I would like to share my experience of Seattle OD held on the 28th of March (Wed).
I was in Seattle OD two years ago at Hotel Deca. However, this year was in EK's crew hotel in downtown Seattle. I was one of the lucky candidates who passed all the AD stages two years ago but I got the rejection email after the final interview. So I decided to give it a try again.
On Wed, 70 people showed up. I was surprised because last time there were only 27 ppl (and it was on Saturday). I thought this time would be the same. But i was wrong. 70 people!! Anyway...that's not the point. I had lots of fun.
9:15AM
The recruiters were Christina and Kalitiana (same as SFO OD). We spent 2 hours on introducing Dubai and Q&A. Around 11:30.
11:30AM - 1:50PM
We had a coffee break. We came back to the venue and did the 212 test. This took like two hours to finish. I thought there was gonna be like mini group introduction (introduce your partner sitting next to you and ask about bla bla sort of thing)...BUT!!!! No....this time...we didn't have that. We only had a short 1-1 interview during the 212 reach test.
1:50-2:00PM First Elimination
2:00-2:50PM Lunch Break
2:55- 4:00PM Only 20 people got short-listed. I was the lucky guy
Now we had the group activities. There were two tasks this time. First one was the one we are all familiar with. 10 people sitting in a circle and Christina gave us a situation: Emergency Landing ...we were crew and successfully evacuated all the pax however some were injured. We must go back to the aircraft and bring some emergency tools. We had 15 minutes to discuss what to take.
Second Task was totally new to me. We had to build a tower or something with at least 1 meter high plus following the guidelines.
I had lots of fun. However, my group was totally a mess. Everyone was like arguing and constantly talking....someone sounded like fighting. I didn't wanna be like them so I smiled and tried to be nice to everyone. Anyway, it was a mess. I was thinking that my group would definitely fail at this stage and everyone would be sent home after this. My team members were really naive. They didn't even realise that Christina was watching us. I didn't know what happened to the other group because we were doing the same task at the same time; however the other group seemed quite cooperative.
I was a little bit disappointed but not too disappointed. I knew I tried my best. That was another great experience with EK OD/AD.
4: 30PM - second elimination.
An hour later, 6 people got the congratz letters (5 ppl from the other group and 1 guy from my group). I was eliminated at this stage. I think I know why only him from my group got picked. He was actually the leader type of person. He initiated the conversation but didn't talk much. I was a bit different. I observed and agreed with people's opinion by praising them. I guess I should have initiated the conversation instead of following the conversation flow. People who got the congratz letters at this time would be invited for final interview. Same as two years ago, six people got invited. I was sooooo close to get this golden invitation!!!
Anyway...I guess I will try it again six months later and stay positive
the key tips to pass the group activities:
1. Never argue with your members
2. Don't talk too much. (You should give suggestions and say one or two sentences)
3. Don't say anything negative.
4. Please please please DO Smile! If you can have a bright smile! That's the best best best thing to do!
5. Be cheerful and have fun! The given task has no right or wrong answer....so please...this is not a test or exam. Just a little group exercise.
Good Luck,