Ryanair and Aer Lingus interviews in the same month. What each one asks, and how different are they really?
-
#1 Bar manager in Galway, 26, and after two years of talking about it I have applied to both Ryanair and Aer Lingus this winter. Ryanair moved first, I have a Dublin assessment and interview in three weeks. Aer Lingus have acknowledged the application and that is all so far.
I am trying to prepare for both without preparing the wrong way for either, because from what I can tell they want different things.
Ryanair, from what I read here: fast, practical, they want people who can do four sectors, sell on board, and not complain. The interview is short and the questions are about availability, flexibility on base, and customer situations. Some people mention the training cost or agency contract question coming up.
Aer Lingus: slower process, more traditional, a proper competency interview, more emphasis on the brand and the service standard. People describe it as more polished and more selective, and the hiring is in smaller numbers.
What I want from people who did either or both:
- What were the actual questions? Not the categories, the questions.
- For Ryanair: how much does the base flexibility question matter? I would rather stay in Ireland but I can say yes to Europe if it is the difference.
- For Aer Lingus: is the bar management experience the right kind of story, or do they want hotel and restaurant specifically?
- Is doing Ryanair for a year and then moving to Aer Lingus a real path or a story people tell to make Ryanair feel like a plan?
I will write up whichever I do first for the next person.
-
#2 Ryanair, Dublin, five years. The questions in mine: why Ryanair, where can you be based, what would you do if a passenger refused to put their bag in the overhead, sell me this pen (yes, really, or a version of it), and when can you start. The base question matters a lot. If you say Ireland only you are competing for the fewest slots. Say you are open to Europe and mean it. Bar management is a great story for us, you have handled drunk people, that is Friday night to Ibiza.
-
#3 Also Ryanair Dublin. Adding: the interview was maybe 15 minutes and felt like they had already decided from the group task. Be warm and quick in the group and the interview is a formality. And the Ryanair to Aer Lingus path is real, I know four people who did it. Aer Lingus likes crew who already have a type rating and a year of not being late.
-
#4 Aer Lingus, Dublin, seven years. Ours is a proper competency interview, 40 minutes, two people. Tell me about a time you led a team through a difficult shift. A time you dealt with a complaint that was not your fault. A time you had to follow a rule you disagreed with. Why Aer Lingus and not Ryanair, and they genuinely want an answer that is not about the money. Bar management is a strong story, especially the leading a team part. They do not need hotels.
-
#5 @georgedub the 'why not Ryanair' question is the one I would have fumbled. What did you say, if you do not mind?
-
#6 @danny1999 I said I wanted to work long haul eventually and Aer Lingus was the Irish airline that could take me there, and that the service style suited me more than the sales style. Both true. Do not say anything negative about Ryanair, half the room has friends there.
-
#7 In Ryanair training now, Dublin. The training cost question did come up in my interview, they asked if I understood the terms of the contract. Read them before the day so you can say yes and mean it. The group task before the interview was building a marketing pitch for a route. Mine went fine because I let the loud guy talk and then summarised. Small thing, worked.
-
#8 Not Ryanair or Aer Lingus, but Dublin based, and I want to say the two airlines are not as different as the internet makes out once you are flying. The passengers are the same people. The difference is the roster, the pay structure and the uniform. Pick based on where you want to live and what you want your months to look like.