during an emergency. Delta has the luxury of choice as less than 1% of applicants even attend their in-person interviews. If they have any doubts then there’s no shortage of replacements. Anyone can do the job. It’s not rocket science.
Your average McDonald’s has more exacting appearance requirements than a US airline, which isn’t saying much.
Good to see DL trying to buck the pitiful trend of US airlines, shunned by travelers worldwide.
The fact that young people have no clue that on a professional job interview you always dress up and dress conservatively speaks to our failed education system. Back in the 80s when I graduated from college the idea that a company would have sent out instructions on how to dress for the interview would have been laughable.
It’s not these young people’s fault. The adults in their childhood have failed them.
Is that why Tim Dunn was fired by Delta? He won’t wear underwear?
@david — Hey! Bucko. You be nice to Mr. Dunn! He’s a good fellow!