Metro> Expats
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Metro> Expats
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Russian woman chases dream job as flight attendant
By Wang Ru (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-30 11:26
Vladivostok, Russia's largest port city on the Pacific Ocean bordering north China, translates to "rule the East" in Russian. But for most Chinese, the city that was controlled by China 140 years ago has another name: Haishenwai, which literally means "sea cucumber cliff." For 24-year-old Pritula Anna, who hails from the port city, her only desire last Friday was to be as cool as a cucumber to conquer a panel of tough interviewers. She was not aiming to be a Russian-Chinese translator and she wasn't trying to work as a tourist guide, a job she had in Dalian, Liaoning province. Anna was interviewing for the job of a flight attendant with Hainan Airlines, China's largest privately owned air transport company that was established in 1989 and based in Haikou, capital city of Hainan. A quickly expanding airline with both domestic and international flights - a rarity among Chinese airlines - it has operated nearly 500 routes in and out of China since 1993, including to major cities in Russia. It is one of the few Chinese airlines that is currently hiring foreign flight attendants, which is vital to the company as it deals with both Chinese and foreign passengers.
Before coming to Beijing, Anna studied Chinese in Harbin for two years and worked in a hotel and a travel agency in Dalian. "I am so familiar with the Chinese people and their culture," Anna said. "There are many Chinese people in Vladivostok doing business. Many Russian merchants have also been coming through my city to do business in China for a long time. My next dream is to get a master's degree in business in China. But I need to find a job in Beijing to fund myself." Sitting in the interview in the Grand Building, Anna was staring at the four interviewers from the airline, including a woman surnamed Haiqing, manager of human resources and a Chinese attendant who spoke fluent Russian. "Imagine that you are working in a hotel," the manager asked Anna in Chinese. "And a client was complaining that he didn't have the sea-view room, but all of such rooms had been booked. In this situation, what would you do?" Anna didn't understand the question initially. But she was clever and soon answered, "I would introduce our hotel's best room for him and offer him a good discount. But if he insisted, I would recommend him to other hotels with available sea-view rooms and welcome him the next time he came to the hotel." The answer seemed to satisfy the manager before she fired away with another question. "What kind of people you dislike?" "I am easy-going," Anna answered. "But I don't like those who are late. Therefore, I am always punctual." "Anna's Chinese is good and she has shown her enthusiasm and determination for this job. She has a good chance to be with us," said an interviewer surnamed Hai. "Foreign attendants can provide a feeling of home for the foreign passengers and also good services for our Chinese passengers." By last Friday, the panel of interviewers had decided to recruit 20 attendants, including three male interviewees, from over 150 applicants. Hainan Airlines, which officials said has eight attendants from Russia, the Republic of Korea and Japan, plans to recruit at least 40 attendants this time. The successful interviewees will be sent to Hainan for a three-month training. Hai said the attendant's first contract is for three years, with a monthly salary about 9,000 yuan ($1,320) plus bonus and an accommodation subsidy of 2,500 yuan. The next contract will raise the number to 20,000 yuan a month. Anna most likely would be on her way to Haikou, a seaside resort like her hometown, where her dream will take off. |
