I refer to the letter from Mark Deamer headlined 'Arbitrary selection process so unfair' (South China Morning Post, December 1).
I agree with your correspondent about the unfair selection procedure adopted by Japan Airlines. The company was advertising for 30 flight attendant jobs and gave tickets to the first 400 in the queue. Everyone else was asked to leave. Around 2,000 people had been in the queue. The airline did not handle this situation properly.
I agree that the first 400 were entitled to an interview, because they were first in line.
Everyone else, however, should have been asked to leave their resume, so they might be interviewed at some time in the future. I am sure everyone would have been happy with this arrangement, as it would have meant they had the chance of getting an interview. However, I do not think giving them an English competency test as they queued would have been fair. A short test would not competently test their English proficiency. Also, people who can write proficiently are not always articulate.
RAYMOND CHOI
North Point
