Proudly emblazoned across all career websites these days is the boast that the employer has a culture of equal opportunity and diversity. After yet another humiliating experience with a UK Airline I now have to ask the question, has the UK Airline Industry (and the Ground Operations segment in particular) really embraced this concept.
I joined the industry originally in 1974 and worked continuously from 1976 until 2006 in the area of Ground Operations and Crewing. I started with a small Jersey based carrier and then moved on to Dan-Air, Air UK, Jet2 and laterly several carriers on a contract basis. I was respected in my field and had a good reputation as a competent performer (colleagues words, not mine).
In 2006 I took the personal decision to "change gender" and since that time I have become "unemployable" in the airline world although fortunately not in other more enlightened industries. Aviation then as now remains my first love but it seems that I will be forever denied a place back in the industry that I believe that I have served so well.
Two airlines actually phoned me up at the time (it's a small World, word gets around quickly) and expressed their disquiet at what I had done and told me not to bother applying to them in the future. (Something which in anycase I had not been contemplating at that time)
Since then the application process for any position has been remarkably similar. I submit an application, it is greeted with interest, I am invited for interview and then Stone Age Britain comes to the fore.
In this latest case, when rather foolishly, I decided that I would put myself through it all again by applying for a Crewing Controller's position, this is how it went.
I submitted the job application last Thursday. Within an hour I had been phoned and asked to complete some competency questions by the next day. These were duly submitted and I was called for interview this Tuesday just gone (1 day ahead of the closure date). I duly attended the interview which commenced with an In-Tray exercise which was based on on-the-day priorities and included a crewing problem to solve. (Nothing that was Rocket Science to use the dreadful cliche) I completed this exercise extremely well. How do I know this? It was debriefed immediately afterwards and I was given the outcome. There then followed a 1 hour 40 minute competency discussion. I felt that I gave a good account of myself (but then I would wouldn't I). I felt uneasy, however. I was not born yesterday. The HR Girl bless her, was a young slip of a thing and was clearly not going to rock the boat. The Operations Manager was straight out of the dark ages and clearly could not cope with Kirsty. His body language said it all. Where do these people come from, and to think modern airlines employ them.
Kirsty I should add is not Claudia Schiffer but niether is she off the set of Little Britain. My boyfriend has absolutely no idea about my past and does not question my authenticity.
Anyway today I was told that the application was not being taken further because I had failed the in-tray exercise. Anything else I would have accepted but this was clearly nonsense. I had worked out on the day that this would be the outcome. He might be from the dark ages, this Ops Manager, but he was certainly no thespian.
The four most recent interviews prior to this had not been dressed up in the same way, the employers made little effort to disguise the reason for my lack of success.
My ramblings are at an end. Someone, somewhere out there, please tell me that my believes are mis-placed and that the UK Airline industry has entered the 21st Century in this very basic area. I remain to be convinced. All I want is the chance to be able to earn a living in an area in which I remain extremely experienced and competent. Jobs do come up (few and far between these days admittedly) It would be nice to think that if I was called to interview again I could rely on a level playing field.
Kirsty
