Formatting Tips for Cruise Resumes

Cruise Jobs Resumes and Cover Letters | Posted by Renee Ruggero
Nov 27 2011

Although what your resume says is extremely important, how your resume looks can set you apart from other applicants. When a resume makes a great first impression, it has a better chance of being read and possibly landing you a coveted interview.

You want to avoid your resume looking like a template and thus looking like all the other resumes, too. In conjunction with being original, resumes for cruise jobs need to be customized to the cruise line and the cruise job that you are applying for.

Since your resume contains a lot of info, you want to make sure that it is well organized, clutter free and focused. For starters, rather than stating in the resume that you have great organizational skills, the layout of resume can actually show off these skills. Furthermore, you can achieve a clutter free resume by highlighting only relevant experiences and not being repetitive throughout.

Additional visual impact can be accomplished by demonstrating a high level of attention to detail and using white space and bullets effectively. For example, you should be extra concerned over your consistency with fonts, italics and boldface. One must also consider how the resume will look once it’s sent as an email attachment.

WorkOnCruiseShips.com members can read the following articles:

Effective Career Objectives

Objective vs Summary

10 Biggest Resume Mistakes

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Best Keywords to Use in Resumes for Cruise Jobs

Cruise Jobs Resumes and Cover Letters | Posted by Renee Ruggero
Nov 24 2011

Your resume should contain necessary keywords to attract the attention of the recruiter.  Consider that every job and company has a different set of keywords. How do you choose the best keywords or phrases that the cruise employers are looking for?

Using the right keywords based on your experience, skills, and the cruise job you are applying for is important whether your resume will be read by a human or scanned and indexed into a resume database. Employers that are inundated by resumes often rely on keyword-searchable databases to find the most suitable applicants to interview.

Keywords can be nouns, action verbs, phrases and specific terminology that relate to the job and company you are applying for. They describe your experience and skills. They describe the “what” that you’ve done or accomplished.

To understand which key words you should incorporate into your resume you need to do your homework. Get to know the cruise line you are applying to and their guest service mottos. You also need to understand the cruise line’s job description of the position you are applying for looking for keywords such as sales driven or cash-handling experience.

Whether the recruiter is reading your resume or looking through a data base of resumes, you want yours to have all elements that they are looking for in an ideal candidate. Members of WorkOnCruiseShips.com can also read the following articles:

Match Your Skills to a Cruise Job

Guidelines for Online Applications

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Is Your Resume Specific to a Cruise Job?

Cruise Jobs Resumes and Cover Letters | Posted by Renee Ruggero
Nov 23 2011

The main purpose of your resume is to prompt the recruiter to want to interview you.  This means that your resume needs to stand out from the stack of other application packages. It doesn’t matter how qualified you actually are or how you are possibly the best person for the job. If your resume isn’t focused around a particular cruise job, it won’t get noticed.

For starters, you need a career objective or career summary that grabs the attention of the hiring manager right away. You only have a few seconds to make a great first impression so choose your words carefully. This is where you specify exactly the position you are applying for along with the number of years of related experience that you have.

Next, your resume should only include jobs that are relevant to the cruise job that you are applying for. Don’t include all the jobs you ever did in your life. Make sure to identify accomplishment rather than a list of job descriptions. This can be done by explaining your previous job performance and how it is relevant to your future cruise job.

WorkOnCruiseShips.com has a number of additional resources to help their members put together a resume for a cruise job.

10 Biggest Resume Mistakes

Effective Career Objectives

Does Your Resume Need a Makeover?

Match Your Skills to a Cruise Job

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How Old is Too Old for a Cruise Job?

Cruise Job Tips, General | Posted by Renee Ruggero
Nov 20 2011

Wondering about working onboard a cruise ship but worried that you are too old to get hired? The age question is a common concern with our members at WorkOnCruiseShips.com that are over the age of 35. So, does age matter and how does an “older” applicant increase their chances of getting hired?

The truth is that there are some positions on cruise ships that are filled only by younger applicants. On the other hand there some cruise jobs that are actually better suited to more mature applicants.

