Cruise Ship Jobs Blog

Deciding to give up a perfectly good job on land to pursue a career on a cruise ship may have some of your friends and family questioning your mental sanity.

It is a big risk, but one that also has big rewards, travelling being one of the biggest. 

Careers at sea are unique in many aspects.  Starting with a 7-day work week and the fact you may have to share a cabin with another crew member are a couple of truths that go along with a dream job on a cruise ship.

You can read, Is Working on Cruise Ships Really for You? This article examines a checklist to see whether or not you’re really cut out for this lifestyle. 

Can you deal with strict rules and regulations? 

Could you cope with cramped living conditions for 6-10 months?

But once you understand what you are getting yourself into, then you must decide what cruise job will best fit your resume.  You may not actually be changing your career path, but rather choosing a job that complements your experiences and skills.

Knowing which job is best suited to your skills is a very popular question on our Discussion Forum.  But, after you get a chance to read the list of job descriptions, crew interviews and member posts, you’ll get a better idea of what you want to do onboard.

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Do job applicants over the age of 35 have a chance of getting jobs on cruise ships? And, if there is a possibility of getting hired, how do you increase your chances?

These are very common questions that we see on our members’ Discussion Forum. One member, Vanitak, writes,

“I am in my 40s and am prepared to do anything to get onto cruise ships. Can anyone give me some help as what to apply for and that I could possibly stand a chance of getting with the age thing and all?”

One of our contributors, Lucy80 responds, “Every ship I’ve worked on there has always been plenty of people in their late 30s, 40s and 50s in all kinds of positions.”

Although the truth is there are certain positions on board where they just wouldn’t consider anybody over the age of about 35 (regardless of anti-discrimination laws!), there are other cruise jobs actually suited to a more mature person. Some of these jobs include Guest Lecturers, Port and Shopping Guides, Future Cruise Sales Manager and many more.

But, first of all you need to decide if you have the medical, physical and mental fitness to work at sea. Consider that all jobs on cruise ships expect you to work seven days a week for your whole contract. You will need to pass a very strict medical examination and you will have to work away from family and friends for numerous consecutive months.

For tips on getting hired if you are over the age of 35, members can read, Getting a Cruise Job – Does Age Matter?

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You’ve been waiting ever so patiently for a cruise line to call or email you and schedule an interview with you.  And then the day comes and they want to conduct a Skype interview with you in a couple of days.  Will you be prepared?  Have you ever even used Skype?

Many companies and agencies choose Skype as a new method of choice to conduct a cruise line interview, but not all applicants are familiar with the technology.  Besides going to www.Skype.com and downloading the software, there are some other factors you should consider when preparing yourself.

Know how to use it.  Get familiar with it.  Practice with your friends or family so you don’t look like you just learned how to use it (even if you did!). 

When the day comes, remember this is still a face to face interview, so sitting in your pjs is not acceptable.  Wear what you would to a traditional face-to-face interview.  And, if you can, bring your computer to a part of your home where the background does not show your dirty laundry or a messy kitchen.

Another important tip is to get a phone number of the person that will be conducting the interview.  If you have technical difficulties you will want to be able to contact them to let them know what happened.

You can read more Tips For passing a Skype Interview With a Cruise Line.

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It is a common misconception that the Gift Shop and Retail Sales position is the only cruise ship job that is suited to an applicant with a strong sales background.  Contrary to this assumption, there are plenty of other jobs onboard that a person with sales experience could apply for.

So which jobs are they and what other experience and skills are required?

For starters, jobs such as the Port and Shopping Guide, the Art Auctioneer and the Cruise Consultant all benefit from having a sales experience.  Additionally, these positions are held by persons that have an entrepreneurial spirit, possess public speaking skills and can work independently.  Keep in mind, though that with those three jobs, there is only one position per ship.

Alternatively, having a strong sales background is extremely beneficial when it comes to applying for a cruise ship job such as Photographer or Salon and Spa staff.  Although applicants applying for those jobs still need all the technical training to back up their experience, having sales skills will put their resume on top of the pile.

For example, a photographer with all the photography skills in the world is no use to the cruise line if he can’t get the passengers to pose for pictures.  And a hairdresser won’t meet her product sales targets if she is not selling creams, sprays and serums. Furthermore, your pay is made up of commissions, so the more you can sell, the more you can make.

For more information, members can read the following articles,

How to Get a Sales Job on a Cruise Ship 

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Why not make 2010 the Year You Get a Cruise Job?

