Alaska Airlines is the 5th largest airline in the United States. They operate a domestic network of over 100 destinations, serving Alaska and the Pacific Northwest with flights to Hawaii and the contiguous United States. They also offer flights to other North American locations in Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. They have regional partnerships with SkyWest Airlines and Horizon Air and are part of the Oneworld alliance with American Airlines. They have five hubs, their largest being in Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Other Alaska Airlines hubs can be found in Anchorage, Los Angeles, Portland, and San Francisco.
Over 16,000 people have careers with Alaska Airlines. There is room for people from an abundance of career backgrounds. Call centers, pilots, flight attendants, maintenance, engineers, software and IT specialists, and corporate jobs, are all part of what makes Alaska Airlines function. There are even internship opportunities for new grads who are trying to learn about the industry. Alaska Airlines offers its employees a competitive benefits package which includes:
Medical coverage
Paid time off
Family medical leave
Retirement investment
Bonus programs
Employee stock programs
Travel discounts
Career development classes
Employee/family scholarships
What Is Alaska Airlines’ Recruitment Process?
Hop onto the Alaska Airlines website to look for the job that is the right fit for you. The website also lists careers with the Alaska Airlines partner Horizon Air. Search through the job listings, and join the talent community to upload your resume, and sign up for job alerts. Each career area has its own talent community that you can join based on the job you are looking for.
After your application is submitted, there may be slightly different steps, based on the job you are interested in. Some applicants will receive a link to take some online assessment tests, while others may be asked to complete and submit a video interview. Those who take the online assessments may later be contacted for a phone screening. After these steps are complete you will be invited for an interview.
The interview process also varies from job to job. Some people will be asked for a face-to-face interview with one management member, while others may come in for a group interview or an assessment day.
If you attend an assessment center, you will be participating in group activities, will need to complete physical assessments like a reach test, and you may also be asked to take online assessments.
The interviews will consist of some behavioral and some technical questions. For customer-facing positions, many of the questions will focus on your attitude, your ability to work with people, and how you handle customers in a difficult situation.
Alaska Airlines’ Psychometric Tests
With such a large variety of jobs, assessment tests will vary. Some positions may not require any, while others may require multiple assessments. You will be informed of which, if any, tests you will be required to take after you submit your application.
Situational Judgment Test (SJT) – Since problem-solving is an important part of most jobs in the airline industry, this is one of the most common tests. Most positions from pilot to counter person to flight attendants will be required to take a version of this test. The SJT will show your ability to think through a problem and find an effective solution. You will be presented with a workplace scenario that relates to your job, and you will be given a selection of responses. You will need to either rank these responses in order of how effective they are or pick the most similar response to how you would handle the situation.
Personality Assessment – Your personality, how well you work with others, your motivations, and your traits, are a huge predictor of job success. Particularly in fields that can be mentally strenuous, such as piloting, certain personality types are better suited to some jobs than others. The personality test will be similar to the Hogan Test. The questions will go between true and false and agree or disagree. The personality assessment will evaluate your cognitive skills, how you work under pressure, and your motivations.
Verbal Reasoning Test – Communicating both verbally and through writing is an extremely important part of working for an airline. The verbal reasoning test will measure these abilities using brief passages followed by true or false questions. You will need to be able to determine which information in the text is important and use what you know to draw appropriate conclusions and correctly answer the questions. This test will have a time limit.
Cognitive Ability Test – Cognitive tests are given as a way of seeing if job-seekers have the ability to quickly learn tasks and apply them to their new role. Cognitive tests like Wonderlic help employers get a better idea by testing skills like numerical reasoning, logical reasoning, and abstract reasoning. These test a very strictly timed, and you will need to complete as many questions as you can in the time you are allowed.
How to Prepare for Alaska Airlines’ Assessments?
These tests are an extremely important part of the hiring process. Without acceptable scores, you will not be allowed to continue to the interviews. It is important that you are mentally prepared to take these tests if you hope to achieve not just acceptable, but standout scores.
Learn as much as you can about Alaska Airlines and the corporate culture. Find out what is required in your desired position, and what the airline thinks makes a valuable employee. This will help you when it comes to making decisions on the SJT. If you know what they expect, you can anticipate their expectations and respond like an experienced employee.
To pass a cognitive test, the best thing you can do is work on your critical thinking skills. Practice math drills so you can quickly answer questions. Find apps online that can help you with your abstract reasoning. Working with word puzzles will strengthen your ability to decipher and use written information, which will be helpful on the verbal reasoning test as well as the cognitive test.
The personality assessment can be the most challenging of all the tests. It can be tempting to try and “cheat” the test by responding in the way you think the airline wants to see. Instead, be honest, and pick the answers that best describe your real behaviors and motivations. Do be sure you answer as though you are already hired since your workplace behavior can vary from the way you act off the clock.
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