I've lived in Europe for 10 years now.
Which means I've taken a LOT of flights.
And when you live in a city that doesn't have direct flights to everywhere, you end up on every budget airline known to man. Because the alternative is two transfers through Munich or Amsterdam or Istanbul and 14 hours of travel to go less than the distance from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
So you learn the hierarchy fast.
Wizz Air is actually not bad. Surprisingly decent for the price. And their planes are pink and Little Miss Mau loves pink so they have that going for them. They'll given you an experience at least on par with the best US carriers like Delta.
Ryanair is what it is — you know exactly what you're getting and they don't pretend otherwise. I do have mad respect for their social media sass and game. Kyle approved there.
But there's one airline at the very, very bottom of the barrel…the absolute basement. Dumpster diving. Going to the kebab shop at 5am after a night out.
The airline equivalent of eating gas station sushi…
I present to you…
EASYJET.
Welcome to hell in the sky.
For the Americans reading, this is like flying Spirit Airlines. Maybe worse.
The seats don't recline. The legroom is designed for children. They charge you for breathing. The overhead bins are purse-sized. You will never have a tunnel to walk onto the plane. You WILL take a 45 minute bus ride on the tarmac to your plane, and you will enjoy it.
Here's the thing:
When you take 5 days to respond to a recruiter who reached out to you about a job YOU applied for…
You are getting the EasyJet experience. And you did it to yourself.
The recruiter messaged you on Monday. They were at their desk. They were in the zone. They had the job spec open. They were moving through candidates quickly because they have a deadline.
You saw the notification and thought, "I'll get to that later."
Five days later you respond. "Hi! Thanks for reaching out. I'd love to learn more!"
Too late.
The recruiter already messaged 50 other people. Got 15 responses. Scheduled 8 calls. Shortlisted 3 candidates. Presented them to the client.
Your name means nothing to them now.
But the candidate who responded in 5 minutes?
That person got the Emirates experience.
Priority boarding. Hot towel. Lay-flat seat. The recruiter sees their response land while they're still in outreach mode. Clicks the profile immediately. Reads it carefully. Responds. A conversation starts. Momentum builds. By the end of the day, that candidate has a call scheduled for tomorrow morning.
Same job. Same recruiter. Same Tuesday afternoon.
One candidate is sipping champagne at 35,000 feet.
The other is fighting for overhead bin space on the tarmac in the rain next to dude who hasn't showered in 3 days and took salmon to-go from the airport cafe.
The difference wasn't qualifications. Wasn't experience. Wasn't the resume.
It was 5 minutes versus 5 days.
Speed is a character trait, not a scheduling preference. And why the fastest responder almost always ends up being the best hire — not because speed equals skill, but because speed signals something about you that no resume can communicate.
Be Emirates.
Not EasyJet.
And for the love of God, answer your phone.
Now, the thing that gets you in the door…is your CV.
If yours sucks, no calls will come.
To get help with that, click the link below.
I have limited slots this month (5) to help individuals write and craft WINNING resumes that WILL get you callbacks.
Learn more: