Emirates Psychometric Test, English & Personality Tests, Recruitment Process and Assessment Day Preparation – 2024

About Emirates

Emirates is an airline carrier based in the United Arab Emirates. It is one of the largest airlines in the world and has over 100,000 employees to keep this massive company operating. Emirates actually ranks as the airline with the most international destinations with over 180 destinations in 85 countries.

As you can imagine, Emirates hires a lot of people every year for an assortment of jobs all over the world. The airline carrier ranks as one of the best airlines to work for with pilots receiving:

• One month of PTO per year
• A competitive salary
• Health insurance
• Tax-free income (the majority of pilots are based in Dubai, which has no income tax)

Other jobs at Emirates also offer similar benefits including:

• Paid time off
• 401k matching
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Dental and vision insurance

Now, the airline does have a very involved hiring process that involves taking a multitude of psychometric tests and other assessments.

What Is the Hiring Process at Emirates?

Emirates receives hundreds of thousands of job applications each year for open positions. Fortunately, they have a very streamlined hiring process, but it can be difficult to progress through the hiring process because of the challenging assessments that job applicants must take.

Job Application

The first step of the hiring process at Emirates is filling out a job application. This can be done on the official Emirates job portal. All open positions at Emirates are posted on the job portal. Applicants must fill out their personal information and upload their resume, CV, cover letter, and any certifications or licenses relevant to the job they are applying for.

Emirates’ Personality Test

The applicant will take a personality test after submitting their job application. This personality test is conducted online and is meant to screen out any candidates that do not have a personality that is compatible with Emirates.

It is strongly recommended to review the mission, values, and goals of Emirates before taking the personality test in order to get an idea of the traits the airline looks for in applicants. Generally, the airline wants cautious, risk-averse pilots and cabin crew that can provide excellent customer service in stressful situations.

Video Interview

Emirates used to have a reputation for flying applicants that passed the initial screening out to Dubai for an assessment day. However, this policy changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline now conducts one or more video interviews before inviting applicants to the assessment day.

It is not a live video interview – the applicant uses HireVue to record a video of themselves answering the interview questions. Applicants must come up with an answer to the interview questions on the spot as applicants are not informed of the questions beforehand.

The recordings are reviewed by HR and hiring managers at Emirates and the applicants with the best video interviews are invited to an assessment day in Dubai.

Emirates’ Assessment Day

Assessment day at Emirates is a three day process that involves lots of assessments and interviews at the corporate headquarters in Dubai. It is a notoriously difficult process that only a handful of applicants pass, but the odds of passing can be greatly improved with practice and knowledge about the process.

Emirates Pilots’ Psychometric Tests

As mentioned previously, Emirates requires applicants to take a variety of different assessments on the assessment day. Emirates combines six of the tests into the Computerized Pilot Aptitude Screening System (COMPASS) test. The six assessments that make up COMPASS test include the following:

• Numerical Reasoning Test – This is a timed multiple-choice test that involves answering basic algebra, percentage, and arithmetic problems. It is not a particularly difficult test, but applicants only have a limited amount of time to answer the questions, so it is wise to take some practice tests beforehand.
• Multitasking Test – The multitasking test will test the applicant’s ability to multitask. Information will be presented to the applicant and the applicant must enter that information on a simulated flight control deck. The other section of this test involves entering alerts that appear on a flight deck into a computer. Applicants have 10 minutes at most (sometimes less) to complete this test.
• Spatial Awareness Test – The spatial awareness test tests the applicant’s ability to determine an aircraft’s altitude and position based on an instrument panel. The applicant will also be tested on their ability to determine the manufacturer of the aircraft by the instrument panel.
• Verbal Reasoning Test – The verbal reasoning test examines the candidate’s ability to process written information. A paragraph is presented to the candidate and they must answer a series of multiple choice questions related to the paragraph in the allotted time.
• Short-Term Memory Test – The short-term memory is a challenging, but relevant test for pilots. Test-takers will be presented with information about a flight (ie. altitude, airspeed, heading, etc.) and must correctly repeat the information. The information will change and the applicant must update the information as it changes. Passing this test requires successfully repeating the information as it changes.
• Flight Control Test – This tests the applicant’s ability to properly use flight controls to control a simulated aircraft. This test takes five minutes and will further test multitasking ability along with testing the fine motor skills of the applicant.

Those applying for pilot positions will have to take more than just the COMPASS test, though. Some of the other assessments include the following:

• English Test – English fluency is required to be a pilot at Emirates as it’s an international airline company. The English fluency assessment consists of 40 multiple choice questions. The questions are presented as a sentence with a missing word or phrase that the applicant must correctly select from a list of options. This assessment does not have a hard time limit. However, it is timed, so it is recommended to complete this assessment as quickly as possible.
• Abstract Reasoning Test – The abstract reasoning assessment will test the candidate’s ability to recognize patterns. Each question will contain shapes in a certain pattern and the candidate must select the answer (it is multiple choice) that correctly matches the pattern presented in the question.
• Personality Test – The applicant will take three personality tests on the final day of the assessment day. These personality tests are very similar to the initial personality test and the previous personality tests. Emirates does this to check for consistent answers to certain questions. Again, the best way to prepare for this test would be to review the mission, values, and goals of Emirates. Emirates is looking for pilots with certain personality traits (risk-averse, double check their work, etc.) to ensure the safety of their flights.

Emirates Cabin Crew Assessment Tests

Cabin crew candidates have to take less assessment tests than pilots. The assessment day for cabin crew involves a lot of interviews (group and individual). There are still some assessments, though. These assessments include the following:

• Personality Test – The personality test is similar to the initial personality test and may have some of the same questions. However, this test has 180 questions and candidates have around 45 minutes to complete the test.
• Reach Test – The reach test is the easiest test the cabin crew candidates will take. Candidates must demonstrate the ability to reach an object 212 cm (83 in.) off the ground. Standing on your tiptoes is allowed for the reach test.
• English Fluency Assessment – Cabin crew candidates must be proficient in the English language. This test does not have a spoken or listening portion. Instead, applicants are presented with stories that contain a few paragraphs. The applicant must answer five questions about the story. These questions are not all multiple choice – some of the questions will require writing an answer (often a few sentences).

How to Prepare for Emirates Assessment Tests?

Emirates puts a lot of importance on their assessment tests, especially for pilots. These assessments have a reputation for being extremely challenging even for experienced candidates.

Fortunately, it is possible (and strongly recommended) to prepare for some of the assessment tests by taking practice tests. The assessments that can be prepared for by taking practice tests include the following:

• English Fluency
• Verbal Reasoning
• Abstract Reasoning
• Spatial Awareness

It is also possible to prepare for the personality test by reviewing the corporate vision of Emirates. Beyond that, a lot of the assessments at Emirates for pilots come down to applying the knowledge learned at pilot school to real world scenarios.