Our recruitment process

The first step in the recruitment process is your online application. Your online application should provide information about your professional and educational background to demonstrate that you meet the requirements for the role. It is also important that you take the time to read the position description carefully and make sure that you show that your experience and skills match what is required for the role.

A cover letter is your selling tool to showcase why you are the best candidate for the role. This is your chance to explain and show how your prior work experience; knowledge; skills and strengths make you the best candidate for the position.

A good cover letter should be no more than one page long; targeted to the position; clear and concise and maintains a professional and positive writing tone.

A résumé is your personal advertisement, your chance to stand out from the crowd. Make sure that in your résumé you provide a summary of your professional and educational background and skills. Tailor your résumé to demonstrate how your skills; knowledge; strengths and professional work experience matches the role. Take out details that are not relevant to the position you are applying for and emphasise the skills that match the position.

Ensure your resume is structured appropriately and contains the following information:

• Contact details: Name; address; telephone numbers and email address.
• Career Summary: A few sentences describing your professional work history e.g. I am an enthusiastic and loyal customer service representative with over three years of experience in the aviation industry.
• Education: Details and dates of your education, training and/or study achievements
• Skills: A few dot points highlighting your major skills e.g. High level customer service skills including the ability to sensitively communicate with people from diverse backgrounds.
• Employment History: Starting from your most recent position: Title; company and specific dates you worked there e.g. Customer Service Representative; Virgin Australia; Dec 07 – Sep 09.
• Duties: A few dot points describing the duties you performed in the role e.g. Greeted customers on arrival at Brisbane airport and provided advice when booking domestic and/or international flights (e.g. seating options)
• References: Two work references.

Depending on the position, a phone screen may be required. The phone screen is a short 20 to 30 minute phone interview with a recruitment advisor, who will provide you with the details of the recruitment process and expected timeframes.

For some roles, you may be invited to attend a Recruitment Day as part of the recruitment process. A Recruitment Day is another selection tool that we use to see how candidates behave when performing particular service tasks and interacting with people. Recruitment Days can be a little daunting as there will be a number of attendees there. However, don’t be distracted by what other people are saying and doing, just be yourself. This will help you to feel at ease and your natural personality will shine through.

The key to feeling confident when attending a Recruitment Day is to prepare. Here are a few tips to help settle the nerves before arriving to a Recruitment Day:

• Be on time and at the right place. Know where to go for the Recruitment Day and arrive with plenty of time to spare.
• Be aware that you are being assessed. At a Recruitment Day you will be observed and assessed from the moment you arrive in the building until the time you leave.
• Make a great first impression. Ensure you are groomed appropriately for the role. Be friendly and courteous by introducing yourself to the recruiter and the other candidates. This will also make you feel at ease when conducting assessment activities.
• Use good communication skills. Be aware of your surroundings. Don’t cut anyone off while they are speaking and speak with confidence.
• Use positive body language. Pay attention to your body language to ensure you represent yourself as being engaged; professional; personal and confident.

At Virgin Australia, we pride ourselves in matching the right person to the right job. To help us select the right person, we undertake behavioural interviewing. Behavioural interviewing allows us to determine how a candidate will perform their duties based on their prior behaviour in the workplace.

To prepare for an interview it is suggested that you:

• Create a good first impression: Groom for the occasion and act in a professional manner. Ensure you arrive on time and have prepared any documentation required from you.
• Research the business and role. Take the time to understand the working environment of our business and the role. Prepare for any likely questions you may be asked about the role.
• Structure your responses. Think about the question before jumping to a response; structure your responses by describing the situation, what action you undertook and the result of your action.

A pre-employment medical examination may be required if you have applied for a position that requires you to be physically fit to perform your duties. The medical examination will be conducted at your own cost and with one of our nominated medical centres. A recruitment advisor will discuss this process with you prior to being invited to the pre-employment medical examination.

FRAUD ALERT
Virgin Australia has recently received reports of organisations pretending to recruit on behalf of Virgin Australia or by people claiming to work for Virgin Australia. These emails notify individuals that their qualifications were found suitable to work as an employee for Virgin Australia and request personal information or the transfer of money to pay for work visa’s, insurance policies and so on.

Please note that these communications are fraudulent and do not originate from Virgin Australia.

Virgin Australia or its authorised agents will NEVER request any money or payments from applicants, at any point in the recruitment process. All applicants who are successful in gaining employment with Virgin Australia are always required to go through a formal recruitment process that may include a phone interview, face-to-face interview, reference checks and possibly a medical assessment.

Fraudulent employment offers or job advertisements may come from personal email addresses such as Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail. The Virgin Australia recruitment team will NEVER email from personal email addresses and will always include the stem @virginaustralia.com. In these fraudulent employment offers spelling and grammar is usually poor and at some stage money will be requested. We recommend that you DO NOT respond to any suspicious employment offers and DO NOT disclose your personal or financial details to people with whom you are unfamiliar.

If you receive any suspicious emails regarding employment at Virgin Australia or requests for payment at any time in the recruitment process, please contact RecruitmentFraud@virginaustralia.com and we will thoroughly investigate.