Archive for May, 2009

The Biggest Mistake Cruise Job Seekers Make

Cruise Job Tips | Posted by Renee Ruggero
May 26 2009

THE biggest mistake most job seekers make when actively seeking employment on cruise ships is…

<Drum roll please…>

"NOT FOLLOWING UP!"

Or, another way of putting it… 

"FOLLOW UP EVERYTHING!"

Look, it’s simple math. When you follow up on every application you send and every contact you come across – you are mathematically MAXIMIZING your chances of getting called for the job interview and ultimately landing your "dream job" of getting paid to travel the world.

Send a follow up cover letter and CV/resume every time. Use ‘snail mail,’ email, pick up the telephone and make a phone call, do whatever you gotta do to get YOUR foot in the door of this incredible industry.

I think you’ll find the extra bit of effort very worthwhile ;-)

The people who get hired in the cruise industry are almost always the one’s who followed up with determination and persistence.

And don’t worry about offending a potential employer with your persistence. Here’s what one cruise job seeker told me yesterday:

"From first application to job was about 3 months. And I had to be a little pushy at times, but I did it professionally."

And that’s the key right there… "pushy but professional".

(By the way, that quote was from Lance, who just got hired this week by Holland America Line to work as a "Techspert" aboard their ships. He’s detailed all the steps he took to get this job, which we’ll be releasing in a fantastic article this week.)

Remember this; the best resume doesn’t usually win you a cruise job….

Persistence, passion and follow up are much more important and recruiters love and hire those who want it the most.

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Using Cruise Ship Recruitment Events to Get Hired

Cruise Job Tips | Posted by Renee Ruggero
May 19 2009
Applying for jobs on cruise ships can be a time consuming and frustrating process. You’ve spent a lot of time scouring the Internet for vacancies, mailing out CV’s/resumes, filling in endless application forms, sending dozens of emails…

So imagine being able to go and visit a place where cruise line companies are actively seeking YOU!

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?!

You’ll be pleased to know that more cruise lines than ever are using cruise ship recruitment events as a way to hire staff for their ships. Best of all, these events are held in lots of locations around the world and all through the year.

If you’re serious about getting jobs on cruise ships, then you should definitely make attending cruise ship recruitment events a priority this year.

By attending these events you get to speak to the people who do the hiring and sell yourself in person – instead of through a faceless email or letter.

What’s more, you get to ask all the questions you need answering before making a life-changing decision to leave everything and everyone behind to go off traveling the world!

Recruitment events also give you a unique opportunity to actually see your competition – the other candidates who are competing for the same jobs. This gives you incredible advantages because you get to see firsthand what they’re doing right… and wrong!

You can find where and when all the latest recruitment events are by checking our online Hiring Events Calendar inside the members WorkOnCruiseShips.com

One of our members used our calendar to attend an event held by a large international cruise line. And a few days ago she got hired on-the-spot for the position of Junior Receptionist.

In a couple of months she’ll be flying her out to join her ship in Hawaii!

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Is May a Good Time to Secure Employment On Cruise Ships?

Cruise Job Tips | Posted by Renee Ruggero
May 12 2009

May is a great time to secure employment on cruise ships!

Why?

Because the busy "Summer Season" is just around the corner.

In just a month or two most ships will be running at full capacity and all will need to be fully staffed across all departments on board to cope with the demand.

The hiring departments of most major cruise lines are already ramping up their recruitment in anticipation of this… and just lately we’ve heard from more and more people who landing interviews and securing employment on cruise ships.

So, if you haven’t already started applying, then you need to apply for the job you want right away. If you have already applied but not heard anything back, then you need to be following up on your applications …or applying again!

Most people don’t know this, so take advantage of this "window of opportunity" and start applying today.

Remember, the busiest period of the year is just around the corner and those who start the ball rolling the soonest will be those who have the best chance of securing a job that pay you to travel the world!

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How Long Will It Take YOU To Get A Job On A Cruise Ship?

Cruise Job Tips | Posted by Renee Ruggero
May 07 2009

If you’ve been trying to get a job on a cruise ship for any length of time then here’s a short, inspiring message which also contains a valuable lesson. 

It was posted to our discussion forum by Karen from the UK who fly’s out to Gibraltar next week to join her ship the Aurora (right).  She will spend this summer getting paid to cruise around the Mediterranean and America!

Here’s what she had to say:

"It has been a while as to be honest I ALMOST gave up.  I have been bashing away since early December, then I was advised some positions can be a 3-5 month wait so I thought ok I will chill for a while… but the more I struggle each day to get of bed and do my current job which I am so BORED with, the more I started thinking ‘I best take action and just keep going…’

"Finally it has paid off!! I have just been hired as a Digital Living Presenter and they are flying me out to Gibraltar on the 26th April to join the Aurora on the 27th. Neil, thank you to you and your team I would have never been able to do this without your support, encouragement and wonderful website!"

You can read Karen’s original message on our forum and also find out more about how she got hired as a Digital Living Presenter.

The moral of the message is this: with the cruise industry you just never know how long it will take you to get hired. We’ve had so many members who were hired within days (literally) and many others who landed a job on a cruise ship within months.

Either way, the people who always succeeded in the end were the people who, like Karen, simply refused to give in and just kept going until they landed their dream job.

While Karen is intelligent enough to know that it will be a big life adjustment at first and even hard going at times (varied working hours and homesickness!). At the same time she knows she’s in for an amazing adventure… she’ll get to meet all kinds of new people, visit exciting, exotic destinations and enjoy a great life experience.

And that’s a goal definitely worth pursuing with determination and persistence!

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Why 97% of Cruise Ship Vacancies are Never Advertised

Cruise Job Tips | Posted by Renee Ruggero
May 06 2009

You might not realize this, but around 97% of cruise ship vacancies are NEVER advertised.

This means a large majority of positions are filled BEFORE they ever get to the advertising stage – by people who simply sent off their CV/resumes and put themselves in front of the cruise line for the position they really wanted.

If you’re serious about working on cruise ships, then don’t wait for the jobs you want to be advertised…

Just apply for them anyway!

I know from all the emails we get that too many applicants are sitting around waiting for their ‘dream job’ to be posted to some job site – when the reality is the job they want has already been filled by somebody who just took a chance and applied for it anyway.

Indeed, this is exactly how I got hired!

So, as well as looking out for vacancies to appear on in our cruise ship vacancies department (which is updated daily, by the way)… it’s also extremely important to be proactive and apply directly to as many cruise line companies as you can.

You’ll find full contact details for every major and minor cruise line, concessionaire and agency listed in our regularly updated A-Z Cruise Line Contact Directory. On top of this you’ll find insider contact names and direct email addresses in our discussion forum (this is the kind of info cruise lines really don’t want you to have!).

Don’t wait around – apply now!

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