Hi ya ands!
You had me in stitches regarding the whole "A friend's sister who knows someone whose Aunty ......" thing, nice one 
Regarding your Q, yes the application No# is infact the reference No# you are talking about.
The interviews vary slightly from country to country, but i can give you an insight on what mine entailed, last year.
I turned up for the 'Open day' (affectionatly known as the "Cattle call") and was ushered into a large reception room. Big tip here is to make sure you are there early, as there are usually heaps of people that turn up and becasue you all cant fit into the reception room at once, you get split into 2 groups. so stay at the front to make sure you get into the first group that goes through. Otherwise you will be waiting around for half the day to go in, rather than finishing with half the day up your sleeve!
Once inside we were spoken to about living and working in dubai. They try here to paint as realisitc view as they can, because they dont want to mis-lead anyone on what the job will truely be like, as many have very misconstruded ideas about Cabin Crew.
After the discussion, they show you a video, to give you more of an insight to living in Dubai and working as CC for EK, but alas! Here is the link to the You Tube website so you can watch it earlier if you want
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcwKtl8yzoY its in 2 parts.....enjoy
Once the video is over, they try to answer as many Q's as they can, so its a good time to get noticed by asking a Q!
After the Question session, they then get you to fill out a form (when your reference No# will come in handy...make sure to have a pen on you) and then they will ask you to all hand in the copy of your resumes (when I handed in the copy with letters etc) You will only have a minute with the recruiter to hand in your resume, so if nothing else...keep smiling!
We were told that if through to the group interview the next day we would recieve a phone call that afternoon.Which thankfully I did 
The group interviews were, i have to say, mentally exhausting by the end of it. If you manage to make it through the entire rounds, its a full day of being watched and evaluated (so make sure to have a full breakfast before you go to keep up stamina). The recruiters are lovely, and they try to make it as painless as they can for you, but at the end of the day, they have a job to do and a target to meet of being able to sort out who they want for the position.
If I remember correctly, I had about 3-4 group sessions in the day. The recruiters put you in groups and give you questions like 'who would you nominate for the nobel peace prize'? or 'Do you think information is too accessable on the internet'? (im sure the Q's will be different at your interview), but try to remeber that they are not looking for the person that can come up with the most correct or best answers. They are looking for people that work well within their group, encouraging each other and being respectful to each other, not too loud and pushy, yet not too quiet and shy....you do need to participate, but how you do so, is what will get you through to the next stage.
I had one guy, tell me that he "completely disagreed with my point of view" which is fine, but how he put that information across wasnt. He should have said something like " i understand what you are saying, but if i may suggest something a bit different......." this way he still would have been able to make his point, but in a respectful, non-conflicting manner......and suprise, suprise.....he didnt make it through to the next stage. (in my previous job I was cabin crew, inflight trainer and took part in recruitment as well)
After each round you will recieve a letter indicating whether you have progressed to the next stage....take a deep breath, say a prayer the open the piece of paper 
Once through all the stages successfully, we were told to pick an interview time that suited us most for our one on one. Mine was the following day, others were a few days after.
If you want more help regarding the type of interview Q's you could possibly be asked, feel free to PM me and I will happily put a few together for you to practise with, because th more prepared you are, the more words and information you have to draw on, the more confident you will be and less tongue tied when under pressure!.
I have to say, it is all worth it in the end. i am absolutely loving living here in Dubai and love flying for Emirates. They look after you from the moment you step off that plane!
My husband and i have been living abroad for over 3 years now and wouldnt have it any other way, its so much fun and interesting.(we are off to try sand dune boarding next week...hilarious!!)
To be realistic though, there are moments that you can experience where your emotions are up and down ( I call it the 'rollercoaster') because one minute you can love it and the next want to go home. This is completely natural, and my advise is to just ride it out.....it get sooooo much better and you eventually find your place
Ok, enough rambling from me....signing out!
Cheers
Last edited by OzyOS; 18th Jan 2007 at 09:06.