It's not enough to say you have good communication skills if you're looking for careers on cruise ships. Cruise applicants for all positions can benefit from knowing what it means to be a good communicator. The cruise industry, like many land-based industries want employees that will be a positive voice for their company. How well will you represent the cruise line when faced with an unhappy passenger? How well will you communicate with other employees and managers? Many job applicants write on their resume, "good communication skills". The bottom line is that cruise line employers want to know how you will interact with their passengers and crew members. You need to be able to answer questions concisely, accurately and quickly. You will need to find common ground with a disgruntled passenger or crew member. And, you need to be able to establish a rapport with all passengers and crew in order to be able to diffuse difficult situations. Staying calm and professional under pressure requires an applicant with patience. Consider that a cruise ship embarks new passengers at the end of every cruise. Will you be able to make a positive impression through your communication skills on the job? Listening skills are an important part of the communication process. Good listeners make good communicators. Behind the scenes, understand that each department will experience a turnover in crew each cruise. Crew members come from all over the world representing different cultures. How adaptable are you to communicating with people that may not have the same first language as you? Of course, having a second language is also bonus. Being able to have your resume and cover letter stand apart from other applicants is the key to landing an interview and a cruise ship career. Being able to verbalize how well you communicate goes a whole lot further than just saying you are a good communicator. Even your emails during the application process will highlight your communication skills.
Archive for the ‘Cruise Job Tips’ Category
Earlier this week one of our members reported that she was hired by MTN for the position of Internet Cafe Manager on a cruise ship and starts her training in Florida next week.
She writes on the forum,
“For anyone out there still frustrated with how long the cruise ship job application process takes, trust me. Keep fighting ’cause it’s worth it. I first applied for this job at the beginning of April, and didn’t hear anything from them until about 6 weeks ago. Then I sent several emails before I managed to get the first interview, which was 2 weeks ago.”
Lori explains…
“I kept applying, even sent a thank you note after my first interview. It all worked.”
She further points out…
“I’m proof that you can get the job without any ship experience (or any job related experience in my case…), and based almost solely on my personality. You can do it, it takes a lot of time and patience though, so just don’t give up!”
On June 17th she received an email from MTN with a pre-interview questionnaire…and the rest is history.
She’s expecting to join the Carnival Elation cruising from Mobile, Alabama on a Western Caribbean itinerary shortly!
You could have all the right skills and tons of experience for the cruise job you are applying for. But, if you don’t have the right personality it could cost you the job. Employers are looking for that unique combination of skills and values. How do you convey that you have the right personality with your cover letter and resume?
Crafting your resume and cover letter to reflect your personality is equally as important as showcasing your skills and experience. Cruise lines wants crew members that are energetic, outgoing, approachable, charismatic and can get along with others. They also want employees that are easily trainable, with good listening skills, adaptable to change and are goal-driven. This set of skills is commonly referred to as soft skills.
It’s one thing to demonstrate these qualities during an interview, but you need to get that interview first!!
If the cover letter is boring or if the resume looks like all the other resumes then you won’t stand out enough to get an interview. You need to use the above soft skills throughout the work experience and skills sections.
Give specific examples in your resume of sales goals that you exceeded. Explain how you adapted to a change after a relocation or how you cross-trained and learned additional skills.
Finally, show your enthusiasm by stating your readiness to start jobs on cruise ships. For example, cover letters should say something like, “My passport is valid until March 2014″.
Although it’s not uncommon to have gaps in your work history, holes can lead to trouble on a cruise ship resume. These holes or gaps in employment may be a red flag for potential employers if the details are left up to the imagination.
Once you realize that you have a gap you need to do some damage control to prevent the gaping hole from jeopardizing your chance at landing your dream cruise job.
So, what is the best way to explain an employment gap on a resume?
A recent article on www.WorkOnCruiseShips.com outlines the types of employment gaps that are acceptable as well as how to turn the gap into a resume asset.
What if you were fired from a job, should you still list that job? What if you had to take a year off to look after a sick family member, how do you put that on your resume?
Although employment gaps of less than six months can be easily disguised by creative formatting of your resume, a larger gap requires full disclosure. The size of an employment gap will make the recruiters ponder why, and you need to be straight forward with the facts. You need to control how those gaps are addressed with an honest explanation and turning your career gap into an asset on your cruise ship resume.
For the most part you should be able to fill the gap rather than leaving it as a hole in your resume.
Prolonged unemployment doesn’t have to be a liability if you can promote the skills you honed during the time you were off. What skills did you develop during that period? What did you learn from your travels? You need to be able to spin your employment lapse into a character building life experience.
Is your cruise ship resume a regurgitation of job descriptions, if so it’s boring!!
Employers want to see accomplishments rather than a laundry list of duties and responsibilities. The truth is that this is a common mistake on the cruise resumes that recruiters see.
A cruise ship resume should be a marketing tool designed to sell your skills and strengths. You need to include specific achievements. Focus on what you have done rather than what your job was. Explain accomplishments that are unique to you. Quantify your achievements with percentages, dollars and numbers of employees.
Using numbers helps you express in tangible terms how your employer benefited from your work. Employers already know what the general job descriptions are. Therefore you need to explain achievements such as special projects that you successfully completed, your promotions or how you decreased costs or increased sales.
Hiring managers want crew members that can satisfy the needs of the company. You can’t satisfy their needs if you haven’t been in similar situations in other companies.
Although you can include a one or two line job description, list your accomplishment within the job description.
Ask yourself, What was the benefit of having done what I did?
