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Get Paid to Travel the World by Working on Small Cruise Ships!

[ Posted March 17th, 2008 ]

Who says Bigger is Better?

When most people think of cruise ships, they envision a giant, floating resort packed with thousands of passengers, 10 stories high, and equipped with every amenity imaginable.

As you probably know, the number of mega ships or "superliners" is increasing all the time. Not a year goes by without yet another contender for "world’s biggest cruise ship".

Royal Caribbean's Project GenesisIn fact, Royal Caribbean’s Project Genesis (right), due for launch in 2009, will carry up to 6,400 passengers, nearly 4,000 more than the largest cruise ship currently afloat!

Of course this is great news for you the cruise ship job seeker because it means that the opportunities to get paid to travel the world are increasing each year.

Not only that, working on superliners can be great fun! After all there are a lot more crew and passengers to meet, from a wider range of nationalities; more state-of-the-art facilities to use and often bigger and better cabins.

The problem with mega ships though, according to many experienced crewmembers, is that with it brings a much busier and less intimate atmosphere. In fact, these ships are so huge that you can meet someone onboard, and then go months or even an entire contract without seeing them again (which can also be a good thing ;-0)

However, there are other types of cruise ship that most cruise ship job seekers don’t really consider. These are the smaller ships operated by the lesser known cruise lines which are designed to provide a much more intimate experience for both passengers and crew.

Motorized sailboats, small yachts, exploration ships, large yachts, ferries, windjammers, sternwheelers, and river barges are all used in the cruise industry. These smaller vessels are often used for specialty cruises ranging from diving expeditions, river tours, environmental / naturalist cruises, or just sailing adventures.

Experienced crewmembers who have worked on both large and small cruise ships, often prefer the more intimate and relaxed atmosphere of living and working on smaller cruise ships. They’ve done the big ships and now they want a more intimate experience with both guests and fellow crew.

Smaller Cruise Ships are fun too!Not only that, smaller ships also have the benefit of being able to navigate to places where large ships can’t - meaning more exclusive, unique and exciting destinations! In Alaska for example, a smaller cruise ship doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of a big ship so it can navigate closer to glaciers and up smaller straits, visiting places where large cruise ships can’t.

What’s more, many of the jobs available on smaller cruise lines you won’t find on the larger cruises, including: Dive Masters and Naturalists.

Whether you’re interested working on a large or a small cruise ship, check out www.WorkOnCruiseShips.com where you’ll find all the employment contact information for every major and minor cruise line company, as well as all the tools, resources and personal support you need to get hired quickly and easily.





Is Your Cruise Ship Jobs Resume Working for You?

[ Posted March 11th, 2008 ]

Ask any cruise ship recruiter what THE most important thing is when they are looking at candidate applications, and they’ll tell you "the resume".

The resume can be make or break as to whether you’re considered for an interview, so it’s important that your resume looks good and also sells you in the best possible way.

Here’s our ten top tips for making your resume work for you:

1) If you’re applying for several different positions onboard, especially if they are with different cruise lines, then tweak your resume slightly to focus on the specific parts that are relevant to the company and position that you’re applying for.

2) Keep the layout simple and use a clear font such as Arial, Times or Tahoma - do not use anything fancy like Comic Sans MS.

3) Keep it to a maximum of 2 pages in length, if possible.

4) Use powerful bullet points below each job title when describing your work history.


5) Check for typing or spelling errors and get someone else to check it too.  Automatic spell checkers are not always accurate.

6) Make the sentences short and succinct - you can expand on the details during an interview.

7) Avoid humour. You might think you’re the next Jay Leno, but a potential employer probably won’t!

8 ) If you use figures and statistics (e.g. to describe sales revenues) then be prepared to be able to prove them.

9) If you’ve got gaps between jobs then make sure you give details of these, even if it was to go off travelling.

10) Play on your strengths, but don’t exaggerate. Your resume should be used to make yourself sound highly employable, but sounding too good to be true will turn off most cruise line recruiters.

If you haven’t used our extensive A-Z Directory to apply to the world’s hiring cruise line companies, then you can do so now by clicking here.

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





5 Common Questions when Applying for Jobs on Cruise Ships

[ Posted March 3rd, 2008 ]

As you can probably imagine, most weeks we receive hundreds of emails about working on cruise ships.

This week was no different.
 
Here are the 5 most popular questions about applying for cruise ship jobs that were emailed to us this week:

1. "No one replies to my applications. Why?"

Cruise lines receive hundreds of applications a week so if your resume/CV doesn’t grab their attention immediately, or you don’t meet the minimum requirements that they are asking for, then you will probably not get a reply. There is simply not enough time or resources to reply to everyone.

Golden Rule: prepare a powerful cover letter and CV/resume and only apply when you definitely meet the minimum requirements.

2. "Oh no! I’ve been rejected! Should I reapply to the same cruise line?"

First, check your previous application. Did you meet the requirements? Does your cover letter and resume read well to you? Ask someone else who isn’t afraid of hurting your feelings to read your resume and give you an honest opinion. Do they think your resume presents you in the best possible light? Are you 100% sure your resume and / or application form are free of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors? Did the application ask for anything else - photo, certificates, references? If so, did you include these? If you have answered "Yes!" to all of the above, then you should definitely re-apply. 

3. "I’m 17, can I apply for a job on a cruise ship?"

The minimum age is generally 18 - 21 years old depending on the job you do onboard. For the onboard gift shops, bar & restaurants the minimum age is 21 years due to alcohol being served and sold to passengers. For entertainment staff, youth staff and beauty staff the minimum age is generally 18 years old, but this does vary from cruise line to cruise line.

Some cruise lines will look at applications from ages 17 - 20 if the applicants 18th or 21st birthday is due shortly.

4. "Do I need to swim?"

Although you’re working at sea, this is not usually a job requirement.

5. "Do I have to put my photograph in my resume?"


You don’t have to do anything, of course! But if you are serious about working on a cruise ship you should include two good quality photos of yourself in your resume. One full length and one passport sized. This is for both emailed AND mailed resumes (keep the images small in file size if emailing your resume - get help if you don’t know how to do this!).

Always look smart and cheerful on your photos.

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