‘Do you have any modeling experience?’: Emirates attendant applicant says interviewer asked her to stand up and turn around

Many airlines have strict application requirements for the role of flight attendant. According to The Travel Academy, airlines will require applicants to be of a certain height so they can operate everything on the aircraft. They may also have limitations on the number of piercings or tattoos a flight attendant can have.

However, there are some rules about being a flight attendant that appear to be unwritten, as TikTok user Angela (@angela.chaan) shares in a video with over 670,000 views.

According to Angela, she had applied for a job with Dubai-based airline Emirates and was invited to interview.

When she got to the interview, the interviewer asked her to “stand up and turn around.”

“So I did a 360 for her like Margot Robbie did in Bombshell,” Angela recalls. She was then asked to remove her shoes.

@angela.chaan #stitch with @kate✈️ how my in-person interview went with air emirates - i want to clarify that this experience was just a standalone incident reflecting the lack of professionalism of a specific interviewer. It does not, however represent the airline as whole. #airemirates #horribleinterview #flightattendant #angelachaan #storytime ♬ original sound - angela chan

In a follow-up video, Angela continues her story. After removing her shoes, Angela was weighed and her height was measured. 

When all of this was done, Angela believed that she would be asked about her previous customer service experience. Instead, she was asked if she had modeling experience.

“She didn’t ask me any of those [customer service] questions,” Angela states. At the end, she adds, “I feel like they were looking for something a little different.”

@angela.chaan Pt. 2 of my in-person interview with air emirates - i want to clarify that this experience was just a standalone incident demonstrating the poor professionalism of a specific interviewer. It does not, however represent the airline as whole. #airemirates #horribleinterview #flightattendant #angelachaan #storytime ♬ original sound - angela chan

In the caption of both videos, Angela says that “this experience was just a standalone incident demonstrating the poor professionalism of a specific interviewer. It does not, however, represent the airline as [a] whole.”

That said, many commenters claimed Angela’s experience is incredibly common in the industry.

“This sounds very normal for cabin crew unfortunately,” wrote one user.

“Emirates literally has a model of who they hire. They are known to hire based off looks and body types because of the people they fly,” alleged another.

However, some noted that there may be an innocent explanation for the questions asked by the interviewer.

For the 360 turn and shoes off requirement, “It’s bc they need to see if you’ll fit between seated isles and shoes off to see how tall u are,” claimed one commenter.

As far as the modeling question is concerned, “they ask for modeling experience to know if the person has ‘spicy pictures’ out there which is unacceptable for them,” argued a second.

The Daily Dot reached out to Angela via Instagram direct message and Emirates via email.

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