Korean Job Discussion Forums

[UKsimon]

I should imagine they are extremley competitive?

My Korean friend has her heart set on getting a job with a major airline.

She is very confident on getting the job, as it's all she talks about and think's about.

I worry how she will feel if she doesn't get the job.

What exactly do they look for in airstewardesses?

Her English pronounciation is mediocre, I should imagine it has to be nigh on perfect?

[Lee Myung Bak]

I know a Korean Air flight attendant.

English is important, they even conduct half the interview in English. Experience abroad is also desirable.

Other than that, image is everything in Korea, and it certainly correlates with Korean Air and Asiana. Height is important... she told me that you have to be 5'6" to be considered.

Its funny, I flew on Korean airlines multiple times, and the whole crew was young and attractive. Stepped back on an American flight and they were mostly ladies in their 40s and 50s and a "door is open" gay man.

I hope she has height, youth, and looks...because discrimination for this job is aggressively applied, and you're right it's extremely competitive. Most girls go to hagwons for months just to prepare for the interview.

[morrisonhotel]

[redaxe]

I had a friend who was applying for any airline she could. She got rejected by all the Korean carriers for being too short, so she was applying for Qatar Airways. The interview process was extremely competitive and had multiple rounds. The first round was a written test, which she passed. The second round was some sort of group interview, where they had a bunch of candidates in a room together and asked them questions, and eliminated them one by one. I think there was a third round, but my friend didn't make it past round 2.

I think their hiring decisions are basically all about height, looks, a nice smile, and a polite customer service attitude that makes passengers feel comfortable.

[Yaya]

Korean Air has hired older flight attendants while Asiana sticks to hiring attractive and tall ones.

Koreans love to travel, so the competition for the positions is fierce.

[stevieg4ever]

I find it interesting how they have hagwons dedicated to just this one field, a good sign that is it a competitive field.

[cj1976]

I also knew a girl who was applying for Qatar. She had all the right qualities; tall, slim, attractive, polite, good English etc. She didn't make it through to the end, so I guess it must be very tough.

[northway]

My friend who speaks English flawlessly with a near-American accent was rejected because they said she wasn't pretty enough and her voice was too deep.

[soviet_man]

In late 2005/ early 2006, YBM Sisa (the biggest hagwon company in the land) opened its "YBM CCA" (YBM Cabin Crew Academy) division.

2 boths one in Jongno and another Gangnam, specifically for flight attendants.

I think it must of bombed, as the whole division seems to of diappeared out of existence or merged with YBM ELS.

Fantastic ESL idea, but badly executed no doubt.

[interestedinhanguk]

I've known multiple young women that have wanted to become flight attendants. One was studying it at college. It's a dream job for many young Korean women: be pretty and travel.

[Poker]

Interesting about the tough competition with looks, height etc. I will be flying Korean Air for the first time next week. Am I to expect model material?

[goniff]

many are called but few are chosen

more than a few i have known have expressed an interest

i know one who made (eventually) dragon air in hong kong

she was (maybe) the most beautiful girl i have ever seen

great english (three years in uk)

fantastic personality

still couldn't make korean air!

[Illysook]

The job is competitive everywhere. In the U.S. When airlines are looking for cabin attendants, the interviews are like cattle calls. Typically, a large hotel conference/banquet room is filled with applicants. One has to arrive early to get a seat, and doors are shut at the time specified. Time is very important to airlines. If you don't wear a watch to the interview, you won't get a job. Then everyone will be asked to stand up and introduce themselves and/or answer a question that would typically be asked of someone in a beauty pageant This is an evaluation of your public speaking skills.

The airlines in the U.S. don't really merit this kind of excitement over the jobs that they offer. Pay and benefit packages aren't that much better than what you will find from other employers who hire entry level applicants. Plus, you don't get any pay during their six to eight week training camps. Typically, these camps are far from your home and the companies may or may not help you with housing while you are there.

[northway]

[misher]

English can make or break you but trust me, judging on the the level of English many stewardesses had that I met, I'd say at the end of the day, you've either got the look or you don't.

Most of their English is barely intermediate if that.

What it comes down to is that it is a job that requires little to no skill. Discrimination on looks is therefore ok.

Its funny, but whenever we talk about becoming a stewardess, my students always nod their heads and say it say its "a good job" and "yes yes very competitive etc" but when I task to the adjossis and ajummas that if their 12 year old daughter eventually became a stewardess would it be ok, they immediately laugh and say absolutely not.

In my experience and I'm sure many will disagree, to the educated upper class Koreans, becoming a stewardess is just a mere one level-up from becoming a racing girl. To a lower-middle class Korean family it will be seen as a good opportunity for their daughter to meet a husband that flies first class or a pilot. These are actually words right out of the mouth of one of my advanced ajossi students.

Some of the female students I've had, who were by no means ugly, who failed those tests in the past few years carry a lot of damage with them. It sucks to see someone who is pretty good looking with a good personality to have such a low opinion of herself. I know I'm sounding cynical here but those flight attendant hagwons are evil IMO. 98% of the people who waste their money there will never get into the industry, period, and the hagwon knows it but is more than happy to take their baek man wons. Your physical appearance is the sinker the vast vast majority of the time no matter how poised and prepared you are for the interview process. The ones that have the look (small minority of applicants) will benefit from the hagwon but the ones that don't should basically be told not to waste their time.