10 Items Every Flight Attendant Needs On A Trip

Over the last several months, I’ve learned a thing or two about what a flight attendant needs on a long (or short) trip. It’s a slow process, sprinkled with moments of foresight and countless incidents of “oh, I wish I’d remembered to bring…..”

After awhile, your suitcase starts to see “the regulars”—items of accouterment or personal flair which you cannot live without, as opposed to the items of frivolity which you merely thought you’d need. I mean, when did you think you were going to use that aromatherapy bubblebath? In the hotel tub? No. No. and no.

a humble snapshot of my packed rollerboard, which comes with me all around the world

Assuming comfy lounging/walking about clothes, a bag of toiletries, your phone, your uniform, food, flight bag (manual, announcement book, service guide etc) are standard items, here is my extremely short list of things I always pack in my bag on a trip.

1. A trusty multi-function charger. Mine is also retractable so its very easy to pack. So if you have an android phone and an iPad, you can charge both.  Or, in my case, I charge my iphone and my Kindle. Nifty, yes?
2.  A tablet of some sort. Hauling even the extra 3 pounds of my Macbook Pro around takes a toll on my ease mobility.
3. Business cards with your name/email address. You never know who you might meet and who you may want to stay in touch with. It’s so much easier to just hand out a card with contact info instead of writing it down or doing the  awkward cell phone dance. I ordered some promoting this blog very inexpensively here.
4. . A pair of prescription glasses. Nothing is worse than realizing you forgot your contact lense solution, and believe me, it will happen. Or you lose a lense. Or it rips. Whatever. Bring some glasses, because being able to see helps you do your job considerably. 😉
5. . An extra pair of stockings. “No run” stockings? Doesn’t exist. It’s an urban myth spread by nylon companies. I hate stockings, for one thing. Especially in the summer. As Jessica Simpson said, no one wants “swamp @ss” (when certain unmentionable areas get sweaty). However, they are a mandatory part of the uniform when you wear skirts, so get used to it. I prefer to buy thigh highs and keep them hoisted with a garter belt. Allows for a cool breeze in the general area that you will be very grateful for in the blaze of summer.
6. . Stain remover pen/wrinkle releaser spray. This is pretty much a no-brainer. You will all the time occasionally spill things on yourself, and you will definitely get wrinkles, no matter how carefully you pack your uniform.
7. .Make-up removal towelettes. Its an unglamorous fact, but some times the water in a given city you’re staying in is rather gross. In Phoenix, for example, it was kind of salty and mineral-y. I didn’t want to wash my face with stuff I couldn’t stand to drink. So, bring some makeup remover towelettes with you. These can be kind of pricey, but don’t fall for all the hype over the big-name brands. All you need is a good generic, and it’ll get the job done. Plus your skin will feel so nice and smoothe.
8. .Starbucks via instant coffee packets. These are lifesavers when you’re too lazy  too broke pressed for time and need some caffeine in a jiffy. They taste just as good as a brewed cup, and are plenty strong. I pack these in my purse every. single. time. Just grab some hot water, mix the powder in and go.
9. . Dry shampoo. Sounds kind of like an oxymoron doesn’t it? Well, it’s not. Every woman should have some in here toiletry bag. On those days where you wake up late or just cant find the time for a wash, you spray your roots with this stuff, and it sucks up oil. It also gives your hair some extra body on days where it might be laying flat. Presto change-o!
10. . Backup alarm clock. You can schedule all the hotel wake-up calls you want, but I’ve had several times where the only thing that rang on time was Old Faithful (my iPhone alarm). So, I started bringing a sports watch with an alarm function. It doesn’t have a snooze button, and I hide it under the bed so I actually have to get my sleepy butt up out of bed and find it.
11. BONUS! (just thought of this one) A pair of slippers. You don’t want to walk around hotel carpets barefooted. Trust me. It’s gross in ways I can’t possibly describe without gagging. All I can say is if you walk around a hotel carpet long enough, the soles of your feet will be covered in grime.

What can’t you leave home without? Do you have any priceless tips/products you always bring?

10 Things To Do As A Reserve Flight Attendant

 

1. Keep your phone on you. Always. Jump when it rings, only to answer a call from Bob at Progressive, wondering why you changed insurance companies. Spend way too much time explaining the decline in your logistical needs due to the fact that you RIDE IN A FREAKING PLANE to get where you need to go.
2. Learn a second (or third, 4th, etc) language. I’m currently trying my hand at German for free on Duolingo
3. Do laundry. Iron uniform. Use starch. Feel really bad@ss because you just used starch on your crisp uniform shirts. You’re so legit it’s not even funny.
4. Check your on call available number…. every hour. Despair quietly. They’ll get to you one day.
5. Pack your stuff. Unpack your stuff. Pack new stuff. Feel slightly more productive.
6. Clean your bedroom/bathroom. Use the abundance of downtime to your advantage. A clean counter is a righteous counter!
7. Go shopping way more than you ever thought you would in your entire life. But hey, there are a million fantastic little shops and boutiques. Weep over the things you cannot afford yet.
8. Watch ALL the movies/shows on Netflix.  Run out of good things to watch. Eventually devolve your taste in cinema to the point where you watch a movie about a roving discarded rubber tire that could blow things up with its mind. You genuinely can’t believe you just admitted that.
9. Work out at your apartment’s awesome gym. I’m a fan of the Couch to 5k running app for my iPhone. One day I’ll be able to run a marathon, and that treadmill won’t know what hit it.
10. Jump up like a ninja when you get a phone call from scheduling (see image below)

 

10 Essential Tips to Succeed In A Flight Attendant Interview

I’m starting a new kind of recurring post wherein I will do 10 tips of sorts, for travel and new hire flight attendants looking for a helpful resource for success. The longer I work in the airline industry, the more I learn, and the more I think to myself “I wish someone had told me that when I was just starting out!”

