What Your Crew Resume Should Include

What Your Crew Resume Should Include.

First a couple of pointers.

1. Use common file formats like 'doc' 'pdf' 'docx' for example.
   
2. Do not send your CV in Excel format 'xls' your CV is NOT a spreadsheet.
3. Do not send your CV in the body of an email. Attach it to the email. And please dont send your CV attachment with a blank email message or with something like - 'want job!'
4. Do not send your CV with 15mb of attachments with every certificate scanned. If you list your certification in your CV and you are considered for a position your certificates will be asked for.
   
5. A crew agent is working with 100's of emails and attachments....she or he could land up with 100's of mb's in the inbox. First thing on a Monday morning is not going to make your CV popular.

Part A

Your Cover Letter

This letter should be well written, spell & grammar checked. It should have a salutation, not simply 'Hi'. Your cover letter should capture in brief your personality and say what job you are looking for and when you are available.


Sign off with your full name, (first name first) and your contact information.

--

Part B

Your crew photo

CURRICULUM- VITAE

CV’s should generally be up to 2 pages long,
in a word document and up to 200KB’s in size.

YOUR NAME

Personal Information

Date of Birth: Make sure the day and month is clearly defined - what is 02/06/1981? Feb 6 or June 2?
Nationality:
Email address:
Current location:
Mobile telephone: (include International Dialling code )
Visa’s:
Marital Status:
ENG1 Medical Certification:
Driving License:
Mother tongue:
Languages:
Visible Tattoos:
Smoker:

Maritime Qualifications


STCW95 – (Add name of school, and month/year qualification issued)
RYA
MCA
Recreational Boat License
Additional Qualifications (Such as Scuba diving etc)

Profile/Career Objective

A brief outline of the career path you wish to follow, whether you are looking for a permanent or seasonal position, whether you are looking for motor or sail, size of vessel etc.

Previous Maritime Experience – Please list most recent first

Name of Vessel (State whether private or charter)
MY or SY / Length
Dates (Month and Year)
Position held onboard
Brief Job Description detailing your duties.

(If you have significant gaps in your work history please explain briefly what you were doing during this time. You don’t want the skipper to wonder if those missing years were spent in prison.)

Additional Work Experience
Here list any other work experience you may have. Close detail is not essential.

Your Hobbies and Leisure Activities
This tells us a little of who you are and it can give an indication of how well you would fit in with the other crew on the yacht.

References
Please ensure you include the time zone of your referee. He or she will be less likely to say you are wonderful if a crew agent has woken them out of a deep sleep at 2am with a phone call. Include your referees email address too.

Security checks are also undertaken, so criminal records will surface. Read more!

How to Write a Crew Resume or CV

How to Write a Crew Resume or CV.

You can send your resume/CV to every crew agent on the planet, it doesn't mean they are going to read or even open them.

This section covers how to write a resume that Crew Agents will actually open.
Section 2 covers what your resume/CV should include


We get 100’s of resumes each year and it’s fair to say that we have learnt what we like, don’t like and actively dread. Writing a resume in this field plays a critical part in getting you noticed. Your resume is your foot in the door, one that might be 8’000 miles away. It is going to take something pretty impressive to open that door.


Getting Your Resume/CV Email Read


Your Subject Line
‘Yact jobs’ won’t help your cause. Get your spelling right.
It is a good idea to state the position you are looking for in the subject line of your email.
For example: Experienced Stewardess Seeking Motor Yacht position 50m plus


Your Cover Email
Always send a cover email. It is an important way of introducing yourself. Email may be a more informal approach but that doesn’t mean you should forget every grammar lesson and skip the spell check. A blank email with an attachment does not impress or inspire confidence and can be very annoying.


Attachments
A blank email with an attachment will almost certainly never be opened. Don’t waste your time sending it. Write the cover letter.


Don’t send your resume in fancy attachments. For example we get a number of resumes sent for some reason in excel. We can’t open these. If you are unsure simply send it as an .rtf or .doc file.


Say what job you are looking for
It is astonishing how many people actually leave this out. Being female doesn’t necessarily mean you are looking for a stewardess job, you could be one of a growing number of female engineers or Captains.


Desperation
Even if you are experienced at interior and exterior having worked as deckhand, stew and crew chef, don’t be tempted to say you are looking for any of those positions. State the position you would like most.


Keep it short
Bear in mind that your resume is frequently being read on screen so be short, sweet and succinct. Don’t waffle but equally don’t leave out anything relevant. Your resume should be no more than two or three pages.


Fonts and Colours
Use a sans serif type font like Verdana or Arial as these are much easier to read on screen. Don’t change from font to font.
Do not use different font colours and table cell colours. Black with Bold is fine


Proofread x 100
Then ask someone to read your resume. Ideally someone who wont be shy to tell you your grammar is lousy and your spelling is even worse.


White space counts
Readers like clean open spaces. If you have a lot to say use bullet points and keep sentences short but also remember your resume must express your character so don’t be overly abrupt.


What if your name is Suchta Norbert?
I don’t know if Suchta is a male or female name, equally I am not sure if it a first name or second. I do know a man with Norbert as a first name. Make your gender clear. This also pertains to names like Alex, Lee, Robin, Nicky, Cameron, Kim etc.


Don’t include massive scans of documents. Scanned references not to mention scans of all your seamanship papers from when you were 16, 17, 21 etc. Seriously, I am sure if anyone wants to see them they will ask you to send them in.


Photos
PLEASE! No shots of you at the pub clutching a beer with a mates arm slung around your neck. Save those for Facebook. Your photo should present a professional image; a head and shoulders shot with you neatly dressed and well presented with a simple or blank background.

Keep your image size small. No one will thank you for a photo so big that only your nostril fits on the screen.
Equally please don’t send images that are so small that one can only see eyebrows and chin.

Any further advice and comments appreciated.

Next article we will tackle what your CV should and should not include
. Read more!