As someone who went through the selection process for last year’s programme, I feel I am qualified to give my opinion on the whole thing. It may be good reading for people intending on applying (if and when) Etihad reopen the scheme in 2011 or later. I am posting under a false name, chiefly to avoid discomfiture to those I mention. However I can vouch that everything I say is true. Despite the fact that I passed the interview and was in the holding pool, waiting to begin what most people would deem an amazing opportunity, I chose to withdraw my application after witnessing the bad business practices involved. My overall impression of the company was far from good, bearing in mind that I would have to stay there for 7 years...
Firstly – I know that airlines (and businesses in general) always employ carrot-dangling techniques, i.e. they promise and promise but never deliver, but Etihad are quite possibly the worst players of this game. Whether this is because they demand “the best” and have to be autocratic, or simply because their management have dysfunctional prefrontal lobes, I am not sure. I just know that if I were to begin working for them, I wouldn’t be able to take the amount of bullsh*t they throw at you. And no, I’m not an immature young teenager with unrealistic expectations in this world – I have several years work experience, a university degree and many relatives/friends in the airline industry, some as pilots.
From the first day I applied, I began to be messed around. After the initial assessments, they told me that I had passed and would be invited to Abu Dhabi for the second stage. After waiting several months and pinning my hopes up, they suddenly changed their mind and emailed me to say they would not continue with my application. There was no reason given and I didn’t challenge it – after all they didn’t owe me anything and it was ultimately their call. So not feeling too despondent, I applied again…
This time I had to go abroad as there were no free places in the assessments in my home country. I politely asked if they could squeeze me in, after all it was just one extra person and surely some others wouldn’t turn up, but the answer was no. I was apprehensive about spending a large sum of money to fly abroad and pay for a hotel, but decided that it was worth one more go based on the fact that I had passed the assessments previously and this was the “opportunity of a lifetime”.
Once again I passed the initial assessments and was invited to Abu Dhabi. And this time – lo and behold they kept their word and took me there for several days. From the first moment I arrived, I felt very uneasy as a few of the other candidates seemed to have inside knowledge of things I wouldn’t expect them to know, and they were being “too friendly” with the Etihad staff. In fact, when I look back now, there was little point in them even holding this second stage of the selection process, as nearly all of the successful candidates seemed to have been “preselected” before the process began.
First we had the existing Etihad employee who wanted to change his role within the company, then we had the Etihad pilot’s kiddie, then the girl who failed the psychomotor tests but miraculously got a place on the scheme (perhaps they needed at least one girl), then the local boy who was already studying for an ATPL and wouldn’t need a residency permit… I don’t need to continue. Whilst not disputing the fact that these people were perhaps suitable candidates, there is just a large element of suspicion within me as to why they were chosen to actually begin the course. Some didn’t even meet the minimum requirements (particularly with regards to age), but when Etihad is concerned, rules are there to be broken…
The most frustrating part for me is what happened after the selection process. In chronological order, here is a summary of each of the emails received since returning from the interview in Abu Dhabi:
i) You passed the interview but we can’t yet confirm when the next intake is. You are not guaranteed a place so don’t resign from your current job.
ii) You are successful, but you’re not included on the next intake. Please wait until 2010 when there will be another intake.
iii) We are postponing the entire programme until at least 2011, but we still want you. So if you don’t mind, please wait at least another year. However if you change your career plans, let us know so we can take you off our books.
After the third email, I decided that I would not continue with my application as I simply cannot be messed around any more, and I don’t want to work for such an unprofessional company. It is quite obvious to me that some of the candidates on the first intake were not successful by merit at all. It’s unfortunate that in this industry, it’s all about whom you know and how well you know them. If you just so happen to be rubbing shoulders with Etihad staff, you may well get a place.
I related my story to the CEO of a major offshore law firm whilst at another interview, and he was disgusted by the way in which they have unfairly treated the candidates who passed the interview but have not yet started, in favour of those who were “not based on merit”. In this context, the word 'disgusted' is not a dysphemism, rather a euphemism. Not my words.
Before any criticism is given about what I’ve said – I should make it clear that I am aware that Etihad doesn't owe anything to anyone. But that doesn’t mean they are entitled to be tactless, unprofessional and despotic about the way in which they conduct their business. They are not offering part-time retail work to a 16-year old here. Instead they are toying around with people’s dreams and giving extreme false hope to candidates. If not cruel, then it's simply unprofessional to pass someone a golden opportunity, only to take it away from them and decide to give it to someone else who was a bit more friendly with the people "who matter".
I don’t want to discourage people from applying, but if you know to expect disappointment then you’ll be better prepared in your application. If nothing else, you get a free trip to Abu Dhabi for a few days. Perhaps I should have taken the interviewers out for a beer the night before my interview... oh wait... I'm not the first person with this idea!