 |
| Become a cabin crew is a big decision for some |
May I know Cabin Crew's experience would only be recognized in hospitality industry? Unless if one have another background for eg business, he or she might combine the knowledge from both field which she has gained and applied them into the related working environment?
 |
| Cabin crew work definitely is a valued work experience if you know how to sell it |
Work experience as a cabin crew is recognized in most industries. Unless you are taking about professional industries with technical knowledge involved such as medical/engineering. The skill set you develop as a cabin crew is very transferable. A lot of people often comment how uniform and similar SIA cabin crew tend to be. This is actually only achieved by very good training from the company. The company does not want cabin crew to show individuality to the public, they want a uniform group of staff to represent the brand. This is not easy. After all, cabin crew come in all personalities and training them to all portray the same flavour of Asian hospitality involves some work. Working as a cabin crew will at least train you to appear (if not become) approachable, have good communication & interpersonal skills and good grooming for the all important first impression. All rather important in most job in the business world don't you think? You just have know how to portray this to your future potential employers.
For the second, by background, I think L might be talking about qualifications. I would say that you do need some paper qualifications if you intend to quit flying after a few years. Most jobs out there will have a minimum requirement for paper qualification no matter how stellar your work experience have been. Many crew will do part-time courses to upgrade themselves if they do see the possibility of moving on from flying. I can't stress the importance enough.
 |
| Upgrading can't hurt; especially if your current qualifications don't hit most min. required |
Have you encountered anyone who stop flying around age
of 29 and still able to return to the field that they used to work with?
Plenty! But once again, they had the qualifications. One of my friends graduated with first class honours but flew to see the world while still young. She quit after covering most of the stations. She was a wonderful, dedicated stewardess and after she quit, she was hired by a top 5 pharmaceutical MNC. It's a combination of paper qualifications and letting your employer see your objective for flying and how it has enhanced your skill set.
I remember you said its quite difficult esp during mid career switch while you stop flying as the employers will consider alot before hiring as you have left the industry for more than 2 years or more. Even if the employer would hire you again, but everything need to restart from beginning and compete with the much younger generation....
Actually, what I said is very general and will apply to anyone who left any industry and decide to join back 2 years later. It is not just cabin crew. Imagine industries like IT, the technology would have moved ahead during the time you left to try say banking or acting or whatever. Unless you keep abreast with the developments in your former industry, it will definitely be a challenge to rejoin that industry. So this is not an isolated issue that only happens to people who become cabin crew. If you intend to rejoin your industry, make sure you keep yourself informed while flying and you can convince future employers to take you up again. I mean no employer wants a clueless employee to join them and this does not apply to just cabin crews.
As for restarting at the beginning, you may not necessarily need to do that. More likely at where you have left off. If you left the industry as a junior executive, that's probably the level where you might rejoin the industry. Your peers who have chosen to stay on in the same industry while you fly around the world would certainly have moved ahead. But I think that's a fair tradeoff. On top of that, your pace for corporate life would have slowed down in the years you fly and getting back into the daily grind might be harder than you think.
From your experience, what is the
most valuable skills/experience that you have gained in this career?
A few comes to mind but interpersonal and communication skills top them. Afterall, it's practice, practice, practice that matters and when thrown into a environment where these skills are vital, you will eventually hone them even if you end up doing it unwittingly. You meet people from all walks of life, colleagues and passengers who come from different cultural and language background. It's really makes one more sensitive and aware. No matter what industry you want to join in the future, being able to read people is such an undeniable skill set. Useful even during the interview when you convince your future employer to take you on.
So there is life after being a cabin crew but whether you can adjust back to the 9-5 lifestyle is another question all together. I have encountered many an ex-crew who goes back to flying after quitting because they just can get used to the rat race anymore. Having smelled the flower, it can be really tough getting back to the corporate world. Cabin crew can be hard work sometimes but it can also turn into a lifestyle that will become a comfort zone you can't shake off.
 |
| Not so easy to leave this behind when the time comes |
No comments:
Post a Comment