I was very fortunate, because when I added my name to the vast pool of applicants for flight attendant trainees in October 2012, I had a good friend already in the business to give me some insight into the process. That being said, there is so much I wish I had known then, that I have great fortune to share with you now. The airline industry is going through a hiring boom (at least my airline is!) and at least 1000 new flight attendants will be minted this year. If you’re on the verge of considering a new career, want to travel, or even just want your boring life to look drastically different why not give it a try?

There are some of us who are content to lead an ordinary life, where you wake up and do the same thing at the same place. Every. Single. Day. Then there are those of us who never quite fit in this environment. We may try various types of jobs and even change careers several times hoping for a job with staying potential/growth, which you can actually enjoy instead of just tolerate. Nevertheless, you end up feeling like you’re suffocating in tedium, while spinning in place. Sound familiar?

Maybe you’ve already applied and have gotten a call back from HR! If this is the case, congratulations! I know for a fact they ever-so-carefully screen potential candidates, and if you’ve gotten this far it means they’re seriously interested in you because your resume and qualifications have risen to the top of the pile.
After the phone interview (where they ask very standard questions about your resume and skills), you’ll be scheduled a time to come for an in person interview. When this happens, get excited and take the earliest possible date they have available. Why? Every benefit in the airline industry is based on seniority; from getting the schedule you want to taking vacation days off. The earlier you get in to the job, you will have a slight advantage over everyone else who is hired on a later interview date.

My airline paid for its chosen applicants to be flown to the physical interview, which was a huge advantage over some of the others I had applied to. Can you imagine how awkward it would be to drop $500 on a ticket, only to be told you didn’t make the cut?

Here are my first ten (plus) tips about what/what not to do when you arrive at the interview.

1.  Dress well.  No short skirts or platform heels or earrings that are bigger than your actual ear. Think tasteful. Think understated. Make it easy for them to imagine you in the uniform. Below is my interview outfit— a stylish but tasteful dark peplum dress. Target and Anne Taylor are your best friends for interviews.
   
2. Be honest about liking customer service and willingness to relocate. If you don’t like being around people, you definitely won’t like people when you’re trapped with them in a steel tube cruising along at 35,000 feet. That said, I’m naturally more of an introvert than an extrovert, but the difference is for  bursts of time, I absolutely love being around people and taking care of them. Don’t think you can commute right away. Emphasize how flexible you are willing to be. They really do expect you to be at your base when you’re on call, so don’t think you can just go back to your hometown at night and take a flight back during the day. Not gonna happen. For the first 7 months you’re on the job, you’re on probation, which means your performance is under strict observation and evaluation. If you’re not on base when you’re supposed to be, they will know and you will be fired. Make your life easier and don’t expect to even try to commute until after you’re off probation.
3. Talk to everybody. Your fellow interviewees, the interviewers, the janitors, the receptionist. Try to make the impression that you are Skippy McSkipperskip— the most social person on the face of the planet. I made it a point to remember everyone’s first name and one interesting fact about their life, so if I was called upon to do so (as I read on some forums was the case) I’d be able to show I’d been paying attention. As I’ve said, you are being watched, and people are taking notes on how you interact with others. This gives a window into how well you get along with other human beings in close quarters in the air.
4. Make the interviewers remember you. I share a name with a famous politician, and I made sure to mention that in my introduction (where you have to stand up in front of the entire group and speak for a minute.) I also made an effort to make the interviewers laugh, and be as confident and cheerful as possible.
5.  Be prepared for a long day. My interview was, in total, about 8 hours. Food and refreshments are provided, but a lot of people seem to think you’re going to go in, be interviewed like any other company you’ve worked for, and then go home. What actually happens is a mixture of one-on-one interviews, group activities, mock-up flight tests, guest presentations on the company, question and answer sessions and ohsomuch paperwork at the end.
6. Ask intelligent questions about the airline. This shows your interest and Do not ask questions that would indicate you care more about the benefits and less about the job, such as how long you’ll be on reserve or how many free flights you can give out to friends in a year. An example of a good question would be “What are [airline’s name] plans for expansion in the future?” or “Which types of aircraft are in [airline’s name]’s fleet?”
7. Don’t forget to be you. Sure, you’re being a slightly more polished version of you, but they don’t want to hire some automaton—they want a real person. Let your best colors shine through. In my one-on-one portion of the interview, my interviewer noted how it was unique that I had flown private planes as a hobby before becoming a flight attendant. She must have talked to thousands of interviewees in her career, but that little tidbit helped me stand out. Months later, she still remembered me.
8.  Do not touch your cell phone. You need to be able to devote your full attention to the interview and interacting with your fellow candidates, so you need to avoid coming across as that bored person who is disconnected from the rest of the group, typing away on her cell phone.
9. Work well as a group. You’ll be in group exercises/games, and its important that you should stand out as a leader, but also as a someone who designates duties to others and asks for advice or input where its needed. Getting along with others is a skill we learn in kindergarten, so it always surprises me when people are standoffish or try to take over and be a dictator over the rest of the people in the group.
10. Wear a watch. This is actually something they look for. A watch indicates you care about punctuality, and keep a wary eye on the time.
11. *Bonus* Bring copies of your resume and make sure you have a passport. (I remembered this after I had typed up the 10 tips.) You must have your passport by the time training starts, so its an added bonus if you have it at the interview.

These tips are the basics. Follow them and you will be off to a good start but, it doesn’t mean everyone is right for this career. It is a big investment for the airline to train flight attendants. The purpose behind the interview process is to make sure it is the right fit for both you and the company. Feel like you’ve got what it takes? Good Luck! Hope to see you in the skies!