I never said they were only hired for personality- though you must agree this is a large part of the job (CC or CSA)
I believe I also mentioned that I worked with a lot of girls who had other jobs prior (journalist, nurse etc) i.e. "exceptional credentials"
You cannot deny though that they only recruit from certain nationalities, and there is a reason for that. I'll let you work that one out. And it's a fact that many of them come from 'tough' backgrounds and so are willing to put up with a lot more than other people might to earn a good living and support their families back home (hats off to them)
Hotance, the hourly flight pay is on top of basic salary and of course if you did a 16hr flight (closer to 14 on A380 at the moment) there would be a layover, therefore there would be layover allowance too. So, if you wanted to you could save the majority of that to supplement what you'd make from flying. Lots of crew (not just CSAs) do this.