So, you’ve made it through the application and online assessments and that email has finally landed in your inbox.

You’ve been invited to a cabin crew assessment day.

Firstly, congratulations. Cabin crew recruitment can be incredibly competitive, so getting this far already means the airline has seen something it likes.

I’ve worked as cabin crew for both TUI and British Airways, and one thing I learned very quickly is that airlines aren’t simply recruiting people who can deliver great customer service.

They’re recruiting people they can trust.

Trust to work safely at 38,000 feet. Trust to deal with hundreds of passengers. Trust to work with colleagues they may have never met before. And trust to remain calm when something goes wrong.

That distinction is incredibly important when you walk into an assessment day.

British Airways currently describes its assessment process as involving both group and individual exercises alongside an interview, while TUI's process similarly includes a group exercise and interview.

The exact format varies between airlines, but the qualities they're looking for are remarkably similar.

Here’s how I’d approach it.

This might sound strange, but bear with me.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is spending so much time trying to act like their idea of cabin crew that their personality disappears completely.

Yes, presentation matters. Turn up smartly dressed, well groomed and looking professional. If the airline gives you specific appearance guidance, follow it.

But don't spend the entire day trying to perform.

Recruiters need to imagine working with you at 5am after a delayed night-stop flight when everybody is tired and the passengers aren't particularly happy.

Be professional, but be yourself.

Smile. Speak to people. Introduce yourself. Be interested in the people around you.

And remember that your assessment doesn't necessarily begin when somebody says, "Your assessment starts now."

From the moment you arrive, behave as though you're already part of a crew.

This is the part everyone seems to worry about.

You might be given a fictional scenario, a collection of objects to prioritise, a passenger problem, a limited budget or some other task that requires your group to reach a decision. At Thomson Airways when I started out, we used to use the “so we’re stranded on a desert island today, and you can only take two things from the following list with you”.

Here's the secret: The airline doesn't care about your final answer.

They're interested in how you got there.

Group exercises allow recruiters to observe how candidates communicate, listen, negotiate, manage disagreements and work towards a common objective. Industry recruitment guidance similarly stresses that candidates are generally assessed individually on their behaviour rather than whether their group finds some magical "correct" answer.

Think about why. Cabin crew constantly work in teams.

You could arrive for work tomorrow and operate a 12-hour flight with people you've never met before. Within minutes, that group needs to function as a crew.

That's what the exercise is trying to recreate.

There is almost always one.

The exercise begins and somebody immediately decides they're going to become Cabin Manager. They talk constantly, interrupt other candidates, reject ideas and attempt to steer the group towards their answer.

They may leave the exercise thinking they've demonstrated brilliant leadership. They often haven't.

Leadership isn't about being the loudest person in the room.

A much stronger contribution might sound like:
"That's a good point. Sarah, I don't think we've heard what you think yet?"

You've just demonstrated listening, awareness, inclusivity, communication and teamwork in one sentence.

If someone makes a suggestion you disagree with, don't immediately shut it down.

Acknowledge it and build on it:
"I can see why you've suggested that. Could another option be..."

You're showing that you can challenge somebody professionally without creating conflict. That is much closer to how an effective crew operates.

There is another extreme.

You decide you're not going to dominate the group, so you barely say anything.

That doesn't work.

The assessors need evidence to score you against whatever competencies the airline is using. They can't award marks for all the brilliant thoughts happening inside your head.

Contribute!

Offer ideas. Summarise where the group has got to. Ask questions. Bring other people into the discussion.

If there's a time limit, keeping an eye on it can also be useful: "We've got about five minutes left. Shall we try to agree our final two?"

Simple, calm and useful. You don't need to take over.

Ask somebody what cabin crew do and you'll often hear: "They serve food and drinks."

That's part of the job. It isn't the reason cabin crew are onboard.

Cabin crew are safety professionals first.

Your passengers might only see you pouring a glass of wine.

Behind that service is training covering emergency procedures, evacuations, firefighting, decompression, security, first aid and potentially life-threatening situations.

That needs to come across during your assessment. When assessing I used to think “Could this person get me out of my seat and off a plane in under 60 seconds?”.

If you're given a scenario where customer service and safety conflict, safety wins.

Imagine a passenger is unhappy because they've been told to put their laptop away for take-off.

The wrong mindset is: "They're a valuable customer, so I'll try to keep them happy."

Of course you should remain polite and explain the situation.

But ultimately the safety requirement isn't negotiable.