Since the hours and days onboard are long and erratic, the trick is to convince the recruiter that you are not only full of energy but also more experienced than a younger applicant. You want to assure the recruiter that you are physically, mentally and medically fit to carry out your duties and responsibilities.

The WoCS forum is filled with threads from applicants over the age of 35 that have successfully landed their dream job. Typical jobs for mature cruise applicants include Future Cruise Sales Manager, Youth Staff, Port and Shopping Guide and Guest Entertainers.

For more info on getting hired over the age of 35, WoCS members can read, Getting a Cruise Job – Does Age Matter?

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Cruise Jobs that are Use Concessions to Get Hired

Cruise Job Tips, General | Posted by Renee Ruggero
Nov 19 2011

Many cruise jobs are recruited through concessions rather than directly through the cruise line. This means that for certain cruise jobs you could be wasting your time by sending your resume directly to a cruise line. Get to know which cruise jobs use concessions along with some resources at WorkOnCruiseShips.com on how to get hired for these types of jobs.

A concessionary company is not an agency rather it’s a third party vendor that sells services or merchandise onboard. Concessionaires are independent companies that recruit and train employees to work onboard the cruise ships that they partner with. Here are the onboard concessions along with the jobs they recruit for.

Onboard Gift Shops – The onboard shops sell items such as jewellery, watches, make-up, clothing, novelties and souvenirs. These concessions employ Sales Associates, Assistant Managers and Managers. For more info, read how to Get a Sales Job on a Cruise Ship .

Onboard Spa and Fitness Facilities – The onboard spa offers services including hair, makeup, nails, facials, and massage. They employ stylists, massage therapists, nail technicians, and spa receptionists. Under the umbrella of the spa are also the onboard fitness facilities which staff fitness trainers. For more info, read Overview of Spa, Salon, and Fitness Jobs and Get a Job with Steiner.

Other Onboard Concessions – Other cruise jobs that utilize concessions are Photographers and Videographers, Port and Shopping Guides, Art Auctioneers, and Internet Cafe Managers.

 

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How to Use a Cruise Agency

Cruise Job Tips | Posted by Renee Ruggero
Nov 17 2011

Do you know when you should use an agency and when you should apply directly with the cruise line? What’s the difference in the application process?

A cruise line agency qualifies potential crew members for positions with a cruise line. For this service, the cruise lines pay the agencies a fee for each crew member that is successfully hired and placed onboard.  Most agencies cover a wide range of cruise lines, departments and jobs for their cruise line clients.  And, some agencies are even referred to as an official hiring partner for the cruise line. (Be careful of Recruitment Scams, though).

One example is Royal Caribbean International. They provide links to their hiring partners through their website. These partners actively recruit for their cruise line. Alternatively, there are also agencies that represent a number of cruise lines at the same time.

WorkOnCruiseShips.com offers A-Z Directories for Concessionary Companies as well as a directory of reputable agencies located throughout the world.

In addition, WorkOnCruiseShips.com features articles such as Using an Agency to Get a Cruise Job and Using a Cruise Line Concessionary Company to Get Hired.

Next blog….Which Cruise Jobs Use Concessions?

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Applying Directly to a Cruise Line

Cruise Job Tips, Cruise Jobs Resumes and Cover Letters | Posted by Renee Ruggero
Nov 15 2011

Once you start your search for a cruise job you’ll see that there are quite a few cruise lines. Should you apply to all of them or concentrate on just a handful? How do you go about applying for a cruise job directly with a cruise line? Will your online application get noticed or should you send your resume by email as well?

Many of these questions and more are answered through the articles that WorkOnCruiseShips.com publishes for their members such as:

The Do’s and Don’ts When Contacting Cruise Lines

Cruise Ship Recruitment Scams

Pros and Cons of Resume Blasting

Guidelines for Online Cruise Applications

After you get an idea of who the major players are within the cruise industry, you need to understand if the job vacancy you are applying for is recruited directly through the cruise line. Each cruise line website stipulates which jobs are recruited in house and which ones are recruited through agencies or concessions.

