Open Day - My experience
Alright guys, I read over and over and over again about the stress on appearance during the open day and although I know its important, in my situation it certainly wasnt want helped me make it to the Assessment day.
I heard about the Open Day in Rio de Janeiro one day before and I went just to basically see what it was about. I am getting married October 21st and thought there was no chance in hell my fiance would ever move to Dubai with me, so I didnt have my hopes really high, even though it was something I had always wanted to do. Either way, I talked him into coming along with me to check it out.
We got to the Open day and realized we looked completely out of place. I was wearing a decent skirt and a blouse, but I didnt look professional at all. I had just gotten my hair straightened (the kind that lasts for a few months..) two days before and since you cant wash your hair or put it up or anything else, I had my hair down and it was quite obviously dirty. My fiance showed up in a nice shirt and dark blue jeans. We walked in to a room full of previous flight attendants who had just lost their jobs with the airline Varig and they all looked impeccable. If you can imagine, we felt silly and extremely intimidated.
I dont know how we did it, but all I remember is my fiance asking a few good questions after the video and they were impressed by his english and asked him where he had learned it and then he started talking about Canada and having a Canadian fiance and everything else and he sort of pointed at me while he did that, even though we were on opposite sides of the room and then being the only foreigner in there, I got a bit of attention myself. I guess that is what made the recruiters notice us. After that, we waited in line to have our little one minute interview and the recruiter was great, she joked around with me, asked me about why I was in Brazil, how long I had been there...I even had the opportunity to explain my hair being dirty. lol. She also gave me a few tips for the assessment day, told me what to wear, to wear my hair up, to wear darker lipstick, etc etc. And then she told me after about a minute and a half that I was invited back to the Assessment day. After that, my fiance and I just ran out of there more excited than we had ever been and in a state of complete and utter disbelief.
Now, 3 months later, BOTH of our airplane tickets are on their way and we are leaving Brazil on October 26th. We still cant believe it, but we have never been happier. At least we get to spend our time before we leave for Dubai with our families at our wedding and have a few days alone before we leave and have to work our asses off in training. Hopefully we can squeeze in a real honeymoon as soon as we manage to get leave!
So, all I can say, is let yourself shine through. Look your best, look professional, have your hair up and everything else, but its NOT the most important thing. Let them see your personality, let them see your smile, dont be shy and really prove to them that you deserve the chance.