Many of you may be thinking about your New Year’s resolutions for 2010.  If finding a job on a cruise ship is at the top of the list, then here’s what you need to know.

Some of you may have already started sending off your resumes, but are sitting back and taking a wait and see approach.  That won’t work.

Some of you may not have sent any resumes out yet, but have filled out a number of online applications.  Has that worked for you?  Probably not.

And then there are others that have been waiting for January 1, 2010 to roll around in order to make the resolution that they will start to pursue their dream job.

Well, today’s the day.  You need a strategy and you need to implement that plan.  Here at www.workoncruiseships.com we have the tools and resources to help you get started and follow up until you get an interview and finally land your dream job.

Firstly take another look at your resume and cover letter.  Are you making any of our Top Resume Mistakes?  Another article covers the Top Cover Letter Mistakes.

Once you start sending out your employment packages (not just online applications), you will need to be doing some serious following up.  This is what separates those that get hired from those that don’t because many people only apply once and then give up when they haven’t heard back.

Other articles, the Cruise Industry Waiting Game and Copy this Strategy give some great advice about when and how to follow up. 

Getting a job on a cruise ship can be a long process and it will take even longer if you wait one more day!

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Almost all crew members at one point in their contract or career will experience homesickness when working on a cruise ship.  Whether you are a first time joiner or someone that is nearing the end of their contract, it is normal to miss being at home.

For adults, homesickness may occur when travelling.  And working on a cruise ship can exacerbate those feelings about life back at home.  Consider the length of time away from home with contracts of 4, 6, 8, and 10 months on board.  We’re not just talking about missing friends and family, but also about the other comforts at home from sleeping in your own bed to favourite foods.  Add in the rigidity of ship rules, the cost of internet and phone calls, and your new roommate and this life may not be for everyone.  

Will you be frustrated if the ship carries only Coke and not Pepsi?  Can you get used to a different smell of laundry soap? Will you be able to handle not texting or talking to your friends throughout the day?

Although mild symptoms of homesickness may include an increase or decrease in appetite, drinking, smoking or insomnia, the most severe (yet rare) cases may lead to suicidal thoughts.

Cruise line recruiters are very interested in knowing if you are mentally prepared to work on cruise ships.  They don’t want you to get onboard and then change your mind because you can’t handle living with a roommate and you miss the comforts of home too much.

Mental preparation is the key in handling homesickness when working on a cruise ship.  And, conveying that you are knowledgeable about cruise ship life will set the interviewer’s mind at ease that you are prepared for life onboard.

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Finding a cruise ship job is ultra competitive, so applicants need to be more creative when it comes to finding their dream job.  There are a number of effective social networking websites for cruise job hunters, but how do you use them to find a job within the cruise industry?

It’s not likely that posting your resume on sites like Monster.com, SimplyHired.com, or CareerBuilder.com will actually be helpful in finding a cruise ship job.  The fact is that that the cruise lines receive so many resumes and applications that they don’t need to look for applicants on these types of websites.  

So how do you get a competitive edge by using social networking sites to find a cruise ship job?  Learning how to use popular social media websites like Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook can help applicants gain cruise ship info, learn names of hiring managers, and get in touch with other cruise ship employees. 

You can “Follow” cruise industry insiders and cruise lines on Twitter, join cruise ship crew member “Groups”  on Facebook and find names of hiring managers through Linkedin.

But while using social networking sites, be careful what you post and what personal information you make public. Remember you are trying to project a professional image.  So the pictures you post, the messages you tweet, and the people in your network are all a reflection of you.

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As you can imagine over the years we’ve seen thousands of cruise job applications. Some great, some okay and some downright poor!

Here are the 5 of the most commons mistakes we see most job seekers making time and time again:

1) Applying for more than one position in the same application (you should only ever apply for ONE job at a time).

2) Your CV/resume is longer than 2 pages in length (lengthy resumes almost never get read because recruiters don’t have time).

3) Too much irrelevant personal data clogging up your CV/resume (for example, nobody cares that you have a ‘full driving licence’ when you’re working on a ship!).

What’s more, including personal information like ‘age’ and ‘marital status’ can actually hurt your chances in this industry, a lot more than most people realize.

4) CV/resume not targeted to the specific job that you are applying for. (Everything in your application should should back up why you are the best person for this particular job. Far too many people send ‘general’ resumes in the hope that it’ll cover them for several job possibilities. It won’t!)

