ANA assessment for Japanese applicants: the entry sheet, the image round, the English and the difference from JAL, from an ANA crew member
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#1 ANA, Tokyo, five years, international, and Hiroshi wrote the JAL interview for Japanese applicants. Every applicant in Japan applies to both and asks the difference, so here is the ANA version and the honest comparison.
The process
Similar in shape to JAL: the entry sheet with the motivation essays, the web test (aptitude and English), the group interview with the image element, the second interview, the final with management, the medical and the swimming. New graduate and mid career rounds. The ANA entry sheet asks a question about teamwork in a specific form that the coaching industry has a name for.
The image round
As explicit as JAL's and with a slightly different emphasis: ANA's recruiters are said to look for the 'bright' type where JAL looks for the 'refined' type. This is the Japanese applicant folklore and it is roughly true in the cabins: the ANA crew room is a little louder. The posture, the smile, the complexion and the walk are scored at both.
The English
A TOEIC threshold, a conversation, and ANA's international growth means the English is used more than it was. Applicants who studied abroad have the advantage at both.
The difference from JAL
The culture: ANA is the younger airline, a little more informal, growing faster internationally. JAL is the legacy with the longer history and the service tradition. The pay and the contracts are comparable. The 'why ANA and not JAL' question is asked and the answer about the international growth is the honest one for ANA; the answer about the tradition is the honest one for JAL.
Mid career
Friendlier than the new graduate round for the over 25s, as at JAL, and ANA has hired more mid career crew in the recent rounds as the fleet grows.
For the applicants applying to both
The essays differ. Do not copy one into the other. The image rounds differ in emphasis. And the 'why' question needs two honest answers, which is the hard part of applying to both Japanese carriers.
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#2 JAL, and the bright versus refined folklore is roughly true and both crew rooms laugh about it. Ayaka's comparison is fair. The two essays must differ. The applicants who copy are caught at the first interview.
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#3 JAL purser, and the mid career round at ANA being more active in the recent rounds is true and the JAL applicants over 25 should know it. The two airlines are siblings with different volumes.
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#4 Osaka, JAL mid career and the Gulf in, and ANA was not on my list because I assumed one Japanese carrier was enough. Two honest answers to two why questions. Adding it.
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#5 Korean Air, and the Japanese applicant folklore (the bright and the refined) has a Korean version for Korean Air and Asiana that the merger has made obsolete. Interesting that Japan still has two.
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#6 Japanese, and the ANA entry sheet teamwork question is the one the coaching schools charge the most for. Ayaka is right not to name it. The applicants know.
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#7 Vietnamese, applying to SIA and Cathay, and reading the Japanese process from the inside makes me grateful for a walk in. Two essays, an image round, four interviews. The Japanese applicants are made of something.