I think it’s great that Southwest Airlines looks for candidates that have a good sense of humor, and even considers sense of humor to be part of what qualifies an applicant for a job.
But I’m not wild about the examples given…
I would probably kid around with an interviewer who wore their clothes backward, but I can see how some people would be more intimidated by that than amused. The really problematic one, though, is the guy pretending to be a fellow applicant. It’s dishonest. And I frankly don’t see the humor.
I do like the brief clip of the flight attendant hiding out in the overhead luggage bin. That’s at least arguably humorous. But overall, I think Southwest Airlines needs to work on this sense-of-humor-screening-policy of theirs. Their test material needs to be (what’s the word I’m looking for?) funny.
Plus, they might try some humor at their own expense rather than that of the job applicant.
You are probably seeing what the CEO thinks is funny. That is probably more than Southwest wants to reveal.
Hmmmm…methinks you’re a bit up tight yourself. I don’t think this is really merely about a sense of humor, but how applicants react to odd or surprising situations brought about by strangers in an enclosed area. A sense of humor surely helps diffuse some situations and conveys a sense of social awareness.
Of course. But having somebody put their clothes on backwards could be test for a lot of things — tolerance, sensitivity, etc. If that’s what’s being tested (and how could an applicant possibly know what’s behind this bizarre behavior?) then the applicant will conspicuously avoid laughing — even if he or she thinks the test is funny!
I think I only flew once on Southwest and remember the (male) flight assistant making all kinds of bizarre and amazingly unfunny “jokes” –obviously with the approval of aircraft commander– throughout a relatively long flight (Atlanta to Phoenix). I generally like comedy, but I was rather annoyed by that dude and opted never to fly Southwest again.
Hanoi Paris Hilton says:
“I think I only flew once on Southwest and remember the (male) flight assistant making all kinds of bizarre and amazingly unfunny “jokes”…”
I’ve flown Southwest dozens of times. The flight attendants all make jokes (quite often the same jokes) and they’re all mildly amusing and the passengers seem to really love them. BTW: I fly on Southwest to get to gigs– I work in comedy clubs, casinos and colleges as a comedian. So, I suppose I’m an astute observer of comedy and what makes people laugh. (And I’ve recently co-written a book on comedy– with my lovely wife, who is also a standup comic– and we’re the co-publishers of a website about standup, so I suppose that makes us an expert on standup in particular and comedy in general… and we’d have to conclude that some folks just don’t have a sense of humor… and we’re not the only ones… there’s actually a scientific name for it… But, just as you don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows, you don’t need a scientist to make a diagnosis… You might be lacking in a sense of humor if you refuse to fly a major airline because the flight attendants aren’t sullen.)
Weak. Not funny. Boring.
A sense of humor is a great coping mechanism for on-the-job stress… for any job. Maybe Southwest needs to rethink how they test for this, but its very smart that they are trying.
Humor is also a great coping mechanism for on-the-plane stress. One of the reasons I prefer to fly Southwest.
Occasionally the flight attendants are genuinely funny; occasionally they fall flat. Either way, they defuse a lot of the tension involved in sitting in an enclosed space with 150 other people for hours.
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