Choosing the Best Cruise Job
Renee Ruggero
Is there such a thing as the perfect cruise job? Are you struggling to decide which cruise job best suits your qualifications and experience? Here are six frequently asked questions about finding your ideal cruise job.
Why Must I Apply for a Specific Cruise Job?
To increase your chances of your resume and cover letter even being looked it, cruise applicants need to apply for a specific cruise job. By saying that you are willing to do any job onboard will actually hurt your opportunities of getting an interview.
The best way to do this is with the Career Objective portion of your resume as well as within the first sentence of your cover letter. Name the cruise job that you are applying for. You can apply for as many positions as you like, just use a separate resume and cover letter for each.
Employers want to see that you know what you are good at and where you think your skills fit in onboard. They want you to tell them how your experience and skills are suited to a particular cruise job. The next question is how do you know which cruise job is best suited to your individual qualifications?
Which Cruise Job Best Suits Your Skills?
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How Do I Know Which Cruise Job is the Best for Me?
There are so many types of cruise jobs, so choosing one may be a confusing and overwhelming choice. The first thing one should do is read through the Job Descriptions section to get an overview of the variety jobs onboard cruise ships. The WorkOnCruiseShips.com website also has a number of in depth cruise job overviews found in the Feature Articles section.
By understanding what each cruise job is really about, you can start to understand if you have the experience and skills to get hired. This is the time you should be analysing your own skills and work history. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Do you have customer service experience? Are you sales driven? Are you computer-savvy?
There are many jobs onboard that you have never even thought existed. To land these types of jobs, you need to show to the employer you know what it takes to perform the job and that you have the background to do it. For example, an internet cafe manager (AKA: MTN Manager) requires a mix of computer-savvy, customer service and sales driven personality, not just someone that is good with computers.
Alternatively, the Onboard Cruise Consultant requires someone that has a proven sales background as well as strong public speaking skills. And, Gift Shop Associates need to be able to do a lot of physical labour in addition to their sales duties.
Which Cruise Jobs Have the Most Time Off?
The rule of thumb for all cruise line jobs is that you work seven days a week with no days off. The good news is that you will be able to swap the occasional shift with a colleague to get a few extra hours in a row.
Each cruise job will have different times during the cruise where they will be busy than others. Turn around days (the day the ship disembarks and embarks all the passengers) is busy for most crew, while some jobs are not. Some ships also expect many crew have to take on additional duties on turn around days.
Some cruise jobs set their own schedule for desk hours and presentations such as the Port and Shopping Guide, Cruise Consultant and Art Auctioneer. They need to meet sales goals and must work independently, knowing when their time is best utilised.
Which Cruise Jobs Have the Best Benefits?
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Which Cruise Jobs Have the Best Benefits?
There are different ranks onboard just as there are different levels of management in land-based jobs. Generally speaking there are Senior Officers, Junior Officers, Staff (aka: concessions) and managers of the concessions. Most everyone else is considered to be crew (although as a whole everyone is crew).
Senior Officers include the Captain, the Staff Captain, the Chief Engineer, the Staff Engineer, the Hotel Manager and the First Purser, the Doctor and a few others. These officers may have lots of great benefits like a larger private cabin and a personal budget for entertaining.
All officers enjoy deck privileges meaning that they can use the passenger facilities such as pools, gyms and the choice of many restaurants. Only the most junior of officers have to share a cabin, other officers have the privilege of a private cabin. In addition, officers have their restaurant (Officers' Mess) on most cruise ships.
Depending on the size of the cruise ship will usually determine what type of facilities there are for the crew. Larger vessels such as Princess Cruises' Grand-class vessels have a crew mess, crew recreation area, a crew bar and a crew pool.
Do I Have to Start in an Entry Level Cruise Job?
Taking an entry level position is sometimes necessary in order to get your foot in the door (or on the ship). For example, your dream job might be a Shore Excursion Manager, which is a job that is usually promoted from within. Many have taken the route through the Pursers department to get to that position.
On the other hand, your ideal job may be a Cruise Director. Unfortunately if you haven't done your time as Cruise Staff or Guest Entertainer, it would be highly unlikely. Another route to take is getting your foot in the door with the Youth Department, cross over to Cruise Staff then work at getting promoted through that department.
Other cruise jobs are hired without any specific experience to the cruise job you are applying for, but you have similar traits. For example, maybe you have retail experience as well as a knack for knowing about jewellery and other luxury items. Add this to an infectious personality with some public speaking skills, and you would be well suited to the Port and Shopping Presenter.
Where Do I Find the Best Cruise Job Vacancies?
WorkOnCruiseShips.com features the latest cruise ship vacancies. They are updated regularly so visit the site often to keep on top of any new postings. But, keep in mind that not all cruise jobs are advertised and are actually filled from applicants that follow up on their applications. This means that you need to apply for jobs that you are interested in even if they aren't listed as being a job openings.
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