5) Not following up on your cruise job applications. Here’s a quote taken from our forum this week that proves everything I’ve been saying for years:

“My friend has just been employed as Cruise Staff with Carnival. She emailed in her resume and followed up with an email every week for a month. The HR guy got back to her and said he always waits until he sees resumes come in several times, because then he knows a person is really serious and committed to landing the job.”

Simply avoiding these five most common mistakes in your cruise job applications will dramatically improve your chances of landing a job on a cruise ship.

Neil Maxwell-Keys

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There’s no doubt the cruise industry is a TOUGH industry to crack. If it was easy to get a job on a cruise ship then you would not be reading this newsletter…

Instead you’d probably be working on a cruise ship right now… perhaps getting paid to travel around exciting places like the Caribbean, the Med or the Far East!

Sure, some people send off ONE job application, land an interview and then get hired right away. But I can assure you this is definitely not the norm!

For most people, it takes some determination and persistence. It takes the ability to shrug-off rejection and to pick yourself up from disappointment …and to just keep on going until you land your “dream job”.

My own journey to getting a job on a cruise ship was FULL of frustration and rejection. And I have a ton of rejection letters I could show you from lots of cruise companies, including Disney, Carnival, RCCL and a LOT of agencies and concessionary companies.

Did I let it affect me? YES, it hurt like hell! Did I give up? Never.

The dream I had of getting paid to travel the world, visiting exotic destinations, making lot’s of new friends… and just plain getting out of the rut I was in was just too strong a dream to give up on.

Giving up would have also meant that I was admitting failure and giving up on myself… and I was FAR too proud to allow that. Besides, I had already told my family and friends that I was going to work on a cruise ship… and I wasn’t going to allow them the satisfaction of laughing when I fell flat on my face!

(They soon stopped laughing when I sent them postcards from Barbados, Aruba, St Lucia, the Bahamas, Mexico, Cost Rica… or phoned them from a beach in Hawaii!)

Unfortunately, MOST people do not show the level of determination that’s needed to get hired in the cruise industry and that’s simply why they don’t get the job.

In our experience, MOST people’s feeble attempts at getting hired involves nothing more than firing off a few random, un-targeted resumes by email. When they don’t hear anything back within a week, they give up on the whole idea of working on a cruise ship and move onto something else.

(Perhaps in 10 or 20 years time they’ll look back on what might have been an amazing adventure in their lives, had they taken it seriously?)

The fact you’re even reading this email suggests to me that you are not ‘most’ people.  If you pick anything up from this message it’s this:

If you REALLY want to get a job on a cruise ship, then you need to take it SERIOUSLY and pursue it with passion, determination and persistence. Those three qualities alone won’t guarantee you the job, of course… but they’ll certainly put you ahead of 97% of the competition out there and I think you’ll find the end rewards worthwhile

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We’re not talking about big ships versus small ships. We’re talking about the number of cruise ships that each cruise line has, also known as their fleet. Getting to know the size and type of the company’s fleet for where you are applying is advantageous for a number of reasons.

Cruise lines with large fleets mean that you have the opportunity to work on different cruise ships throughout your career. And, the more ships that a cruise line has, the better the chances are for advancement.

But don’t expect that all the ships in a fleet are identical. Older ships have fewer amenities for passengers and crew. On the other hand, the newer, bigger ships have all the bells and whistles.

But these ships are also busier and less intimate.

One example of a large cruise line with a varied fleet is Royal Caribbean International. With the new Oasis of the Seas beginning her first cruise in December, the company now has 21 ships in their fleet and six classes of cruise ships.

The Oasis of the Seas is the biggest of Royal Caribbean’s ships at 220,000 tons, 5,400 guests and 1,650 crew members. But they also have smaller and older ships such as the Monarch of the Seas built in 1991 and the Legend of the Seas which is only 70,000 tons.

But small cruise line fleets have plenty of opportunities as well. For example, Disney Cruise Line currently has only two ships but by 2012 they will have four ships.

To see more pros and cons of working for large cruise lines versus working for small cruise lines, check out two of our latest ‘must read’ articles:

=> Do You Want to Work for a Large Cruise Line?
=> Do You Want to Work for a Small Cruise Line?

Also get to know which lines are bringing out new cruise ships for 2010.

Whether you’re interested in working for a small cruise line or a large cruise line, www.WorkOnCruiseShips.com features employment contact information for every major and minor cruise line.

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