Just be yourself? Um, sure, hmm.
I have a problem. And if you’ve read anything on my website, you’ll know I have several.
I hate self-introductions. Or rather, I did — before I knew how to shape them. I loathed them in interviews, in social settings — and most of all, at secondary Airport Border inspections. Come to think of it, I still kinda hate self-introductions, a smidge.
You see, I have a complicated backstory. Which is why I’ve got enough cautionary tales to fill an entire course on what not to do at flight attendant interviews. Not to mention a cautionary memoir on the back-burner called the Good Girl Checklist. (A sarcastic title to be sure.)
In all, I’ve changed my name at least twelve times due to a monumental identity crisis that started at 11 years old. (you can read about that here.) To further complicate matters, by the time I was 20, my career history needed a damn spreadsheet – and wait, they want a one page resume? On top of all that, my dream to become cabin crew started with a sexist 60s flight attendant poster, and I failed nineteen cabin crew interviews over five years.
Yeah, that’s not the kind of thing you can cram into a quickie “Tell us a little bit about yourself” answer. And of course not — why would you even try?
Well, when people advise “just be yourself, be honest“, that was my truth. Or, at least, some of it. And when I get motor-mouthed in interviews, which was me just being me, guess what came spilling out. Yeah. The truth, all of it.
The real me was naïve and I needed real guidance, with specifics, because how do you shape truth into something recruiters want to hear?
Through nineteen failed interviews, I stumbled and bumbled my way through self-introductions, and publicly humiliated myself in the process.
Until…I finally figured it out.
And, you know what, I’ve come full circle. (eye-roll.)
Mainstream advice isn’t wrong — it really is best to be yourself and be honest. But like most things, that advice is far too simplistic because it lacks crucial context.
About as helpful as telling you to “just relax” before a Pap smear.
Honesty and authenticity is your edge, but it’s all about the framing.
Think about it. How many times can a recruiter hear “I graduated with my degree in hospitality and have been working for a small hotel and …”
…my apologies, I zoned out.
Sure it might be honest and authentic, but come on. What happened to personality?
Some backstories come with perfect frames that resemble ornate French Rococo scrolls. Those applicants worked as Redcoats at Butlin’s and have clipped wings practically materialise on their interview lapels.They can be honest and be themselves, good for them. I was not that applicant.
Then, there’s the average backstory, safe, somewhat pleasant, but can sound kinda bland and uninspiring and resemble a boxy, mass-produced, flat-packed frame if not up-cycled.
And then there are people like me, that don’t even really have a frame. Just torn, tattered, and weather-beaten edges.
So, what do you do with a self-introduction when it isn’t Rococo?
You have three options:
- Just be yourself and be honest (Fingers x’ed it doesn’t zone anyone out.)
- Follow cheat-sheets and memorise model answers (Ugh, not unless your name is FJÄLLBO and you’re a mass-produced, Swedish self-assembly shelf.)
- Learn how to shape truth into fascinating stories. (AKA: Handcrafted, up-cycled, and one of a kind.)
Over 30 years of cabin crew interview research, I have learned to shift, shape, and sell different versions of myself in thirty seconds or less, with honesty and authenticity baked in. Whether I was charming a recruiter into giving me the Golden Call at Emirates, or explaining my sixth alias to the immigration officers at USCIS.
When I learnt to shape my backstory into interesting anecdotes, what once tanked my interviews became my best material.
And that’s what I will teach you in the Crew Crosscheck course.
Don’t bore airline recruiters with ordinary or mass-produced answers or self-introductions, dazzle them with your finely tuned version of the truth, instead.
You’ve got the stories. We’ve got the frame.
At Crew Crosscheck, we don’t start with what you “should” say. We start with you — the bits you’ve tried to tidy away, the ones that got you strange looks, the stuff that actually makes you interesting.
You’ve got the stories. We’ve got the frame. Let’s shape your stories and answers the way only you can tell them — something no manual or chatbot could ever replicate.