Likewise, if you're given several competing problems to prioritise, ask yourself:

Is anybody in danger?

Is there a safety or security implication?

Is there a medical issue?

Then what is the customer-service impact?

That doesn't mean shouting "SAFETY!" at every possible opportunity because you think that's what the assessor wants to hear.

It means demonstrating sensible prioritisation.

Safety comes first, but airlines are obviously looking for people who genuinely like dealing with people.

And there's an important word there: genuinely.

Cabin crew deal with nervous flyers, children, elderly passengers, people with disabilities, honeymooners, business travellers, people who don't speak much English and occasionally people who are angry before they've even stepped onto the aircraft.

Great service isn't memorising a script.

It's reading people.

If you're given a role-play involving an unhappy passenger, listen before jumping into solution mode.

Let them explain what's wrong.

Acknowledge their frustration.

Clarify what they actually need.

Then work out what you can realistically do.

Don't promise something you can't deliver simply because you think saying "yes" demonstrates good customer service.

Sometimes excellent service is explaining why the answer is no, but doing it exceptionally well.

The interview is where preparation really pays off.

Before your assessment day, think of genuine situations where you've demonstrated things like:

You don't need ten completely different stories.

One strong example can often demonstrate several different competencies depending on how you explain it.

Use a structure such as STAR:

Situation: What was happening?

Task: What did you need to achieve?

Action: What did you actually do?

Result: What happened?

Spend most of your answer on the action.

Recruiters don't need three minutes explaining the history of the restaurant you worked in before you finally tell them what you did.

Please don't walk into a British Airways assessment and give an answer that could equally apply to easyJet, Emirates or Ryanair.

"I've always loved travelling and meeting new people."

They've heard it thousands of times.

Why this airline?

Research its network, brand, customers, bases and product. BA will score you highly if you talk about it’s Club Suite product or World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy) and likewise, easyJet will love it if you talk about your knowledge of its easyJet Plus programme.

More importantly, understand what makes its operation different.

Applying to a leisure airline such as TUI? Think about the fact that cabin crew form part of somebody's holiday experience.

Applying to a global network carrier? Think about the enormous variety of passengers, destinations and reasons for travelling.

You don't need to memorise the registration of every aircraft in the fleet.

You do need to demonstrate that you've bothered to understand the company asking you to represent it.

This is something I'd really encourage.

Be nice to them.

Yes, technically you're competing for jobs.

But if you get the job, these people could be sitting beside you during training in a few months. Help create a positive atmosphere.

Talk to people during breaks. If somebody looks nervous, include them. Don't become secretive because you think helping another candidate somehow reduces your chances.

There usually isn't one golden ticket sitting in the middle of the room.

An airline can recruit several people from the same assessment.

Behaving like a good colleague before you've even got the job is far more impressive than treating everyone else as competition.

Carry on… Seriously.

You might stumble over an answer. You might realise halfway through a role-play that you could have handled something differently.

Don't let one imperfect moment destroy the rest of your day.

Real cabin crew make mistakes too.

What matters is how you recover.

The job requires resilience and an ability to deal with unexpected situations. All airlines specifically list remaining calm under pressure, communication, situational awareness, resilience and teamwork among the qualities it seeks from cabin crew.

If something goes slightly wrong during your assessment, recovering calmly might actually tell the recruiter something useful about you.

If I could give somebody attending their first cabin crew assessment day one piece of advice, it would be this:

Stop trying to beat everybody else and start showing the assessors what you'd be like to work with.

Would I trust you in an emergency?

Would I want you beside me during a difficult flight?

Would you speak up if something wasn't safe?

Could you deal professionally with an angry passenger?

Would you support the rest of the crew when things became busy?

Could I spend 12 hours working alongside you without wanting to lock myself in the flight deck?

Okay, perhaps the recruiters won't phrase the final one quite like that.

But you get the point.

Cabin crew assessment days can feel intimidating because you're being watched and assessed throughout the process.

But try to remember what the airline is actually trying to find.

They're not searching for somebody who already knows how to be cabin crew. That's what training is for.

They're looking for somebody with the behaviours they can build upon.

Communicate clearly. Listen to people. Include others. Remain calm. Think about safety. Deliver good customer service. Know when to speak and, just as importantly, know when to listen.

I spent years flying as cabin crew with TUI and British Airways, and some of the best crew I ever worked alongside weren't necessarily the loudest, most polished or most confident people in the room.

They were the people you could rely on.

That's the person you want the assessors to see.

And most of all, GOOD LUCK from Team TFE!