How did you take initiative? How did you go above and beyond? Identify and highlight those aspects of your career that promote your capabilities. Employers seek for employees that will add value to their company. You need to toot your own horn.
One of the most common questions we read on our Discussion Forum is What will they ask me in the cruise line interview? Contrary to what many applicants may think, the initial interview is more about scaring the applicants than the interviewer asking questions that are actually related to the cruise job.
Understanding what life on-board cruise ships is all about before your cruise line interview will prevent you from that deer-in-the-headlights feeling.
Umana2713 writes, The first questions was why I wanted to work on a cruise ship…Then we spoke about what to expect about living on a ship and coping with being away from home. He talked a lot about the small cabins, always being around people, not having much privacy, and being thrown into a very international pool just basically asking if I could handle all of that.
This line of questioning is typical and a way that recruiters immediately weed out those that may not be prepared for life on-board. Applicants aware of this type of cruise line interview tactic have an advantage.
Conveying to the interviewer that you know what life on-board cruise ships will likely boost your chances of getting hired.
The cruise ship building boom is continuing for 2011 which equates to even more cruise ship vacancies. The bottom line is that just over 7,000 positions will need to be filled for 2011.
Do you want to fill one of these jobs?
In just a few weeks, Norwegian Cruise Line will be launching the Norwegian Epic, NCL’s largest ship to date. One of our WorkOnCruiseShips.com members, mxtucker21 (Megan) was fortunate enough to get hired in a Recreation Staff position.
Megan wrote on the Discussion Forum,
“I just received my flight information for meeting the Epic on June 12th and I will be meeting her in France!!!! I’m so excited to be part of the launching team!….Thanks again for everyone’s support. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you guys.”
Although we are only just in the middle of 2010, it’s not too early to get an idea of which new cruise ships will debut in 2011. The launch of Royal CaribbeanÕs Allure of the Seas will close off 2010 in December. Being the sister ship to RCIÕs Oasis of the Seas it will be another mega-ship at 220,000 GRT.
One of the most anticipated launches for 2011 will be from Disney Cruise Line. The Disney Dream will be Disney’s largest ship at 128,000 GRT carrying over 4,000 passengers with close to 1,500 crew members. It will be one of the first big cruise ships to be launched in 2011.
To find out all the cruise ships being launched for 2011,
read our recent article, New Cruise Ships and Cruise Job Opportunities for 2011
Will you be working on one of them?
Neil Maxwell-Keys
What does your cruise ship resume say about you? Are you sending out applications and not getting any responses? Your resume should get you a job interview. If it’s not, then it is not an effective career tool.
The main purpose of the resume is to make someone notice you. You want to stand out from the crowd of other applicants. It doesn’t matter how qualified you are, how great of a personality you have, or that you think you are the best person for the job. If you can’t promote yourself on paper, you won’t get an interview.
For starters, does your resume fully represent your past experience? This doesn’t mean listing every single job that you’ve had since you were old enough to work, that’s just boring! Instead, you want to expand heavily on jobs that have relevance to the cruise job that you are applying for.
Make sure you list the skills that benefit the employer rather than just regurgitating a list of job descriptions. Identifying your accomplishments with specifics is important in capturing the attention of the hiring manager. You want to explain your on-the-job-performances and how they relate to your future cruise job.
The reader should have a clear idea of who you are and why you are the best person for the job. Apart from being easy on the eyes with appropriate fonts, bullets, white space and nothing too distracting, your resume should read well, too.
This means your cruise ship resume should flow well, not be boring or repetitive, and offer exciting info about you. Your personality and energy needs to shine through the resume enough for the hiring manager to want to call you.
The bottom line is that your resume should prompt the hiring manager into calling you. If you haven’t been offered an interview yet, chances are it’s your resume and not you.
One of the biggest mistakes that cruise applicants make is that they apply for a cruise job and then they sit back and wait for the cruise line or agency to get back to them. This will not work. Although it pays to be patient, you must also be proactive.
First of all, if you’ve emailed your resume, you should also send a physical copy by traditional mail (courier is even better). Then, keep a log of the dates, positions you’ve applied, and who you sent your application package to.
After about 2 or 3 weeks, if you haven’t heard anything, follow up with an email to inquire about the status of your application. At this point you can re-attach your resume again.
If there is still no response, then apply again and again. The job application process is not a one shot deal. Cruise lines are extremely busy and those that have only applied one time have little chance of standing out among those that continually follow up on their resumes.
Neil Maxwell-Keys
Making your resume stand out over everyone else’s is the key to landing the job interview. One area to shine is with your cruise ship training and job skills – skills you may have overlooked.
You achieve your skills through academic, work, and life experiences and it’s up to you to highlight the relevant skills in your resume and cover letter.
Understanding the job you are applying for will help you unbury those skills and list them as important points on your resume.
You can read, Training You Need to Get Cruise Ship Jobs. This article examines how to develop your skills as well as highlighting important skills that the cruise lines are looking for.
Skills such as customer service as evidenced by effective listening skills and the ability to focus on guest problem resolution.
Computer skills will also give cruise applicants an edge especially those with a working knowledge of Word and Excel. Positions such as Future Cruise Sales and the Port and Shopping Guide should also know how to use PowerPoint.
Public speaking training is an asset for many positions on board and not only for those that need to give presentations as part of their position. Public speaking skills boost confidence for when you have to talk to guests.
And one of the most important skills that almost everyone should list on their resume is sales ability. Cruise lines are in the business of making as much money as possible, and even cruise jobs such as Photographers, Hair stylists, Shore Excursion staff and Port and Shopping Guides can benefit from listing your sales experience on a resume.
Neil Maxwell-Keys