Pacific Jet

Okay, backtracking again..

Last week (04 March, 2010)


I had an assessment for Pacific Jet (it's a domestic carrier in the Philippines). The day before the assessment, I had to prep up all the documents needed and i was hella excited since this would be my first ever assessment for a cabin crew position. So yeah, on the day of the assessment itself, I arrived earlier than expected (as usual) since it's best to make a good first impression. I was actually surprised that I was the only applicant in the waiting area. So.. I grabbed a newspaper from the desk and started brushing up on the current events. You never know if the interviewer would ask you a random economic question or what not so it's always a better option to be prepared.

After 15 minutes or so, I was called by the HR personnel (Miss G) and she lead me to another room wherein they checked my height, weight, skin and teeth. I have a tiny scar on my face but luckily it's not that visible unless you carefully stare at it. Fortunately, the person who was assessing me (Miss B) wasn't able to see the scar. phew! They then asked me if I had any tattoos or birthmarks; I said no. She then handed me a questionnaire because I had to take the exam. The exam was quite simple yet tricky. It was composed of situational stuff on-board the aircraft and they were testing your decision making skills. After the exam, I had to write an essay with the topic "Who am I?". It took me around 15-20 minutes to finish the entire thing because I was starving like hell!

After the assessment, I asked Miss G if I would still be interviewed today. She said that she would still check my documents and my essay and if successful, they would schedule me for an interview the week after. I nodded, said my thanks and proceeded to the nearest food stand. I was seriously hungry. haha

09 March, 2010

I finally received an email notifying me that I passed the assessment and that I was scheduled for an interview at 0100 hours the next day. They also advised me to bring a swimming certificate and a photocopy of my passport. (I found it strange that they're asking for all these documents wherein i'm still in the interview phase. weird, yeah?)

10 March, 2010

I was in the office at 1230, equipped with a satisfied tummy and a swagger of confidence and charm. haha I was ready for the interviews. bring 'em on!

I was lead to the same room where I took the exam and then I was introduced to the HR Director (Miss E). She was nice but she was the type of interviewer who's poker faced. I swear! I tried cracking jokes and I tried to enchant her with my captivating charisma (HAHA you guys might think i'm too full of myself now) but I don't think it worked. She hardly shattered that stern facade of hers. Anyway.. the interview went well. I noticed though that she was checking and verifying my intentions in joining the company. Also, she asked numerous questions related to loyalty and she wanted to really see if I would be committed to them or not. I liked the fact that the interview was very personalized because she specially made a sheet of paper for the questions she was going to ask me (which means she was prepared, VERY prepared) with my name on the top of the sheet. There were around 4-5 questions in a bullet format and she would base the questions there and then scribble stuff on it whenever I would open my mouth to speak. So yeah, the interview lasted for 30-40 minutes and she told me to wait outside.

After waiting again for another 10 minutes or so, Miss G lead me to another room (It was like a maze!) wherein I was going to have my final interview. She wished me luck before she knocked on the door and I wasn't expecting to see three middle-aged men waiting for me. It was a panel interview with the top executives of the company.

I would like to believe that the final interview with the executives went well. The interview lasted for almost one hour and they asked tons of questions! (when I say TONS, expect the unexpected. Seriously) After the interview, they made me read a sample in-flight announcement (both English and Tagalog) and then they made me walk from one side of the room to the other.

Everything went smoothly until they finally talked about the training. They're asking for Php 40k as a guarantee that I would be loyal to the company for 2 years. (No wonder Miss E was checking on my loyalty too!) Since they would be shelling out cash for the training (which apparently is gonna be somewhere in South East Asia) which will last for approximately 40 days. They would return the Php 40k upon completion of the 2 year contract. When I asked where the location of the training will be held, they rebuffed me by saying "We will give you an allotted time to ask questions later". So I jokingly said "Sorry to have jumped the gun then sir".

What's baffling is that they aren't really operational yet. Whenever I would inquire about their business plan in regards to the target launch date, they just respond back by saying "We can't discuss this information to you". Also, whenever I would try to ask something else regarding the company they would answer back with the same sentence.

Finally it was my turn to ask questions. I had a lot to ask because I was starting to get really confused and concerned with the offer being handed to me. When I was about to ask my first question, Mr. A rebuffed me again and he said "We're only going to allow you to ask a maximum of 2 questions because we're running out of time". In the back of my head I was like okaaaay, that's quite odd. So the first question I asked was "Based on your business plan, when is your target launch date?" Mr. A then said "soon". I personally didn't like the sound of that because it was very vague so I then followed up by asking "Sir, could you please give me a specific timeline?". He then said "We can't disclose this information to you yet". I was starting to smell something fishy already because they kept on evading my questions; specifically that one. That was my third time to ask the same question (the first 2 times he rebuffed me) and now, when it was finally my turn to ask.. he just evaded it. So I was like "very well then, where will Pacific Jet fly to? What are the destinations?" I knew it was a domestic airline but I wanted to know more details because I tried to google about it though nothing came up about their destinations. He then answered by saying "Well, it's a domestic airline but it is also the company's dream to be a part of the international scene; perhaps in two to three years". Atleast he answered this briefly. I still wanted to ask more but he said "Thank you, We would need your decision by next week". I was like damn! he was dead serious by just letting me ask 2 questions. So yeah, I thanked them for their time and I headed to the reception to claim my I.D.

On the way home, I was really mulling things over. I didn't know what to do. My intuition was telling me NO because they were really vague and I honestly wasn't satisfied with what transpired in the interview (the part where they were evading my queries).

Well the thing is, I don't really want to commit to something that's uncertain. I might end up just wasting my time and other potential opportunities whilst waiting on them. Also, I understand that they would require a guarantee; i'm fine with that since it is quite logical on their part to ask for that because they're still starting out and what not but I personally wouldn't want to invest in something wherein i'm not 100% sure of what the outcome will be. Well, I clearly am aware that there's a bond but I don't think that it's right for them to charge me 40k right away and then they would return it 2 years after. For me, it's going to be more professional on their part if they would allow me to train with them first and then just charge me if ever I don't complete the 2 year contract.

My dilemma now is that there's a chance that I could be invited for the EK AD but there still is no assurance with what the outcome of that assessment will be (If ever I get chosen to attend it). Whilst i'm being presented a guaranteed offer for a domestic carrier right now but i'd have to shell out 40k and give them my verdict by next week. I'm stuck in a crossroad and I have no idea what to do.

Anyway, for Pacific Jet aspirants, this is what I experienced earlier. If you guys still want to push through after reading my story, by all means go ahead and try it out. Goodluck!