Archive for February, 2008

Do online resume distribution services work for cruise ship jobs?

Cruise Job Tips | Posted by Renee Ruggero
Feb 25 2008

A popular question we get asked is:

"Do online resume distribution services work for cruise ship jobs?"

In other words, if I pay a website $50 to blast my resume out to hundreds of different cruise line companies, will I get hired?

Let’s face it, most of us want the quick and easy option! We’re all looking for the magic pill that will help us ‘lose weight’ or ‘make money’ in the minimum time…and it’s no different when people try to get jobs in a glamorous business like the cruise industry.

Ideally they want to push a button and get hired immediately – and on the surface "resume broadcasting"  appears to be that "magic pill".

Unfortunately, cruise line companies HATE this type of approach more than anything!

In fact, blasting your un-targeted resume out by email to 300+ cruise line employers in one go, would not only NOT get you hired, but it would also help to get your name and email address permanently blacklisted by their junk email filters (this approach is also known as SPAM!)

What’s more, distributing your resume to hundreds of cruise line companies in one go is a very ineffective way of selling yourself for a job. You are not giving yourself the opportunity to portray yourself in the best possible light and you’re not even applying for any particular job onboard!

 
It’s what’s also known as the "Shotgun Approach" – firing out hundreds of completely un-targeted applications and simply hoping for the best.
 
This approach rarely works.  If getting a job on a cruise ship was simply a matter of uploading your resume/CV and clicking a button – then the cruise line industry would never want for crew again! 

Far better to take the "Rifle Approach" of preparing a decent cover letter and resume that is targeted to a specific position on board and is addressed to one cruise line company at a time.  I would wager a bet that a single resume sent like this would beat a resume blasted out to 300 different cruise line companies hands down, everytime.

Thoughts or comments on this post? 
Please consider posting them to the cruise ship jobs discussion forum

 Neil Maxwell-Keys
Author – "Get a Cruise Ship Job!"
Founder – www.WorkOnCruiseShips.com

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Do You Make These Mistakes When Applying for Jobs on Cruise Ships?

Cruise Job Tips | Posted by Renee Ruggero
Feb 11 2008

Don’t get filtered out before you start applying for jobs on cruise ships!

When it comes to applying for jobs on cruise ships, one of the most common mistakes cruise job seekers make is not following simple application instructions laid-out by cruise line companies.

For example, here are some simple application instructions that were given in a recent cruise ship job advert:

"Please mail a cover letter, resume/CV and a 4 x 6 headshot photo to…"

Pretty straightforward, huh? 

Well, out of 322 job seekers who applied for this cruise ship vacancy, only 61 actually followed these instructions properly.

Applications were received by e-mail instead of mail… without a cover letter… without a photo… with the wrong size photo… with a full-length photo… etc

This means that less than 20% of the job applicants actually got it right (and as such passed the first test!)

Shockingly, this also means that 261 hopeful cruise job seekers immediately RULED THEMSELVES OUT of the running for this vacancy all because of their failure to follow a few simple little instructions! You see, every single job application received that did not meet the above criteria was TRASHED without a second glance.

Does that sound harsh? If so, ask yourself if you would like to employ somebody who couldn’t follow the most basic of instructions.

Cruise line companies are extremely busy and receive a huge number of job applications on a weekly basis. To cope with this demand, most HR staff will have their own ‘filtering system’ like this in order keep the application pile down to a manageable amount.

The cruise line job application filter goes something like this:

  • No cover letter? …trashed!
  • No photo/wrong size photo? …trashed!
  • No job objective? …trashed!
  • Spelling mistakes? …trashed!
  • No phone number? …trashed!

You get the picture. It doesn’t matter how great your cruise ship job application is, if it meets one of the above criteria then it will be "filed away" with the trash!

I’ve seen this happen first-hand. A pile of over 200 resumes were whittled down to 30 in less than 10 minutes. Just 5 – 10 seconds were spent on each resume to determine whether it went in the trash can… or the ‘second glance’ pile.

Don’t give a cruise line employer any excuse for trashing your application. Simply do what they ask you to do and follow their application instructions to-the-letter – even if it’s something seemingly irrelevant, like the size of a photograph.

If you do this then you will always be in the 20% of job applicants who at least have a shot at landing a job that pays them to travel the world! 

Thoughts or comments on this post? 
Please consider posting them to the cruise ship jobs discussion forum

 

Neil Maxwell-Keys
Author – "Get a Cruise Ship Job!"
Founder – www.WorkOnCruiseShips.com

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