Alaska Airlines Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details I was invited to attend a group interview today with this company. First, you watch a couple of films and some current employees speak about their jobs. I noticed that all the more mature people had MANY years of experience, which meant they were hired as young people. Being on of the more mature people in the room, I was a little concerned. Justifiably so, as it turned out

We were told that while Alaska is a family oriented company but that for this position, you are required to work full time, for the summer months on all holidays and weekends. Either an 8hr a day shift, with 2 midweek days off or a 10hr shift, with 3 mid week days off. If something irregular occured during your shift, you were kind of required to stay and help them deal. They schedule 24/7 and some shifts were graveyard. This company highly regards seniority. So, as long as you were last hired, you are low man for time off and most everything else.

The flight benefits sound great. An employee is eligble after 60 days. For a 3 month employment, I say hmmm. Also, I asked the phone interview lady if this ever translated to regular and not temp emp[loyment . she gave an absolute YESSS, all the time. The Alaska people said,Um,NO.rarely. A girl in the lobby, who did get the one on one interview, said she was refered by 2 current customer services agents that had been hired temp the previous year and never left. So, I don't know what the truth really is.

You are divided into groups. Then you are given a question to answer as a team. I think they just want to see how you articulate. There are no wrong answers, which is so obviously not true. Think of yourself in an airport and how the employee handled your issue..Did they hold the plane for you? Did they right a mistake? That should lead you to an answer. I felt I did pretty well. They also ask you to tell them something about yourself that you wouldn't find on your resume.

We were then let go and told to come back in half an hour. We all did and then waited another half an hour. They came back and read the names of the popele would made it to the next round. They were all the prettiest people in the room, as well as all very young. Some had performed well and some had not, frankly. One of the girls had very little experience and was dresed very unprofessionally nor was she particularly well spoken.

If you know someone who will refer you, are good looking and willing to be molded by the company, go for it! If you are above 30 with a wealth of experience, I say don't bother. It seemed to me, by observance, that they don't want to break you of any bad habits you may have obtained along the way. They want to train you their way and hope that you will stay a long time.

All that said, I was sorry not have been given a chance. Seems like a great company and I could have brought a lot to the table. Just too bad I am not 25, I would have killed it.

Interview Details First a phone interview by the hiring manager
They make you feel like you are top of their list, and that applies to all applicants
Followed up by on-site interview at headquarters, usually with the hiring manager and another peer and HR. Small group interview. Nice atmosphere.
Did NOT get to see the actual work place or talk to future colleagues.

Reason for Declining – Pay wasn't that great, other offers I had were more palatable.

Interview Details Group interview, 4 rounds, very exhausted, and extremely fun

Negotiation Details – No negotiation

Interview Details Ok...I just had to post this!! I went to an Alaska Airline hiring event yesterday April 23,2013 in Portland OR. and wanted to let everyone know what to expect when Interviewing with Alaska. I would say at least 150 people came...and they chose around 17 ppl. It was VERY disappointing to say the least. First, what Alaska tells you to expect on their website is not what to expect when it comes down to whom they are looking for as an employee. They chose VERY odd individuals...A bartender, a barista, a hairdresser...not the nurses...the ex-flight attendant's...really no one with good experience. They tell you right away that if there is a 911 on the plane...your it!!! Well then wouldn't you want a nurse or a ex-flight attendant to help you on the plane....not a bartender or a hairdresser? They ask you to tell them something about yourself that is not on your Resume and to give yourself bragging rights about that something...two of the individuals they chose of the 17 spoke of awesome grandkids and the other spoke of being a avid sports fan of the LA lakers. Then a ex-flight attendant whom they didn't choose stood and spoke of something not on her Resume which was that she had been giving a reward for catching the "fake hi-jacker" in a mock up when she flew for the airlines...Again...wouldn't you want an ex-flight attendant on your flight that has those bragging rights..not the individual that say's..."GO LAKERS" and her grandkids are cute!! ODD Alaska Airlines...I have such a different opinion of Alaska Airlines now....NOT GOOD!!!

Interview Details Applied online 01/13, got an email the next day asking to schedule a phone interview. Passed phone interview, was very basic customer service questions. Had a group interview 2/12/13 in SEA, and it was a blast. Started with movie, then group interview, then F2F, then panel. Out of 80, I believe only around 10 got hired. I made it to the final panel, but was not offered a position.

Interview Details The hiring process is a different one. They start promtly with a video about the company followed by a overview of the position that you are interviewing for. Next you are broken into 2-3 groups (mine had 8 people). In the 'group interview' you have to stand, say and spell your name and are giving scenario cards. You are told that there are not right or wrong answers but thats obivously not true. After each person reads their card and gives an answer you're broken into 2-3 more groups and have an activity and presentation.

During this whole process I showed up early, was smiling and attentive to everyone speaking. When I was speaking I tried to speak clearly, loud enough to hear without yelling and keep eye contact. I dressed professional, sat like a lady and had all my documents ready to go, with a killer recommendation letter! They only asked ONE question about us as a person (Tell me about yourself, something that would not go on a resume). From this they picked the people the wanted to one-on-one with and I was not one of them. In fact, I'm not sure how they do decide. I have 10+ years in a faced paced customer service environment and they chose a girl with PURPLE hair over myself and many other more than qualified applicants. There was a lady in my group that gave by far the best answer to the scenario question and was not chosen.

I found the whole process to be very impersonal from a company that uses "caring" as one of their values. After going through this process I'm not sure that Alaska is a company I would like to work for. It seems that qualifications and experience are not chosen. It does not matter if you "dressed-for-success". I'm not necessarily referring to myself, there were plenty of people that had more customer service experience than me or more experience in general. I know from chatting with people on breaks that quite a few of them knew about the position because of an employee at Alaska. So maybe that is the trick, who you know gets you an interview. Sad. I think that they missed out on quite a few great, loyal employees that day.

Interview Details Panel intervew

Interview Details I applied online and soon after got an email that had questions to send back. Some of the questions were, why did you want to work for Alaska Airlines, and are you COMPLETELY open to relocating to one of five domiciles. Next I had a phone interview and on that same call was invited to attend their hiring event in Seattle. You have to be there at 8a sharp. I showed up at 745a were about 50 people were already there. We watched a few movies and current flight attendants talk about how much they love their job. At this point, they split us up into three groups of about 25 and told us to meet in a specific room. As we all walked out, we had to do the reach test of 80 inches and to our rooms we went.
We all got settled in and then we were quickly put into alphabetical order by last name. The first question they asked was "tell me about a time you were loyal to something and why." We went around the semi-circle answering that one question then were put into smaller groups of three and given a scenario card that we had to stand, solve and talk about to the group. The last question was "tell us something that we wouldn't know about you from your resume." Again, around the room we went. At this point the interviewers said they were done and to meet back in the main room at a specific time.
At said time, all 75 of us were back in the room waiting for the results. Only about 15 people made it through to the next step of HR interviews. All in all, this part of the interviews took just over 4 hours.
The good news was you found out right then and there if you were going to training or not.

Interview Details Applied online, got a call a few days later from their recruiting coordinator and she scheduled a phone interview for me with a senior recruiter. After the phone interview I was asked to complete a 'charter test' and was told to expect to received an email the next day with the test instructions. The test asks you to essentially to write a mock-charter document for a fake project. They provide information about the project and give you a 5 template to fill out. I was given an hour to fill out the charter template, and once I finished I sent it back via email. This is as far as I've gone in the interview process so far, I sent a follow up email but haven't heard back yet about next steps.