Emirates Assessment: HireVue Games and Video
Emirates screens high-volume applicants with HireVue games and an AI-scored video interview. Cabin crew and pilots have routes of their own. Here is what each one involves and how to get ready.
Which route are you on?
The Emirates Group hires for the airline and for dnata, its air services arm, through one careers site. What you sit depends on the job family, and the three that bring the most searches work quite differently:
- Customer service and other high-volume roles: HireVue games-based assessments and an AI-scored video interview, completed online.
- Cabin crew: an online application, then an invitation-only recruitment day with group activities, an online test taken at the venue and a final interview.
- Pilots: a remote first stage with a short HireVue video interview, psychometric and abstract reasoning tests and a live panel interview, then two days of simulator and medical assessment in Dubai.
HireVue also runs assessments in Emirates' C-suite recruitment, so senior applicants should not assume the online stage is only for frontline jobs.
The HireVue stage for high-volume roles
Emirates hires 500 to 1,000 people a month into its customer service department, from hundreds of thousands of applications per role. To handle that, it uses two HireVue products together: a set of short games and a recorded video interview that is scored with AI. Recruiters then review the candidates HireVue has ranked into tiers and put the strongest forward to hiring managers. Emirates says this cut its time to fill from 60 days to 7, and that some departments now hire straight from talent pools built this way.
In practice that means two things for you. The online stage is the main sift, not a formality before a human looks at your CV. And because talent pools are built from it, a strong result can keep you in contention for later openings in the same department.
The games
HireVue's games each take a few minutes, run on their own clock and climb a difficulty ladder: win a level and the next is harder, lose one and you drop back. Emirates does not publish which of the games it uses. Two things about how they are scored change how you should play:
- Your ceiling counts more than your speed. HireVue scores the highest level you reach and your ratio of wins to losses. Rushing and losing levels drags you down the ladder, so slow down a beat and win the level in front of you.
- The first levels are easy on purpose. If the opening minute goes badly, you have almost certainly misread the instructions. The games can be paused, so stop and read them again.
HireVue recommends Firefox or Safari on a computer, or its mobile app, because some Windows browsers render the game graphics poorly. On tasks where you compare shapes, that matters.
The video interview
A question appears on screen, you get a short time to think, and you record your answer to camera with nobody on the other end. For a customer service role, expect questions about dealing with passengers, working in a team and staying calm under pressure. Have three or four real examples ready and tell each one in order: the situation, what you did and how it ended. The STAR method is the standard way to structure them, and how to pass a video interview covers camera, timing and retakes. Our mock interview lets you rehearse answers out loud and get feedback before the real one.
Practise the HireVue games
These are practice versions of HireVue games, with original content. Not a statement that Emirates sends these exact games, which it does not publish.
- Numerosity (Adaptive · 3 minutes · free) - Free. Quick mental arithmetic on a level ladder. HireVue’s own scoring research gives the highest level reached here more weight than anything else, so start with this one.
- Shapedance (Adaptive · 3.3 minutes · free) - Free. Find the two tiles with the same pattern while they turn. Mental rotation against the clock.
- Singularity (Adaptive · 3 minutes) - Spot the one shape that differs as the grid grows and the difference narrows to a single feature.
- E-Motions (40 questions · 4 minutes) - Name the emotion on each face against the clock. Worth one run for a customer-facing airline role, because it is the game least like a reasoning test.
Every game, plus the Virtual Job Tryout, is on the HireVue practice hub.
Cabin crew: the recruitment day
Cabin crew recruitment is by invitation. You apply online, and if you are shortlisted you are invited to a recruitment day in one of the cities on Emirates' event list. You can go to an event in another country if that one suits you better, and if you cannot make the date, Emirates asks you to reply to the invitation email and ask for another day. Emirates says it is not running online assessment days at the moment, so plan to attend in person.
The day has three parts:
- Introduction. The recruitment team takes you through the role and life in Dubai.
- Assessment. Group activities and an online test taken at the venue.
- Final interview. A conversation about you and why you want to join the cabin crew team.
Emirates does not say what the online test covers, so arrive rested and read every instruction twice; Emirates asks for fluent written English, so check any written answer before you submit it. In the group activities, assessors watch how you work with strangers: listen, build on other people's ideas, and make sure quieter members get a turn. Our guide to situational judgement covers how customer-facing judgement is usually assessed.
Pilots: two stages
Direct entry first officers start from 2,000 hours, accelerated command from 5,000 and direct entry captains from 7,000. The National Cadet Pilot Programme, open to UAE nationals, starts from zero hours. Selection runs in two stages:
- Stage one, remote. A short HireVue video interview, psychometric testing, abstract reasoning testing and a live digital panel interview.
- Stage two, two days in Dubai. Simulator assessments, Advanced COMPASS and the Emirates medical.
We do not simulate Advanced COMPASS or the simulator checks. For the stage one abstract reasoning test, practise spotting the rule behind a sequence of shapes; our abstract reasoningguide explains the common rule types. Bring certified logbook records to the assessment: Emirates asks for a fleet manager's stamp or a stamped letter from your airline or authority.
Frequently asked questions
Does Emirates use HireVue?
Yes. Emirates uses HireVue games-based assessments and AI-scored video interviews for high-volume customer service hiring, HireVue assessments in C-suite recruitment, and a HireVue video interview in the first stage of pilot selection.
Which HireVue games will I get?
Emirates does not publish them. Employers choose a few games from HireVue's set, often three to six. Numerosity, Shapedance and Singularity are a sensible place to start, because they are the cognitive games HireVue's own research describes most fully.
Is there an online test for Emirates cabin crew?
Yes, but it is taken at the recruitment day venue rather than at home, alongside group activities and a final interview. Emirates does not publish what it covers.
Does Emirates run online cabin crew assessment days?
Not at the moment.
How soon can I reapply?
Six months after an unsuccessful assessment, for the same role.