Job applicants must understand that it’s a waste of time to start sending resumes to every cruise line, if the job you want isn’t recruited directly through their head office. The fact is that the cruise lines use hiring partners (agencies) and concessions to handle the bulk of recruitment.

Next blog….Using an Agency to Get a Cruise Job

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Which Cruise Lines to Apply To

Cruise Job Tips, General | Posted by Renee Ruggero
Nov 14 2011

As you start your quest for a cruise job, you are probably familiar with the big cruise line corporations. You may be surprised to find out just how many cruise lines there are and that practically all of them are hiring on a constant basis.

You’ve probably seen TV advertising by Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International. These are just two of the big players in this industry. Other large lines are Norwegian Cruise Lines with eleven ships and two more to come by 2014. Princess Cruises has 16 cruise ships and another due out in 2013. And, Holland America Line has 15 cruise ships. That is just a small sampling!

To get started, do some basic research, to find out who the cruise lines are and what the cruise industry is all about. Excellent information can be found on the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) website (cruising.org).

Furthermore, WorkOnCruiseShips.com has comprehensive A-Z directories listing all the cruise lines, cruise agencies and cruise concessionaires. The website also provides round up articles that give an inside look at the types of cruise lines in the industry such as:

Do You Want to Work for a Large Cruise Line?

Do You Want to Work for a Small Cruise Line?

Do You Want to Work for a River Cruise Line?

Small Ship Cruise Jobs

Next blog….Applying Directly to a Cruise Line

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Escape from the Cold and Get a Cruise Job

Cruise Job Tips | Posted by Renee Ruggero
Nov 11 2011

As the cold weather is taking over November, many of you may be starting to think, “I need to find a cruise ship job so that I can work in the Caribbean!”

For many crewmembers, this is one of the many reasons why working on cruise ships is so attractive. The thought of visiting the islands of the Caribbean, relaxing on the beach, and working on a tan are motivating factors to get hired before the snow starts to fall.

Royal Caribbean International will have 13 cruise ships in the Caribbean for the 2011/2012 winter season. Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Disney Cruises and many other cruise lines will also have a number of ships offering Caribbean cruises. Itineraries include stopping at islands such as U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Aruba and others.

Before committing to the dream of seeing yourself lying on a beach and getting paid, you must also realize that most cruise ship jobs require crewmembers to work long hours every day. The only time off is the time off between shifts. Everyday you’ll have to ask yourself, should I sleep or should I go to the beach? Then there’s the issue if you don’t get get placed on a ship in the Caribbean!

For more info, WorkOnCruiseShips.com has a Life Onboard section with articles such as:

Is Working on Cruise Ships Really for You?

Overcoming Homesickness when Working on a Cruise Ships

How Strict are Cruise Ship Rules?

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Best Cruise Line to Work For

Cruise Job Tips | Posted by Renee Ruggero
Nov 09 2011

Another question that frequently comes up on the Work on Cruise Ships discussion forum is:

“Which is the best cruise line to work for?”

It really depends on who is answering this question because factors such as personal preference and the type of job you are applying for are elements of this equation. For example, someone that has worked for Royal Caribbean and loves everything about that company and their job may say something similar to someone that is a devoted Princess Cruises employee.

Each company has its own good points and negative points. Even each ship within a fleet may have a different environment and dynamic than other ships within the same fleet. New ships may have nicer cabins than older ships whereas smaller ships may have a closer knit onboard community. Unfortunately you can’t choose the ship to work on within a cruise line.

Another factor that can contribute to the choice of cruise line to work for may be the company that offers you the job first. You may apply to a few different cruise lines, but the one that offers you the interview first may also be the one that offers you the job first. Are you going to wait around and wait for the ‘perfect’ company to contact you? Probably not.

The best thing to do is start looking through the latest cruise job vacancies and start sending out your cover letters and resumes. Don’t wait another day!

 

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