The crew who cannot swim, the crew who fear fire, the crew who hate heights: the fears you had before training and what happened to them
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#1 easyJet, and I could not swim when I applied. I told nobody, learned in six lessons before the course, and passed the pool day shaking. I know I am not the only one who came into this job with a fear that seemed disqualifying. Let us collect them, and what happened.
Mine: swimming
Six lessons at a public pool in Manchester with a very patient instructor and a class of eight year olds. Learned to do 25 metres badly. Pool day: jumped, floated, got to the raft, got in, helped two others in, passed. The life jacket does the work. I have said this in other threads. I say it again because someone reading this tonight cannot swim and thinks it is the end.
Fire
A colleague who was frightened of fire from a childhood incident and dreaded fire week. What happened: the first go in the rig, she froze, the instructor took her through it slowly, the second go she did it, the third go she was fine, and she said afterwards that doing it three times in a controlled place had done more for the childhood fear than twenty years of avoiding it.
Heights
A crew member who does not like heights and who was worried about the door and the slide in training. What happened: the door trainer is a few metres up, the slide is a slide, and the aircraft at cruise does not feel high because you cannot see down. The fear of heights turned out to be irrelevant to the job. He has flown for six years.
Public speaking
The PA. Several people on my course dreaded it. What happened: the PA is a script, the script is repeated, and by week four everyone could do it. The fear of speaking is a fear of not knowing what to say and the PA solves that.
Blood
A colleague who fainted at the sight of blood and worried about first aid. What happened: the training used manikins and fake blood, she did fine, and on her one real medical she did not faint because she was too busy. Busy is the cure.
The point
Almost every fear that seems disqualifying is either irrelevant to the job or fixed by the training. The only one that is not is the fear of flying itself, and even that, according to another thread, fades.
What was yours, and what happened?
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#2 Ryanair training, and mine was the swimming, exactly yours, and the pool day was last week, and I passed, shaking, and the life jacket did the work. Six lessons. Tell everyone.
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#3 Mine was the flying itself and I wrote the thread. It fades. Slowly. With knowledge. Add it to the list of fears that do not disqualify.
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#4 Blood, for me, and the busy is the cure point is exact. My first real medical was a nosebleed that would not stop and I was too busy with the ice and the pressure to think about fainting. Afterwards I sat down. During, I was a crew member.
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#5 Training, week 6, and mine was the fire, and I did it three times last week and it is gone. Three times in a controlled place. Exactly as described.
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#7 Applying, cannot swim, was going to hide it. Booking the lessons instead. Thank you, all of you.