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Sorting through fresh vacancies for seafarers in search of a new appointment, many are thinking: how do they choose one out of a thousand candidates who is offered a vacancy? What should and should not be in the CV in order to quickly find a job and go to the ship? What do recruiters look for in crewing first? What criteria are important? Continuing the topic of writing a CV in one of the previous articles, we decided to answer these questions in detail.
What is important to point out first
As a rule, a crewing agent selects candidates for a vacancy according to fairly simple criteria: work experience on a similar type of vessel, the total number of contracts worked in the required position. Also play a role:
availability of necessary visas for boarding a ship
age
salary and contract duration that are listed as desired
previous work experience in certain regions
career transitions to obviously worse conditions (to a lower salary and to ships of a smaller deadweight)
knowledge of English and the availability of relevant certificates (Marlins or CES tests)
the nationalities of the crew members with whom the sailor has already worked
the presence of certain work visas and flag documents that are issued on their basis
loyalty to their past companies
not on blacklists
Place of residence and proximity to hubs are also important for urgent vacancies.
Switching to another type of ships
In the event that, after a couple of years of work on a cruise ship, you want to move up the career ladder and are looking for a job, for example, in the tanker fleet, it is important to inform about the availability of the relevant certificates. To do this, you will first have to take courses in training centers. Of course, if you received your documents in the same crewing where your resume is being reviewed, then it will receive an additional benefit. In addition, the required discharge is important.
Most likely, the recruiter will ask you a question on this topic during the interview, so determine the motivation and prepare a decent answer. Most importantly, try to be honest: if you just love money or dream of a separate cabin, this is also a worthy reason to try to change your life.
Details for specialists
Now let's move on to those points that relate to specific positions. So, captains and chief mates must indicate in their career history the presence of cranes on the vessel and their tonnage, as well as their experience with any specific software (calculation of vessel stability, vector maps, etc.). The same information will be useful for first class (AB) sailors, but it is worth adding to it the deadweight of previous ships.
The machine team has its own requirements. It is important to indicate here, first of all, the power of the main power plant with which you were dealing. Senior, second and third mechanics can provide much more details about their practical skills: the type and make of the main power plant, the engine speed of the vessel, etc. Finally, it is advisable for electricians to supplement the CV with a detailed description of the cranes on the ship (type, brand and tonnage), as well as the number of refrigerated containers.
Updating CV
Of course, few people are engaged in updating their data after each flight. In the best case, this happens when a seafarer receives another “crust”, which can provide some increase in salary. And, of course, recruiters give priority to those who have more recent information. So it is worth “polishing” your resume more often, adding career successes about once a year and a half, especially if you plan to change the employing company.
